Social Distancing: Ode To A Butter Queen

A Minnesota Tradition Carries On During COVID-19

I’m kind of feeling drained at the end of the week. It’s Friday. Infection numbers are rising in North Dakota and a lot of places. All this bleak news can feel like it’s flattening and suffocating you. But then, one buttery ray of sunlight helped make things better this week.

The Minnesota State Fair is cancelled this year, but there will still be a butter beauty queen.
The group Midwest Dairy crowns Princess Kay of the Milky Way every year for the State Fair, and she gets her head carved out of a 90-pound block of butter.
They announced this week that Princess Kay will still be crowned this year. And she’s still getting rendered in glistening yellow.They will stream the carving process on Facebook Live on August 13th, with each of the 9 runners-up getting their own butter head every day through the 22nd.

I’m thrilled to see Princess Kay survive the pandemic. I love how off-the-wall it seems. A giant butter bust of a beauty queen? It’s unique, and uniquely Minnesotan. I got to cross Princess Kay off my bucket list when I went to the fair two years ago. As you can probably tell, I was quite excited.

What traditions are you still holding on to during COVID-19? I’m talking food, trips, anything. Let me know.
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