68th Princess Kay of the Milky Way looks back on her reign

(ABC 6 News) – It’s almost time for the Minnesota State Fair and that means Anna Euerle will be passing on her title of "Princess Kay of the Milky Way."

Over the last year, Euerle served as the official goodwill ambassador for nearly 2,500 Minnesota dairy farm families.

She took over the title from Brenna Connelly, a Byron native who won in 2020. ABC 6 asked Euerle what advice Connelly gave her: "Always stay positive and be willing to share my story. Go into events with a positive mindset. Some of these events, you don’t really know what to expect. So she also advised me to be flexible and ready for anything."

With the title comes a very unique honor, having your face carved in butter. To get the final product, Anna had to sit in a cooler for hours.

"So it’s 40 degrees in the cooler. It really wasn’t too bad. My year was extra special because my butter sculpture is actually Linda Christensen’s last butter sculpture that she sculpted. That kind of marked the end of her 50 years of sculpting so that made it just a little extra special. It was really cool to be in the butter booth. It’s definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Euerle said her sculpture has its owners freezer and her local grocery store even put it on display for a while. She hopes to cook with her butter sculpture at her local county fair next year, using it to make pancakes for breakfast, sweet corn for lunch, and baked potatoes for dinner.

Ashley Holst of Kellogg is one of the finalists vying for the title of the 69th Princess Kay of the Milky Way.

Holst is going into her junior year at South Dakota State University and studies animal science. She hopes to become a large animal veterinarian one day. She’s gained leadership skills and responsibility through different high school and college activities. In addition to working on her family’s dairy, she owns a small milking goat herd and enjoys showing a variety of animals.

The 69th Princess Kay of the Milky Way will be crowned on the eve of the state fair which is Wednesday, August 24.