by Elizabeth A. Tomlin
Otsego County’s 2017-2018 outgoing Dairy Princess, Megan Wilmot crowned her successor during the Otsego County Dairy Promotion annual meeting and banquet.
Voted as NYS Miss Congeniality at the 2018 NYS Dairy Princess Coronation, Wilmot concluded her reign with a ‘thank you’ speech, recognizing her Court, her family and her mentors.
Wilmot said she had gained confidence in public speaking and extended her knowledge of the dairy industry through her experiences with the Dairy Princess program, and acknowledged that that today, more than ever, people want to know the background of the things in their refrigerator. “Along with my court I was responsible for teaching them,” Wilmot said. “It’s been an amazing year and I wish the best of luck to our new Princess!”
Hailey Seamon of Burlington Flats was crowned as the 2018–2019 Dairy Princess.
Seamon is the 16- year-old daughter of Marty and Karen Seamon and is a junior at Cooperstown Central School, where she is on the High Honor Roll and participates in sports. She has been an Otsego County Dairy Ambassador for 4 years, acting as Alternate Princess for the 2017-2018 program.
“As the Otsego County Dairy Princess, with my court by my side, we want to stress the importance of farmers caring for their animals and the dairy products that reach your dinner table,” said Seamon. “We will accomplish this goal by attending as many events as possible to inform the public about why and how farmers do what they do.”
Two local people were honored at the banquet for their dedication to dairy promotion throughout Otsego County.
Those people were Jennifer Huntington and the late George P. Mravlja, Jr., a lifelong dairy farmer who passed away suddenly Nov. 14, 2017.
Jodi Mravlja, widow of George, accepted his award, and in turn, presented Huntington with the outstanding service award.
“The presentation to Jodi was an honoring of her husband George and all the ways that he gave to dairy promotion,” said Rebecca Stone, Otsego County Dairy Promotion Chairperson. “We lost George in November but he was a huge part of our team and this was our way of honoring him.”
Stone explained that award presented to Huntington was the outstanding service award, which had first been presented in 2016, but was renamed as the ‘George Mravlja Outstanding Service Award’ this year and was presented to Huntington “for her outstanding contribution to the dairy promotion committee over the years.”
Huntington, President at Cooperstown Holstein Corporation, has been a noted force in the dairy industry for many years and has frequently opened her doors for schools and the general public to teach them about farm life.
Jodi Mravlja spoke about the accomplishments that Huntington has achieved in promoting dairy and advocating youth involvement in the industry, citing how Huntington has assisted young dairy-minded youth to achieve their goals.
Otsego County Dairy Promotion Chairperson Rebecca Stone commented on Huntington’s service to the dairy industry.
“Jennifer has always given to anything dairy and/or kids related,” commented Stone. “She has helped 4-Hers get started with their very 1st show animal. She has been chair of the 4-H dairy science committee for several years and ran the dairy promotion program for at least 5 years. She ran the program for several years almost solely by herself.”
2018-2019 Otsego County Dairy Princess Haily Seamon will attend a variety of consumer-oriented events during her reign including “school-based education programs, farmer outreach, and media exposure.”
Dairy princesses are widely known as spokespersons for the dairy industry, spreading the dairy message to all age groups of consumers since its inception in 1963.
If you would like Seamon to attend your event or speaking engagement, contact Rebecca Stone at Otsegodairypromotion@gmail.com.
“The promotion committee would like to extend a thank you to all the generous sponsors who make the program and banquet possible,” said Stone.