Two children sit underneath the fake cow at the fairgrounds Dairy Day and make finger puppets out of the cows plastic teats. (Photo by Kelli Miller)

NORWICH — Chenango Dairy Day celebration was held on June 17th at the Chenango County Fairgrounds. The celebration of agriculture provided activities for kids and families, free dairy products, and much more.

Dairy day committee chairperson Marjorie Davis said, “One of the most important aspects of Dairy Day is raising awareness and appreciation of the agricultural population in the county and eating local grown good food.

Dairy day was free to the public. The only thing to spend money on was food and what the dairy team sold; shirts, bibs, book packs, trinkets and more. Free milk was given away and the Chobani truck and team were present too.

Some of the events included: a zoo mobile, hay maze, duck derby, raptor show, face painting, milk run, farm hand olympics, and pedal tractor pull.

The hay maze was filled with children running through the bales only to find a dead end and then backing out to find the right path. Screams of joy and anticipation echoed throughout and once the children figured out the maze from start to finish, they continued running through the bales, showing their friends and parents how they outsmarted the maze. Some decided to climb the bales and put on their best winner stance.

Linda Roberts said she couldn’t get her son to stop running through and they had been there about fifteen minutes so far. She said it was his favorite part of dairy day.

The line for face painting was about fifty people long, including parents and grandparents waiting with their children. One mom said she had gone to all of the other events and saved this for last. Her two girls were enjoying yogurt while they waited.

The Page Wildlife Center was back this year and shared their raptors, screech owl and more. Plus, adult Texas Longhorns and calf from RTG Ranch in Norwich, were also on site.

There were opportunities to milk a fake goat, make butter and ice-cream and a coloring contest for elementary school students displayed about 400 pictures on the walls in the 4-H building. All of the activities, displays, and exhibits were in the Agriculture section of the fairgrounds.

Amongst the activities in the 4-H building, was a taste challenge, which butter is from cows milk and which butter is from goats milk. Surprisingly, quite a few farmers and visitors couldn’t tell the difference.

The kick off of the first Chenango County ice cream trail took place and runs from Dairy day to July 31st. Many ice-cream shops are participating.

“When you visit a participating ice cream shop, you’ll be given a card with the purchase of an ice cream treat and if you visit every ice-cream place in the county, and purchase an ice cream, they will stamp your card which qualifies you for a prize. July is ice cream month,” Davis said.

Both dairy and agriculture were featured during the event. Maple syrup and other various aspects were present to provide fun and education for the entire family.

Equipment, tractors and agricultural trucks were on show as well as the operators answering many questions regarding farm equipment and how it is used.

Karen Hoffman is one of the original committee members, who is still very involved with planning Dairy Day.

Hoffman said her favorite part of Dairy Day has always been building the hay bale maze. It provided tons of fun again this year for the kids; with its dead ends, trick corners, and multiple ways to get through.

The very first Dairy Day was held in June 1941, and was discontinued due to the war. It was brought back in 2001 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the 1941 event.

A group of farmers and other individuals involved in Chenango County Agriculture put Dairy Day together. Two of those farmers are Marjorie and Stan Davis, who have dairy farmed in the Town of Otselic for many decades. Marjorie was also a teacher at Otselic Valley School and Stan has been involved with the Chenango County Fair Board, amongst many other Ag contributions over the years.