Three area young ladies vying for 2014 Allamakee County Dairy Princess crown at Saturday's banquet

The 2014 Allamakee County Dairy Banquet will be held this Saturday, March 22 at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds Pavilion in Waukon. The meal will be served from 7-8:30 p.m. with the program starting at 8 p.m.
The annual celebration recognizes the importance of the dairy industry in Allamakee County and the contributions dairy families make to this important industry. Every year, top producers from the county are recognized at the banquet. In addition, several other awards are presented that evening, some of which include the following:
• Outstanding Young Dairy Family Award        • Pioneer Dairyman Award
• Distinguished Dairy Family Award        • Service to Dairy Industry Award
• Golden Butter Knife Award.
Also a highlight of the evening's festivities, the 2014 Allamakee County Dairy Princess will be crowned. Three Allamakee County young ladies - Shelby Bodley, Sabrina Duvel and Callie Thorson - are vying for this year’s Dairy Princess crown.

Shelby Bodley
Shelby Bodley, age 19, is the daughter of Jamie and Elaine Bodley of Waukon. She is a 2013 graduate of Waukon High School and is currently attending Northeast Iowa Community College for Agriculture Business.
Shelby currently works at Rolinda Acres of rural Waterville, milking around 260 Holstein cows. Her main responsibilities on the farm include carrying out the duties expected of her each milking, but she hopes to continue learning and gaining more responsibilities within the operation. Besides working at Rolinda Acres, Shelby works part-time at Hartig Drug in Waukon, where she has been employed for almost two and a half years.
While in high school, Shelby's main focus and passion was the Little Switzerland FFA Chapter. While a member, she served as Treasurer her junior year and President her senior year. She was awarded the FFA Star Chapter Greenhand Award, FFA Greenhand and Chapter Degrees, Outstanding Member Award, and Academic Award at the Chapter and State levels.
Shelby participated in many contests, her favorite and most successful being Milk Quality and Products. As a sophomore, Shelby first competed in this contest and at the State competition her team won Reserve Champion and Shelby earned fifth place overall as an individual. As a senior in this contest, her team won the District contest and went on to compete at the State contest, where the team earned Champion honors overall and Shelby received third place as an individual. At the National level the team received a Silver rating.
As a 4-H member since fourth grade, Shelby was very active in the Ludlow Future Farmers club. She served as her club's secretary and reporter throughout her years of involvement. This past summer, Shelby competed in the 4-H Dairy Cattle Judging contest at the Iowa State Fair. She also served on the Allamakee County 4-H Council, serving as Co-President. Shelby was selected as the 2012 Allamakee County Fair Queen and competed in the Iowa State Fair Queen Contest.
Shelby received an Academic Letter each of her eight semesters in high school. She was also inducted into the National Honor Society and achieved the "A" Honor Roll numerous times. This past fall as a college student Shelby was inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, as well as being named to the Dean's List for the Fall 2013 semester.
In her free time, Shelby enjoys spending time with family and friends. She enjoys listening to music, catching the latest movies, reading a good book, and being outdoors. Shelby also enjoys spending time on the farm learning more about the operation and just riding along in the tractor.

Sabrina Duvel
Sabrina Duvel is the daughter of Chuck and Lorna Duvel of rural Postville and a senior at Waukon High School. Their farm, known as Duvel Dairy, has been certified organic since 2006 and is located between Waukon and Postville. The family milks 35 Holstein/Holstein Jersey cross cows and sells their milk, as well as cull cattle, to Organic Valley, who is sponsoring her.
Sabrina has been helping around the farm since she was very young and she continues to milk cows on the weekends or whenever needed. The barn, originally built in 1964, is still operating, as it holds up to 40 head for the two daily milkings. She feeds calves and does a lot of miscellaneous jobs around Duvel Dairy as well. Occasionally, Sabrina helps out at Johnson farms, where they milk 170-plus Holstein, Brown Swiss and Jersey cows in a six-by-six parlor.
In school she is involved in FFA and Waukon High School's senior leadership program. This fall was the first and only year for her running cross country and now Sabrina is starting another year of track and field, where she aspires to not only earn her fourth varsity letter but qualify for the 2014 State Meet.
Outside of school she works as a waitress and cook at Main Feature Theater in Waukon, as well as a babysitter. Sabrina also teaches Sunday school at Glenwood Lutheran Church in rural Decorah.
Being born and raised on the farm, naturally she loved it and still dreams of one day becoming its third generation. After graduation in the spring, Sabrina is considering both North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) in Mason City and Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) in Calmer. Career goals are still slightly fuzzy but plans are sticking with the agricultural field. She is considering horticulture, floriculture, veterinary technician, along with the dairy sciences.
Sabrina has a wide array of hobbies. including her lifelong passion for hunting and fishing taught to her by her dad. She has also grown to love being an aunt of five, including Jaidyn and Brogyn of Decorah and Tryston, Jorja and Koal of Waukon. Sabrina enjoys taking pictures and singing along with country radio, as well as spending time with friends and family.

Callie Thorson
Callie Thorson is the 16-year-old daughter of Joel and Janice Thorson of rural Dorchester. She will graduate in the spring of 2015 from Waukon High School.
Callie has been involved in dairy farming since she was old enough to walk. She has grown up on her family farm, which consisted of 40 jersey cows milked twice daily in a stanchion barn. From feeding calves, milking cows, scraping the barn, or even just trying to look busy, it's always been something she enjoys. Although Callie was busy helping on the farm she managed to serve as a Junior Dairy Ambassador for Allamakee County for six years. Whether it was walking in parades or serving ice cream at the fair, she was always willing to represent the dairy industry. After her family sold the dairy herd in the fall of 2010, Callie could not wait to get back into the milking routine.
She is currently employed at Weighner Brothers Dairy, where they milk 120 Holstein cows twice a day in a double-six parlor. Her duties consist of p.m. milkings, every other weekend milking, calf chores, and other miscellaneous chores around the farm.
In her free time, Callie enjoys hunting, fishing, being outdoors, photography and working on the farm. She also likes helping her dad with field work or just being his company in the tractor/combine.
While in school, Callie is active in FBLA, FFI, cross-age teaching and volleyball. She is also involved with various activities at Big Canoe Luthern Church, including Bible School and Luther League.
Her plans after high school include attending Viterbo University in La Crosse, WI with hopes of eventually attaining her BSN and returning to work in Waukon. Her sponsor is WW Homestead Dairy.