Rebekka Paskewitz, a 20-year-old college student from Browerville, Minnesota, representing Todd County, was crowned the 65th Princess Kay of the Milky Way in an evening ceremony at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds recently in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Paskewitz will serve as the official goodwill ambassador for nearly 3,000 Minnesota dairy farm families. She is the daughter of Alan and Vicki Paskewitz, and attends the South Dakota State University, where she is pursuing a degree in agricultural education.
Twelve county dairy princesses from throughout Minnesota competed for the Princess Kay of the Milky Way title. Blaize Dankers of Plainview, representing Wabasha County, and Korissa Lindquist of Kerkhoven, representing Kandiyohi County, were selected as runners-up.
Katherine Gathje of Richmond, representing Meeker County, Ashley Maus of Freeport, representing Stearns County and Julia Mullenbach of Rose Creek, representing Mower County were named scholarship winners. Lindquist was also named Miss Congeniality.
Throughout her yearlong reign as Princess Kay of the Milky Way, Paskewitz will make public appearances to help connect consumers to Minnesota’s dairy farm families. She will work to bring dairy to life through conversations, classroom visits and various speaking engagements.
Paskewitz’s first official duty as Princess Kay was to sit in a rotating cooler in the Dairy Building (located at the corner of Judson Avenue and Underwood Street) for nearly six hours to have her likeness sculpted in a 90-pound block of butter on the opening day of the Minnesota State Fair. This year marks butter sculptor Linda Christensen’s 47th year carving the Princess Kay of the Milky Way winner and finalists at the Minnesota State Fair.
