Four young women will compete for the prestigious title of Dairy Princess during ceremonies at the upcoming District 6 Dairy Princess Contest. The 60th Anniversary contest will be held June 14 at Our Lady of Assumption Hall in Turlock.
This year’s contestants are Sophia Vander Dussen of El Nido, Caroline Lee and Sierra Omlin of Modesto and Caydee Weese of Turlock.
Caydee is the daughter of Travis and Leanna Weese of Turlock. She is a senior at Turlock High School and plans to attend Modesto Junior college in the fall and major in dairy science and agriculture business. Caydee is an active member of Turlock FFA where she competes on the dairy judging team and shows dairy cattle throughout California. She is currently expanding her small herd of dairy heifers and breeding her own cows with the goal to start her own registered herd of dairy show cows.
Sophia is the daughter of Michael and Wendy Vander Dussen of El Nido. She is a fourth-generation dairy farmer. She has been involved in both Cowchilla 4-H and Stone Ridge FFA, where she serves as the current chapter reporter. Sophia also participates in volleyball, soccer, basketball, swim and golf. She plans to attend California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and major in agriculture business.
Caroline is the daughter of Ross and Gina Lee from Modesto. She is attending Modesto Junior College and majoring in Dairy Science where she is active in the Dairy Science group. She was a member of the dairy judging team and competed at contests all over the United States. Caroline also served as the co-chair for the 2018 FFA Dairy Judging contest at the MJC Field Day. She plans to transfer to a four- year university after receiving her associates degree from MJC.
Sierra is the daughter of Joey and Nelly Omlin of Modesto. She is a senior at Modesto High School and plans to attend California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and major in dairy science and minor in agriculture business. Sierra is an active member of Modesto FFA and serves as the current chapter historian and a member of the dairy cattle judging team. She also shows her dairy cattle throughout the year at various dairy cattle shows in California.
The young woman crowned as Dairy Princess will represent the dairy industry in the counties of Alameda, Mariposa, Merced, Monterey, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Stanislaus and Tuolumne. She will serve the area as ambassador for the dairy industry at schools, service groups and with the media. The newly selected princess and her alternates will participate in a mandatory training, provided by the California Milk Advisory Board, in which they receive professional development coaching.
The contest is sponsored by the District 6 Dairy Princess Committee and the CMAB. The 60th Anniversary contest will begin at 6 p.m. June 14 with a no-host social hour, followed by dinner and the contest at 7 p.m. To purchase tickets for the contest, contact Linda Teixeira at 634-4500 or 402-8305 or Lindsey Nunes at 678-2540. Tickets must be purchased by June 11; no tickets will be sold at the door.
California is the nation’s leading milk producer. It also produces more butter, ice cream and nonfat dry milk than any other state. The state is the second-largest producer of
cheese and yogurt.
