Dairy Princess crowned during recent pageant

Candor resident Sarah Hollenbeck was crowned the 2015-2016 Tioga County Dairy Princess during the 52nd annual Dairy Princess Pageant held recently at the Countryside Community Center in Owego, N.Y. She is the daughter of Greg and Holly Hollenbeck of Candor and Janese McElwain of Tioga Center, attends Tioga Central School, and plans to attend North Carolina State to become a Veterinarian.

Sarah assists with daily chores on the 80-cow family dairy farm, and is involved in soccer, basketball and softball, and is also involved in community service and Varsity Club.

Leah Ludwig, 2015-2016 Tioga County Alternate Dairy Princess, the daughter of Scott and Sharon Ludwig of Newark Valley, attends Newark Valley Central School and has plans to attend college for agriculture business.

Leah assists with daily chores on the 70-cow family dairy farm and participates in volleyball and basketball, likes to cook, and volunteers for the Lions Club breakfast, helps at the Weltonville Fire Station, and performs fundraising for Zion Lutheran School. Leah has been a Dairy Ambassador for three years.

Joining Sarah and Leah on the 2015-2016 Tioga County Dairy Promotion Team is third-year Dairy Ambassador Abigail Eaton, daughter of Paul and Heather Eaton of Owego; first-year Dairy Ambassador Arianna Aman, daughter of Aaron and Becky Aman of Candor; and Chelsie Fuller, daughter of Debbie Young of Cherry Valley. Fuller served as a 2014-2015 Otsego County Dairy Ambassador, and will be moving to Newark Valley in July.

Outgoing 2014-2015 Dairy Princess Katelyn Eaton, daughter of Paul and Heather Eaton of Owego, was the recipient of the Carolyn B Donnelly Award in recognition of Katelyn’s service and dedication to the dairy promotion program this year. The award was established in 2008 in recognition of Carolyn’s 45 years of service to the dairy princess program and was presented by Janet Schuster, daughter of Nathan Donnelly and the late Carolyn B. Donnelly.

Victoria Treadwell, 2015-2016 New York State 1st Alternate Dairy Princess, of Mohawk, N.Y. represented the American Dairy Association and Dairy Council at the coronation. Victoria presented a short update message on ADA/DC promotion programs and expressed her appreciation to be able to represent the dairy industry, traveling all over New York State.

Katelyn Eaton gave her farewell speech as the 2014-2015 county princess before crowning the new alternate Dairy Princess Leah Ludwig, and the new Tioga County Dairy Princess Sarah Hollenbeck.

Dale Sweetland, of Fabius, N.Y., served as Master of Ceremonies for the evening. Dinner guests enjoyed the delicious buffet dinner prepared by Country Folks Diner in Richford, N.Y.

Tioga County Dairy Promotion will continue with its 52nd year of promotion, representing the farming industry. Their goal is to stress that milk is made from dairy cows that must be healthy and well cared for in order to produce pure, wholesome milk being raised by farmers in a healthy environment, that milk contains nine essential nutrients for all ages, and that everyone needs three servings of dairy product each day.