Princess Kay of the Milky Way

Ever since she was a
young girl, Amy Kyllo of Byron always looked up in awe to the Princess Kay of the Milky Way, the highest honor given in the Minneso- ta dairy industry.
After last week, she doesn’t need to look up any longer as she took on the honor herself. Kyllo was crowned the 66th Princess Kay at the Minnesota State
Fair in Falcon Heights
Aug. 21.
“I was shocked. Extra, extra excited,” Kyllo said
of becoming Princess Kay. “It’s an immense privilege. I wouldn’t of ever dreamed
of this being possible when I
was a young girl.” Since the crown was
placed on her head last Wednesday night, it has been a whirlwind for the
19-year-old woman. She has done numerous media in- terviews, appeared on radio and TV, rode in the State Fair parades, represented the dairy industry around the fair and perhaps most notable and iconic with the title, she’s had her likeness carved out of a 90-pound block of butter.
Over the first two days of the State Fair, Kyllo spent about eight hours sitting
in a 40 degree cooler in the dairy building getting her butter head completed. “It’s colder than you think, but it’s comfortable,” she said. She was dressed in sweat- ers, sweat pants, boots and mittens. And underneath it all she had on her Princess Kay dress so that she was ready to go on a moment’s notice.
As for her butter head, Kyllo says she plans to eat it with her family and friends. She plans to save it for the big Kyllo Christmas party to use it on Lefse.
While she was in the booth on Friday, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Ohio Governor Richard
DeWine came in the cooler
to greet Kyllo.
Kyllo is not used to all the attention she’s been getting over the past week. Instead, she’s accustomed
to giving all her attention to her calves and cows on her parents’ dairy farm on the Dodge and Olmsted county line north of Byron. She started milking cows when she was 11 years old. It’s
also not unusual for her to jump behind the tractor and do farm work.
Her work on the farm
has become less in the past year or so as she currently
attends Association Free
Lutheran Bible School in Plymouth. At school, she is involved in choir, a vocal trio and symphonic wind ensemble. Kyllo isn’t exactly sure where her career will take her yet, but she is leaning towards a commu- nications/public relations direction.
Kyllo also hasn’t ruled out church work. She is very active with children’s ministries at Mt. Sion Lu- theran Church in Kasson. “My faith will always be an important part of life and who I am,” she said.
She has great fondness
for the work she has ac- complished thus far on her family’s farm. “I’m doing something important,” Kyl- lo said. “I get to take care of land, water and animals. It’s a family farm.”
The milking parlor has become a platform for preparing Kyllo for the Princess Kay competi- tion this summer. Family
members took turns asking her various questions that likely would come up in the competition. Kyllo’s sister,

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