Wisconsin Ag Connection - Ann O'Leary Selected as 69th Alice in Dairyland

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Ann O'Leary Selected as 69th Alice in Dairyland
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 05/09/2016

A Rock County woman has been crowned as Wisconsin's 69th Alice in Dairyland. Ann O'Leary from Evansville was selected for the title Saturday night at Watertown High School in Watertown during a finale program hosted by Dodge County.

Ann grew up showing Jerseys and Holsteins at the county, district and state level. She was heavily involved in the Rock County Jr. Holstein Association and the Rock County 4-H Program and served as the 2009 Rock County 4-H Fair Queen. O'Leary studied Biology and Neuroscience at Carthage College and graduated with All College Honors in 2014. She currently works at Epic as a corporate recruiter, volunteers with the Rock County 4-H Program and serves on the Carthage College Alumni Council.

"As Alice in Dairyland, I want to share the story of Wisconsin's $88.3 billion agricultural industry with both producers and consumers," said O'Leary. "My goal is to educate them on the diversity of Wisconsin's agricultural industry and encourage people of all backgrounds to become advocates of Wisconsin agricultural products."

Other finalists in the running during the competition were Jenna Braun, Mayville; Victoria Horstman, Sparta; Kristin Klossner, New Glarus; Emily Selner, Denmark; and Joanna Wavrunek, Denmark.

Serving as judges this year were Laura Wilford, Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board; Katie Roth, Grant County Farm Service Agency; and Kathy Schimtt, DATCP-Wisconsin Farm Center. NBC 15 News Anchor Amy Pflugshaupt served as the mistress of ceremonies.

Meanwhile, this year's Alice, Teyanna Loether of Sauk City, said her journey over the past year has been an unforgettable experience.

"As a new journey begins, I wish the next Alice in Dairyland all the best as the legacy of Wisconsin's agriculture ambassador grows," Loether said. "Thank you Wisconsin, from the bottom of my heart. I am proud to be an advocate for agriculture, today, tomorrow and always."

And before giving up her title, Teyanna presented the 2016 Friend of Alice Award to Pam Jahnke and Bryant Gill from Midwest Family Broadcasting in Madison.

Also in the crowd on Saturday were some former Alices, including Virginia (Peterson) Bahe-1950, Mary Ellen (Jenks) Jordal-1954, Debra (Casucci) Crave-1981, Lisa (Hosely) Behnke-1985, Stephanie Binversie-1989, Renea (Troeller) Heinrich-1991, Angela (Corbin) Tuthill-1993, Courtney (Ott) Booth-1997, Jennifer (Hasler) Meyer-1998, Sheri (Holt) Hicken-2001, Natalie (Parmentier) Killion-2003, Betsy Francoeur-2004, Nicole (Franzen-Reese) Barlass-2006, Jill Makovec-2007, Ashley (Huibregtse) Andre-2008, Cheryl O'Brien-2009, Christine (Lepple) Lindner-2010, Katie Wirkus-2011, Rochelle (Ripp) Schnadt-2012, Kristin (Natzke) Olson-2013, and Zoey Brooks-2014.

O'Leary officially begins her duties as Alice on June 6. Until then, Loether will continue to make appearances at various events as her successor goes through a brief training process.

Alice in Dairyland is a full-time public relations professional employed by the state's division of agricultural development. Each year, she travels more than 40,000 miles throughout the state and nation, promoting Wisconsin products to audiences of all ages and types.

Dodge County has over 402,000 acres of farmland in production, with its dairy and grain industries alone generating over $310 million in cash receipts annually. Vegetables, Christmas trees and floriculture are other major commodities grown in the area, along with specialty livestock such as hogs, fish and game birds. The county's agricultural sector contributes about $761 million to the local economy and provides thousands of jobs.

Next year, the Alice in Dairyland finals will be held in Brown County in May 2017, with the finale program being held at the Lambeau Field Atrium in Green Bay.

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