Communication major freshman Natalie Vernon (pictured above) won the title of Dairy Princess at a recent State Pageant. She is now an ambassador for the association and plans to represent them proudly (Courtesy of natalie Vernon).
Communication major freshman Natalie Vernon recently won the title of Dairy Princess at the 57th Annual New York State Dairy Princess Pageant on Feb. 18. The competition was a two-day event held at the Holiday Inn in Liverpool, N.Y. For the coming year, Vernon will be serving as an ambassador for the American Dairy Association North East and will help promote milk and other dairy products. This also includes working with ADANE as a spokesperson to represent dairy farmers at a variety of special events throughout the year, such as county dairy princess pageants, farmer meetings, fairs and school visits.
Originally from Wayne County, N.Y., Vernon competed in the State Pageant back in 2018 where she was the second runner-up. After taking a year away from competing to settle herself into college, she ultimately decided to take another shot at the state title and ended up as the winner earlier this month.
“I was really close [in 2018], but I still needed some time to grow so I decided to run again this year. The pageants really help you grow and mature,” Vernon said. [They help you in preparation for] the future and it’s a lot about being confident and [learning] public speaking. The [nature of the] competition [creates an atmosphere that encourages] you to be yourself which is a really good thing to keep in mind all of the time.”
Unlike popular pageants such as Miss USA or Miss Universe, the Dairy Princess pageant is structured differently. Over the two-day event, contestants must participate in a series of interviews, tests regarding communication and knowledge as well as delivering multiple speeches to the panel of judges before being crowned as State Dairy Princess.
“It is a lot of communication-type things and since I am a communication major it’s right up my alley,” Vernon said. “And I’m planning [to] take my major and use it for agricultural promotion and other public relation topics.”
Even though Vernon has remarkable achievements that are well earned, she also takes time to reflect on her loss from two years ago to promote her spirit of determination and that understand that overall, people should follow their dreams.
“I definitely think that if you really love something, don’t give up on it and just keep going for it,” Vernon said. “You don’t have to win a state title to become an advocate for the industry.”
Vernon sets her sights on eventually becoming a public relations manager for ADANE following her reign as Dairy Princess in the next few years and wants to participate in agricultural promotion across the country. She intends to use her role as a platform to promote her ideas and use her voice to help spread awareness about the agricultural industry with her audience being all of New York State.
Vernon discussed the relationship between the dairy farmers and the princess program. They work closely with each other and Vernon hopes that she can set a good example and make the dairy industry proud.