Four young women will compete for the title of Dairy Princess during the District 4 Dairy Princess contest on June 13. The contest will be held at the Turlock Ballroom.
This year's contestants are Alexis Dias and Macie Silva, both from Denair, Gabrielle Furtado of Modesto, and Lexie Nunes of Ballico.
Alexis is the daughter of Kristine Patrias and the late Jose Silveira Dias. She is a senior at Turlock High School and will attend California State University, Fresno in the fall to major in Viticulture and Enology. Her passion for the dairy industry stems from her father and grandfather who both worked in the dairy industry. Alexis has shown dairy cattle at local fairs and is an active member of the Turlock Future Farmers of America program, where she is currently serving as Chapter President. Alexis is also the President of the Turlock High School Portuguese Club.
Macie is the daughter of Rodney Maciel and Megan Piro. She attends California State University, Fresno, and Modesto Junior College where she is majoring in Animal Science with a dairy emphasis, in hopes of becoming a Dairy Nutritionist. Beginning at the age of 12, Macie showed dairy cattle at the Stanislaus County Fair. While attending Turlock Christian High School, Macie was a member of the Future Farmers of America program and played softball competitively. She is currently a member of the Dairy Club at Fresno State, and spends time volunteering at her church’s nursery and preschool classes.
Gabrielle, daughter of Manuel and Patty Furtdao, is a junior at Modesto High School. Upon graduation she plans to attend Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo to major in Agricultural Business and hopes to be on the Dairy Judging Team. Gabrielle grew up on her family’s dairy, Furtado Farms, and shows dairy cattle at the county fair. She is a member of the Modesto Future Farmers of America Chapter where she is on the Dairy Judging Team. Gabrielle previously served as the Modesto Future Farmers of America Chapter Reporter and is the current Stanislaus Tuolumne Future Farmers of America Section Reporter. She is very active at Modesto High School where she serves as the Student Body Officer Director Junior Class Vice President, and Captain of the Varsity Tennis Team.
Lexie is the daughter of Jennifer Alves and Duarte Aguiar. She is a senior at Turlock Christian High School and plans to attend Modesto Junior College to study Agricultural Business. Lexie grew up on her grandparent’s dairy, Alves and Son Dairy. As an active member of her school’s Future Farmers of America program, Lexie has served the office of Chaplin, is on the Dairy Judging Team, and the Agriculture Issue Team. She is on the Turlock Christian High School Tennis Team and Senior Council Team.
The young lady crowned as Dairy Princess will represent the dairy industry in Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Mariposa, Merced, Monterey, Sacramento, San Benito, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, and Yolo counties where she will serve the area as an ambassador for the dairy industry with various audiences. The newly selected princess and her alternate will participate in mandatory training, provided by the California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB), where they will receive professional development coaching.
To learn more about the program or to purchase tickets for the contest, contact Linda Teixeira at (209) 402-8305. No tickets will be sold at the door.
