Butter Sculpture Unveiled at New York State Fair

By DEBRA J. GROOM

This year’s New York State Fair butter sculpture is telling everyone to love milk because it’s real.
 

New York Dairy Princess Reegan Domagala with butter sculpture

“Milk. Love What’s Real” is the theme of the 51th sculpture — one of the most visited sites at the entire New York State Fair.
 
In the center of the Dairy Products Building across from Chevy Court, the sculpture is made from 800 pounds of butter made at O-AT-KA Milk Products in Batavia. 

This year’s masterpiece created by artists Jim Victor and Marie Pelton of Conshohocken, Pa., shows a grandfather and child dunking cookies in milk and a young couple sharing a milkshake, illustrating how the love for real dairy connects many cherished moments in life.
 
“When we create meals, we create memories and real dairy is there,” said Joel Riehlman of Venture Farms in Fabius, Onondaga County. “From the ice cream at a child’s birthday party to our cheese pizza on Friday to the milk in our lattes every morning, milk plays an important role in our everyday lives.”
 

One side of the New York State Fair butter sculpture

Also on hand Aug. 20 to unveil the new butter sculpture was Reegan Domagala of Lewis County, the New York State Dairy Princess. One of the key parts of her job is to represent the state’s dairy industry at the New York State Fair and she was smiling and greeting visitors, dignitaries and media throughout the butter sculpture event.
 
After the fair is over on Labor Day, the sculpture will be taken apart by Cornell Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners and transported to Noblehurst Farms in Linwood, Livingston County, where it will be recycled in a methane digester to create electricity and liquid fertilizer for crops.
 
The American Dairy Association North East is in charge of the butter sculpture each year. The sculpture is sponsored this year by Wegman supermarkets.
 
The New York State Fair runs from Wednesday, Aug. 21 through Labor Day.

Butter Sculpture Unveiled at 2018 New York State Fair

The front and back of the 2018 butter sculpture at the NYS Fair

This year’s butter sculpture at the New York State Fair is a step back in time.
 
For the 50th anniversary of the famous fair attraction, sculptors Jim Victor and Marie Pelton of Pennsylvania have unveiled “Your Milk Comes From a Good Place,” paying tribute to the state’s hard-working dairy farmers.
 
The sculpture features a farmer transporting milk director from his dairy farm to a consumer in the grocery aisle, showing that milk makes it from the farm to the kitchen table in just 48 hours.
 

Marsha Anderson Leonard

But the farm depicted in the sculpture is called Over the Moon Dairy Farm, a tribute to the first butter sculpture unveiled at the fair in 1969. That sculpture was called “Cow Jumping Over the Moon.”
 
Another shout out to 50 years ago was former State Dairy Princess Marsha Anderson Leonard, of Chautauqua County. She was dairy princess 50 years ago and was at the fairgrounds to unveil the very first butter sculpture in 1969.
 
“I was newly crowned and then they told me the next day I had to unveil the butter sculpture,” said Leonard, a retired nurse whose brother still runs the family dairy farm in Kennedy, Chautauqua County. “And I’m thrilled to be around to be here today.”
 
The butter sculpture, in the Dairy Products Building, consists of 800 pounds of butter. After the fair is over on Labor Day, the sculpture will be taken apart by Cornell Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners and transported to Noblehurst Farms in Linwood, Livingston County, where it will be recycled in a methane digester to create electricity and liquid fertilizer for crops.
 
The American Dairy Association North East is in charge of the butter sculpture each year. The sculpture is sponsored this year by Wegman supermarkets.
 
The New York State Fair runs from Wednesday, Aug. 22 through Labor Day.

SPOILER ALERT: Butter Sculpture Unveiled for 2017 New York State Fair

New York State Police working the State Fair

The 100th anniversary of the founding of the New York State Police is commemorated in 800 pounds of butter in this year's butter sculpture at the New York State Fair.

The sculpture, done annually by sculptors Jim Victor and Marie Pelton of Conshohocken, Pa., shows two state troopers with a calf named "Trooper" at the Dairy Cow Birthing Center at the fair. The other side of the sculpture shows a trooper helping a child at the fair.

The American Dairy Association North East, which is in charge of the butter sculpture each year, said in 1917, the first assignment for the newly formed New York State Police was the patrol the New York State Fair.

Young ladies from Onondaga County make dairy punch for those at the butter sculpture unveiling Aug. 22. Left in rear is Ruth Siau and front left is Elle McNamara. Right rear (with the larger crown) is county Dairy Princess Noie Skinner and front right is Paige McNamara. The McNamaras and Siau are dairy ambassadors.

The inspiration for the sculpture came from a photo taken in the Dairy Cow Birthing Center in 2016 of troopers Daniel Skiba and Michael Leggio with the newly born calf named "Trooper."

"Dairy farmers are honored to be a part of the New York State Troopers' 100th anniversary celebration," said Audrey Donahoe, of Atrass Farm in Clayville, Oneida County, "Agriculture is the cornerstone of the fair and so is the service provided by the New York State Police. We're proud to share that history."

"The butter sculpture is one of the attractions at the Great New York State Fair that is a must-see!," said Maj. Philip Rougeux of the state police's Troop D in Oneida. The New York State Police are extremely honored to have been chosen by the American Dairy Association North East to be part of the 2017 butter sculpture."

Pelton and victor worked on the sculpture for 10 days, using 800 pounds of salted butter from a plant in Batavia, Genesee County. 

After the fair closes on Labor Day, the sculpture will be taken apart and transported to Noblehurst Farms in Linwood, Livingston County, where it will be recycled in a methane digester -- along with food scraps and cow manure -- to create electricity and liquid fertilizer for crops.

The New York State Fair runs from Wednesday, Aug. 23 through Labor Day. The butter sculpture is in the Dairy Products building.

Dairy Day at State Fair Moves to New Day

If you always go to the New York State Fair on Dairy Day, get out your calendars.

Dairy Day is mooooooving this year.

Dairy Day will be Thursday, Aug. 31 at the 2017 State Fair. It had to be moved because the normal day -- the first Monday of the fair -- is change out day for the dairy cattle in the dairy barn. If Dairy Day had been held on the first Monday Aug. 28, there wouldn't have been any dairy cattle in the dairy barn.

"What is Dairy Day without dairy cattle?" asked Mary Ellen Chesbro, New York State Fair coordinator and agricultural manager.

The 2017 fair willl celebrate the 41st anniversary of Dairy Day wit new events and opportunities for fairgoers, said Acting Fair Director Troy Waffner.

New this year, guests will have an opportunity to win gift baskets filled with New York dairy products by visiting popular dairy attractions and answering trivia questions.

In addition, the fair is partnering with two New York State Certified processors to bring top-notch, local dairy products to the fairgrounds, including a New York State Fair-branded cheese. 

In 2016, more than 82,000 people visited the Fair on Dairy Day. 

 

"Dairy Day is a great opportunity to recognize the hard work of our dairy farmers who make delicious products. We are excited to put the industry on display at the fair and highlight their many contributions to agriculture," Waffner said. "I encourage our guests to stop at the Dairy Products Building, Dairy Cow Birthing Center, and join us at the many special activities on Dairy Day as we celebrate our farmers and processors across the state.”

 

New York yogurt

For the first time, guests can enter a drawing to win Taste NY dairy gift baskets by answering trivia questions when they visit three popular dairy attractions on Dairy Day. To participate, guests can pick up a copy of the questions at any of the fair’s six Guest Relations locations. 

They can find the answers by visiting the Milk Bar, Cheese Booth, and Yo2GO Yogurt Bar. When a guest has completed the questions, they can drop off their answers at the Dairy Cow Birthing Center where they will be entered to win. Three winners will be selected at the conclusion of Dairy Day. 

 

Both the Milk Bar and Cheese Booth will be offering delicious, high-quality dairy products made by two New York State Certified Dairy processors — Byrne Dairy and McCadam Cheese. 

Byrne Dairy, a fourth generation, family-owned dairy processor and distributor, will supply milk for the Milk Bar, one of the fair’s longest-standing traditions. The Milk Bar is being sponsored by Tully’s Good Times and New York’s official beverage will continue to be sold for 25 cents per cup. Last year, 398,059 cups of white and chocolate milk were sold. 

A previous butter sculpture

Fairgoers will also have the opportunity to sample and purchase award-winning McCadam Cheese at the Cheese Booth. McCadam will also be unveiling a NYS Fair-branded cheese. 

For the fourth year, a cheese sculptor will also be carving images out of a block of New York state white cheddar at the Cheese Booth on select days. The sculptures are being sponsored by the New York State Cheese Manufacturers Association. 

 

In addition, the YO2GO Yogurt Bar will mark its fourth anniversary at the fair, making it easy for fairgoers to enjoy New York’s official state snack— fresh New York regular and Greek-style yogurt with a choice of 15 fresh toppings. 

The 49^th Annual Butter Sculpture, created by American Dairy Association North East, will be sponsored by Wegmans Food Markets. The sculpture will be revealed Aug. 22, the day before the fFair opens, and will be on display throughout the fair. 

All of these exhibits are located in the Dairy Products Building and open during all 13 days of the Fair. 

 

Dairy Day will also feature a variety of activities to showcase the State’s dairy industry, beginning with the Recognition Awards & Awards Breakfast at 9 a.m. in the Empire Room, with registration starting at 8:30 a.m. 

As part of the awards ceremony, Dairy of Distinction Awards and the Commissioner’s PRO-DAIRY Service Awards will be presented. In addition, winners of the New York State Fair Dairy Products Competition, which includes entries in the cheese, fluid milk and other dairy products categories, will also be announced. 

The “Big Cheese” Auction will immediately follow and be led by auctioneer and chairman of the New York State Assembly Agriculture Committee Bill Magee. This year, the auction will be held in the Empire Room. Guests can bid on blocks of New York state cheese and enjoy samples that will be handed out by dairy princesses.

 
The festivities continue with a Milkshake Contest at 10:30 a.m. in the Chevy Court Pavilion, where local celebrities will compete to see who makes the best shake. The day will end with the Dairy Day Parade, beginning at 6 p.m. in Chevy Court, which features floats, dairy princesses, tractors and milk trucks.

New York State Fair Obtains Sponsors for Fair's Butter Sculpture, Milk Bar

From the New York State Fair:

Two companies with significant ties to New York state agriculture will sponsor the signature attractions at the Great New York State Fair’s Dairy Products Building.  

Tully’s Good Times restaurants will sponsor the milk sold at the fair’s famous Milk Bar, while Wegmans Food Markets will sponsor the American Dairy Association’s Butter Sculpture, Acting Fair Director Troy Waffner announced June 9.

This year, the Tully’s logo will appear on each of the seven-ounce cups of perfectly chilled white or chocolate milk sold at the Milk Bar. Last year, 398,059 cups of milk were sold at 25 cents a cup, representing a complete sellout of the milk available.  

All of the milk and buttermilk products sold at Tully’s come from Central New York dairy processor Byrne Dairy. Byrne Dairy also supplies the milk for the Milk Bar.  

In addition to dairy, Tully’s buys produce from local farms in-season. The long-time Fair vendor operates restaurants across Upstate NY under the Tully’s, CopperTop Tavern and Good Buddy’s Pub brands.

The Butter Sculpture is created and operated by Syracuse-based American Dairy Association North East, which represents all dairy farmers in New York state. The butter used to make the iconic sculpture comes from New York sources. 

It was a first stop for many of the fair’s more than 1 million visitors in 2016 and veteran fairgoers eagerly await its unveiling the day before the fair opens each year. This year’s sponsor of the Butter Sculpture, Rochester-based Wegmans, is a leader in the grocery industry in selling and using locally grown and made products and is annually rated among the nation’s very best employers.  

"These new partnerships are an exciting addition to this year's fair and to the Milk Bar, which is a long-standing tradition for fairgoers," said Agriculture and Markets Commissioner Richard Ball. "We are pleased to continue our mission of promoting the very best of New York agriculture and shining the spotlight on our dairy industry at Great New York State Fair."

“We are proud to bring these first-ever sponsorships into the Dairy Products Building as they will support our long-term plan to reenergize this vital piece of the fair," said Waffner. 

"We thank them for their investment and want fairgoers and dairy farmers to know that our goal going forward, as stewards of New York agriculture, is to find new ways to link more New Yorkers to our great dairy products as we have done with other New York products at the fair,”  Waffner said.

Olympians Celebrated in 2016 Butter Sculpture

By Debra J. Groom

Celebrating the Summer Olympics athletes is the theme of this year’s butter sculpture at the New York State Fair.

The Milk Life campaign sponsored Team USA in the recently completed Rio Olympics so this year’s sculpture pays tribute to Team USA and athletes from New York state.

The sculpture, done again this year by Jim Victor and Marie Pelton, of Conshohocken, Pa., shows a female basketball player, male volleyball player, male swimmer and female runner.

Celebrating the Olympians

Diana Dibble, vice president of consumer communications for the American Dairy Association North East, said milk is a natural nutrient powerhouse “that has always been on Olympians’ tables.”

“In fact, nine out of 10 (Olympians) said they drank milk while growing up,” she said.

Made of 800 pounds of salted butter from a milk plant in Batavia, Genesee County, the sculpture was  done over a period of 10 days. This is the 14^th year Victor and Pelton have sculpted the showcase of the Dairy Products Building.

The sculpture is one of the most popular sites to visit during the 12-day New York State Fair. It is in the Dairy Products Building at the New York State Fairgrounds in Geddes. 

The fair opens Thursday, Aug. 25 and goes through Labor Day, Sept. 5. This is the 48th annual butter sculpture at the state fair.

“On behalf of dairy farmers producing the nutrient-rich milk that helps fuel Olympic athletes, I am so pleased that Milk Life is a sponsor of Team USA,” said Chris Noble, vice president of Noblehurst Farms in Linwood, Livingston County.

“I’m thrilled that this year’s butter sculpture provides us the means to celebrate that sponsorship,” he said.

Noble also said once the fair is over, the butter will be brought to his dairy farm, mixed with food waste and manure and then put into the anaerobic digester on the farm to convert it to methane gas and electricity.

The American Dairy Association North East also is sponsoring a selfie contest during the New York State Fair. Go to the Dairy Princess Booth in the Dairy Products Building and get a patriotic red, white and blue mustache.

Put the mustache on and then snap a selfie with your favorite dairy product. Tag the photo #milkUSA and post on Instagram.

The grand prize winner will receive a Buffalo Bills prize pack. Second prize is an Apple watch and daily prizes of $50 gift cards for dairy products also will be awarded.

Go to www.adadc.com for more contest information and rules.

Take a Selfie at the Butter Sculpture; Help Needy Families Get Milk

There are two days left to the Great New York State Fair.

Remember, if you take a selfie in front of the butter sculpture while holding your ice cold milk from the Rainbow Milk Bar, you will help make a donation to area food banks so needy families can get milk to serve at home.

Go to http://www.adadc.com/sports-nutrition.html for more information.

2015 Butter Sculpture Unveiled at the New York State Fair

"Thanks for the Milk, Moo York," the 2015 New York State Fair butter sculpture

You can call this “Great American Milk Drive – Part Two.”

This year’s New York State Fair butter sculpture was unveiled Wednesday morning and it is a thank you for everyone throughout New York who has donated milk to needy families through the Great American Milk Drive.

The sculpture is called “Thanks for the Milk, Moo York.” The 2014 State Fair sculpture kicked off the Great American Milk Drive, which resulted in more than 22,000 gallons of milk being donated in the state.

Made of 800 pounds of unsalted butter from O-At-Ka Milk in Batavia, the sculpture shows a dairy farmer, milk processor and retailer each holding gallons of milk. There also are key New York state elements behind them, such as Niagara Falls, the Statue of Liberty and the Carrier Dome.

The sculpture is one of the most popular sites to visit during the 12-day New York State Fair. It is in the Dairy Products Building at the New York State Fairgrounds in Geddes.

The fair opens Thursday, Aug. 27 and goes through Labor Day, Sept. 7. This is the 47th annual butter sculpture at the state fair.

“We live in one of the top producing milk states in the country, yet many families aren’t getting the nutritious, wholesome milk they want to provide for their children,” said dairy farmer Sarah Noble-Moag, of Pavilion. “The Great American Milk Drive helps draw attention to that need and makes it easy for people to donate, both in store and on line,” she said.

This is the 13th year artists Jim Victor and Marie Pelton, of Conshohocken, Pa., have worked on the sculpture. This is probably the tallest sculpture they have done, since the top of one of the milk bottles in the piece is only about a quarter inch from the top of the butter sculpture’s refrigerated room.

“It’s 77 inches high,” Ms. Pelton said. "In 2012, the sculpture about Greek yogurt during the summer of the Olympics was 2 inches below the grate.”

As part of the Great American Milk Drive and thanking people for their previous donations, the American Dairy Association and Dairy Council, which sponsors the butter sculpture, also is asking people to donate extra quarters when they buy their cup of milk at the fair’s Rainbow Milk Bar.

The additional donations will go toward purchasing milk for food banks and food pantries so needy families can obtain milk. The Rainbow Milk Bar also is in the Dairy Products Building and serves delicious, cold glasses of white or chocolate milk for 25 cents.

The Dairy Association and Dairy Council also is conducting an Instagram Selfie Contest to help spread the word about the need for milk donations. Take a selfie in front of the butter sculpture with your cup of milk from the Rainbow Milk Bar and tag it “givemilktoo.”

Each day of the fair, one winner will be selected to receive a $50 gift card for dairy products and a $50 donation will be made to a local food bank to help it purchase milk.

One second prize winter will win an Apple Watch. And one grand prize winner will receive an Ultimate Buffalo Bills Fan Weekend package, including access to pre-game practice, an overnight hotel stay in Buffalo and four club tickets to watch the Bills take on the Houston Texans.

Go to www.adadc.com for more contest information.

State Fair Butter Sculpture Unveiled

The 2014 New York State Fair Butter Sculpture

The campaign to get more milk into food banks and onto the tables of lower-income families is the theme of this year's Butter Sculpture at the New York State Fair.

Sculptors Jim Victor and Marie Pelton have put together a piece that shows a dairy famer dropping off fresh gallons of milk at his local food bank. Dairy farmers, milk processors and Feeding America have joined forces to raise awareness and improve access to milk for families in need through the Great American Milk Drive.

And fairgoers will be able to help out too.

"We're encouraging fairgoers to make their own donations, either by visiting the website www.milklife.com/give or by texting MILK to 80088, to give $5 to Feeding America," said Rick Naczi, chief executive officer for the American Dairy Association and Dairy Council in Syracuse. "These donations will be converted into coupons for milk so that local food pantries can best manage their supply."

The state's food banks are able to provide only about one gallon of milk each year to the families they serve, according to statistics from the American Dairy Association. Feeding America, dairy farmers and milk processors -- through the Great American Milk Drive -- hope to bring more milk into food banks.



 

State Fair Butter Sculpture Celebrates Yearround Production of Milk

Milk is one of the only farm products produced yearround in New York state and this year's New York State Fair butter sculpture pays homage to that fact.

The sculpture was unveiled Wednesday morning in the Dairy Products Building at the New York State Fairgrounds in Geddes. 

The fair opens its 12-day run Thursday, Aug. 22.

Made of 800 pounds of unsalted butter from O-At-Ka Milk in Batavia, the sculpture shows children in the four seasons of New York, eating and drinking dairy products while a cow Statue of Liberty holding an ice cream torch and wheel of cheese looks down on them all.

Also shown is Niagara Falls, city skyscrapers and majestic mountains such as the Adirondacks and Catskills. The four children are an ice skater drinking hot chocolate, a boy going to school eating some cheese, a girl in a bathing suit eating yogurt and a boy with flowers drinking a smoothie.

"It was a lot of work," said artist Jim Victor, of Conshohocken, Pa. "I don't know if it was the hardest I've ever done, but it was one of the most difficult."

Victor and Marie Pelton, also of Conshohocken, have created the State Fair's sculpture since 2003. This year's creation is the 45th annual butter sculpture at the state fair.