From left to right in the Assembly Chamber: Seantor O’Mara, NYS Dairy Princess Hailey Pipher, Assemblyman Friend, and Assemblyman Palmesano.
From left to right in the Assembly Chamber: Melissa Bower of the Chemung County Farm Bureau, Gina Blakemore, Senator O’Mara, Hailey Pipher, Assemblyman Friend, Assemblyman Palmesano, Sydney Blakemore of the Chemung County Dairy Princess Program, and Chemung County Farm Bureau President Ashur Terwilliger.
Albany, N.Y., - State Senator Tom O’Mara (R,C,I-Big Flats), Assemblyman Chris Friend (R,C,I-Big Flats) and Assemblyman Phil Palmesano (R,C,I-Corning) this week paid tribute on the floor the state Assembly to recently crowned New York State Dairy Princess Hailey Pipher and to representatives of the Chemung County Farm Bureau.
Pipher, whose parents Tom and Faith are Chemung County dairy farmers, served throughout the past year as the Chemung County Dairy Princess. She was named the 2018-2019 New York State Dairy Princess at the 55th Annual Dairy Princess Pageant sponsored by the American Dairy Association North East (ADANE) on February 20 in Liverpool, New York. She was chosen by judges from among 16 county dairy princesses competing in the state pageant.
In a joint statement, O’Mara, Friend and Palmesano said, “What an outstanding, well-earned, and well-deserved achievement for Hailey. She has made all of us extremely proud and we look forward to her reign as New York State Dairy Princess throughout the coming year when she will be a prominent ambassador for our regional and statewide dairy industry.”
Pipher, who is currently studying agriculture at Cornell University, will be busy over the next year representing ADANE and promoting the state’s nationally renowned milk and dairy products at farm meetings and special events throughout New York.
Chemung County Farm Bureau President Ashur Terwilliger, Melissa Bower of the Chemung County Farm Bureau, and Gina Blakemore and her daughter, Sydney, of the Chemung County Dairy Princess Program, accompanied Pipher to Albany on Monday.
The New York Farm Bureau held its annual “Taste NY Reception and Lobby Day” in Albany this week. Farm Bureau members from across the state, including Chemung County, annually visit the state capital to meet directly with state legislators on their public policy priorities.
O’Mara, Friend and Palmesano said, "The corps of state legislators who truly understand the challenges facing New York’s farmers keeps getting smaller and smaller and so we have been proud to stand up and speak out for our local farmers and for an agricultural industry that’s been a mainstay of our culture and economy across hundreds of communities throughout New York, especially upstate. The members of our local Farm Bureaus, including Ashur Terwilliger in Chemung County, work day in and day out to make sure that New York’s family farms get the attention and representation they need and deserve within state government.”
From left to right in the Assembly Chamber: Seantor O’Mara, NYS Dairy Princess Hailey Pipher, Assemblyman Friend, and Assemblyman Palmesano.