D6—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 28,1981
Berks Dairy Princess finds time
BY LAUREL SCHAEFFER
Staff Correspondent
WOMELSDORF - Ask just
about any kindergarten, first, or
second grader in Berks County
who the county Dairy Princess is
and chances are they will be able
to tell you. And if by chance they
can’t remember her name is
Karen Sattazahn, they probably at
least remember meeting her
Karen has visited over 1600
school children and will have
talked to more than 2000 by the
time she relinquishes her crown to
a successor on April 25 at 7 p m at
the Berks County Agricultural
Center, Leesport
The pageant has been moved to
mis new date because, thiough
experience, June has proved too
busy
In previous yeais, many 01 the
eligible candidates were too in
volved with high school
graduation, finding summer jobs,
or any number of other related
activities Also, members of the
dairy princess committee found it
was difficult to make public ap
pearance arrangements for the
Dairy Princess during June, which
is Dairy Month, because one reign
was ending and another beginning
“This way, added Karen, “the
new dairy princess will have more
tune to work on her scrapbook for
the State Dairy Princess Contest ”
Looking back over all of the
activities and events Karen has
attended as Berks County’s Dairy
Prmcess, she admits she enjoyed
teaching children about milk and
other dairy products the most
Not only does Karen enjoy
working with children, she also
believes in teaching them, while
they are young, the importance of
dairy products in their diet
“The kids go home and tell their
parents how much milk they all
should be consuming each day,”
Karen remarked.
Karen also has been active in
promoting dairy products in
grocery stores throughout the
country
“Handing out recipes and
prepared samples which are made
with at least one dairy product
ingredient has been very suc
cessful,” she said “It’s amazing
how many people will ask where
they can buy the product and will
actually go to the dairy case and
purchase the ingredients needed
for the recipes,” she continued.
Karen, the daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Clarence Sattazahn, RD
Womelsdorf, said she feels
strongly about promoting dairy
products and educating the con
sumer about the dairy industry.
She added she has been amazed by
some of the questions her
audiences have posed concerning
dairy farming.
“Knowledge I have taken for
granted because I have been
raised on a dairy farm is new to
many people I have talked to,” she
explained. “We don’t have as
much money to put towards dairy
product advertising as other food
industries have.”
However, she said she feels the
use of the “REAL” sticker, now
being placed on genuine dairy
products will help
“I believe many consumers are
fooled by imitation products on the
market today,” she said.
Karen, who is majoring in
elementary education and library
science at Kutztown State College,
said her studies have helped her
with teaching skills and dealing
with children as well as helping her
make good contacts Karen will
begin student teaching in the Fall
and will graduate in December,
1981.
Scheduling her duties as dairy
princess and college student has
worked out much better than she
had originally expected, Karen
confessed Her grades actually
improved, and she admitted she
has learned to budget her time
much more efficiently, scheduling
appearances during breaks,
weekends, and holidays
Karen still finds time to work at
home, helping with milking on
weekends and holidays and doing
other farm related chores as her
time permits The Sattazahns farm
about 185 acres and milk 100 cows
under the name Zahnheim
Holsteins
Karen has seven cows of her
own, some raised as 4-H projects
She said she enjoys driving
tractors best because she loves to
be outside, but quickly added that
other duties such as sketching
calves for registration, and feeding
also are enjoyable chores
This dairy princess has been
very active in many organizations
and is now serving as a 4-H leader,
youth chairman of Marion Grange,
director of the Berks County
Junior Holstein Club, a Sunday
School teacher, and president of
Kutztown State College Circle K
Chapter
She said she firmly believes that
her 4-H background and the many
workshops setup by the dairy
princess committee before the
pageant last year has helped her
prepare for her role as Dairy
Prmcess Karen noted she enjoyed
going to the State Pageant,
because she had the opportunity to
learn more about the dairy in
dustry and her role as a dairy
spokesperson, as well as renew old
friendships
Karen said she hopes as many
eligible contestants as possible will
enter this year’s pageant, adding it
was such a rewarding experience
for herself
Girls between the ages of 16 and
22 who are daughters of dairy
fanners or who own at least two
dairy animals are eligible to enter
Activities for the contestants begin
at 2 p m April 5 at Karen’s home
where they will have an orientation
and a picture-taking session
There will also be public
speaking, poise, and beauty
workshops to help prepare the
contestants for the pageant A
mother-daughter brunch is
scheduled for Apnl 11 And an
educational workshop will also be
scheduled for the contestants at
which tune they will have the
opportunity to learn more about
the dairy industry and nutntion
Karen stated her successor
should make the most of oj>-
portumties, be herself and enjoy
her duties
“I found talking before groups
gets easier once you’ve seen people
are interested in what you have to
say,” Karen remarked “It’s the
waiting before your appearance
that is the worst ”
For information on the dairy
prmcess pageant contact Karen at
215/589-2680, Phoebe Bitler at
215/944-0541, or Vernette Myers at
215/756-6436
Here are two of Karen’s favorite
recipes, the first a family favorite
for years handed down for
several generations
Strawberry Fluff
6 ounce package strawberry
gelatin
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup strawberries
1 cup miniature mar
shmallows
Prepare gelatin, chill and set
Whip cream and fold into gelatin
Fold in strawberries and mar
shmallows Makes 4 to six sei
vings
to teach, study , and milk
Among her on-farm duties are feeding
heifers and getting the eight-head Carousel
milking parlor ready for the evening run. Berks
County Dairy Princess Karen Sattazahn
Berks County Dairy Princess Karen Sat- has spent a great deal of time off the farm, too.
tazahn takes the measure of production from v j s iting local elementary schools,
the farm bulk tank. As dairy princess, Karen
Scalled Potatoes m
Cheese Sauce
6 potatoes, sliced
1 onion, chopped
2 teaspoons salt
ground pepper, dash
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups hot milk
1 cup grated American
Cheese
parsley flakes
Melt butter m double boiler Add
flour, seasoning and stir until
smcotn Slowly add hot milk,
stirring constantly. When it
thickens melt the grated cheese in
the sauce Put layers of sliced
potatoes, onions and cheese sauce
into buttered baking dish or
casserole, repeating until all
ingredients are used up Sprinkle
parsley flakes on top Bake 1 hour
at3so degrees SERVES 6
Karen Sattazahn works on her Berks County Dairy Prin
cess record book - another of the important functions of the
dairy princess's job.
emphasized how much she likes the merry-go
round setup, noting it is much faster and
easier to clean.