ADAMS -- Cristy Sathre and Tanya Miller tied for the championship of the 2002 Adams Dairy Days cow milking contest.

Sathre is the 2002 Mower County Dairy Princess and Miller is a Dairy Attendant.

A large crowd watched the all-for-fun contest Sunday evening at the conclusion of the 2002 community celebration.

Last year's winner was Larry Tompkins, superintendent of Southland Public Schools.

Lynn Sathre, president of the Mower County American Dairy Association, was master of ceremonies. Milking contest champion Sathre is the daughter of Lynn and Jane Sathre. She brought her own dairy cow to the contest, Hannah.

"There was a great crowd there for the contest and everybody had fun," said Mower County ADA president Sathre.

The "stars" of the contest were rival restauranteurs, Pete Pairolero, owner

of PJ's Bar and Grill and Renee Schmitz, owner of Renee's Cafe, both in Adams.

Pairolero was forced to fill a beer bottle, while Schmitz had to fill a coffee cup.

One of the cow milking "legends" of the area, David Smith, Johnsburg, returned to action as a special guest at the contest.

"It was a great celebration," said Mower County ADA president Sathre. "We must have set a record with 1,700 malts in the ADA malt stand this year."

Sunday night's contest concluded three days of fun in Adams. The highlight of the Sunday scheduled was the parade through the community.

Larry and Joanne Croker were the grand marshals of the parade.

The Holstein Lady, Jan Heller, walked the parade route to promote dairying.

The Southland High School marching band entertained and Adams American Legion Post No. 146 joined other veterans organizations in patriotic gestures.

The annual Adams Dairy Days celebration is the first of the summer season in Mower County.

Next up is Meadow Fest at Grand Meadow, June 28-20.

Lee Bonorden can be contacted at 434-2232 or by e-mail at :lee.bonorden@austindailyherald.com