Grace Howe crowned Alternate Iowa Dairy Princess, joins her mother and more than a dozen others in state-leading representation from Allamakee County


Crowned Alternate Iowa Dairy Princess... Grace Howe, 17-year-old daughter of Shelly and the late Matt Howe of Waukon, was crowned the Alternate Iowa Dairy Princess at the 65th annual Iowa Dairy Princess coronation ceremony held at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines August 8. Howe joined her mother in wearing the crown, as the former Shelly Fossum was also named Alternate Iowa Dairy Princess in 1989. The two are among the total of 16 Allamakee County young ladies who have worn the crown of Iowa Dairy Princess or Alternate Iowa Dairy Princess. Submitted photo.

Grace Howe, 17-year-old daughter of Shelly and the late Matt Howe of Waukon, was named Alternate Iowa Dairy Princess at the 65th annual Iowa Dairy Princess coronation ceremony held at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines the evening of Wednesday, August 8. As this year’s Alternate, Howe will share duties with the 2018-2019 Iowa Dairy Princess, 18-year-old Jessica Schmitt of Fort Atkinson, who represented Winneshiek County at the annual event.

Heading into her senior year at Waukon High School this fall, Howe represented the Iowa Jersey Cattle Club at this year’s coronation event. She had been crowned the Iowa Jersey Princess in late summer of last year and had also been named Allamakee County Dairy Princess this spring. With Howe opting to represent the Iowa Jersey Cattle Club at this year’s Iowa Dairy Princess event, fellow Waukon High School senior-to-be and this year’s Allamakee County Alternate Dairy Princess, Cayla Nolting, 17-year-old daughter of Chad and Cheryl Nolting of Waukon, represented Allamakee County at this year’s royal grand finale in Des Moines.

Howe’s crowning as Alternate Iowa Dairy Princess is an honor she now shares with her mother, as the former Shelly Fossum was also named Alternate Iowa Dairy Princess in 1989. That mother-daughter pair joins more than a dozen other young ladies from Allamakee County who have donned the crown of either Iowa Dairy Princess or Alternate Iowa Dairy Princess, the most of any county in the state of Iowa and just ahead of Winneshiek County’s 14 listed crown winners.

According to Iowa Dairy Princess historical archives, that list of Allamakee County young ladies includes the following:

Carol Flage Middleton, 1966 Princess;
Susan Schultz, 1967 Alternate;
Kathy Thorstenson Murphy, 1972 Princess;
Joan Stock Behr, 1978 Alternate;
Jane Stock Regan, 1982 Princess;
Erin Mooney Berns, 1987 Alternate;
Shelly Fossum Howe, 1989 Alternate;
Shelly Regan Elliott, 1993 Princess;
Stacia Piggott Sonderman, 1995 Alternate;
Megan Wonderlich Ernst, 1999 Princess;
Tiffany Einck Merrick, 2000 Princess;
Erin Schulte Rixen, 2001 Princess;
Elizabeth Wonderlich Rozycki, 2005 Alternate;
Samantha Ehrhardt Wagner, 2007 Princess;
Leslie Sivesind, 2016 Alternate
Grace Howe, 2018 Alternate.

Both Schmitt and Howe will spend the next year serving as goodwill ambassadors for Iowa’s dairy farm families, making public appearances to connect with consumers and help them understand the dedication of dairy farmers to their cows, their land and the milk they produce. A total of 12 young women who are from dairy farms or closely linked to the dairy community competed for this year’s Iowa Dairy Princess title, with the judging held August 7 and 8 in Ankeny prior to the coronation event in Des Moines. Winners were chosen on the basis of their knowledge of dairy farming and the dairy industry, public speaking skills and enthusiasm for representing Iowa’s dairy farm families.

Kassi Steinlage, 18, of West Union and representing Fayette County was named Miss Congeniality. The outgoing 2017-2018 Iowa Dairy Princess is Rachel Grober of Ionia and the Alternate Princess is Josie Buddenberg of Decorah. Their reigns were completed at the end of the Iowa State Fair, and Schmitt and Howe will begin their duties September 1 as the new Princess and Alternate.