Butter sculpting tradition carries on, despite canceled Minnesota State Fair
The tradition of sculpting the likeness of Princess Kay of the Milky Way and her court looks a little bit different amid the pandemic. (FOX 9)
FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. (FOX 9) - While the Minnesota State Fair won’t be happening this year, the butter sculpture tradition of Princess Kay of the Milky Way and her court continues amid the pandemic.
This year, Gerry Kulzer is in charge of carving all ten sculptures, which he’ll be completing over the next 10 days.
“There’s a lot of difficulties in this time, but we’re working through them,” said Kulzer.
If the butter sculpting booth were a pool, then Gerry Kulzer got tossed in the deep end.
“Normally I’m working for two weeks on a portrait and this is done in a day,” said Kulzer.
Newly crowned Princess Kay, Brenna Connelly of Byron, Minnesota still gets the honor of a butter likeness. The carving still takes places in the State Fair’s Dairy Barn, though empty and almost unrecognizable.
“Although it looks different, it’s still a great opportunity to be here today,” said Connelly.
Instead of being on display, the carving goes straight to the Connelly family freezer before being divvied up.
“I love to bake, so I’ll be baking some cookies and then my friends and family will put it into some of their favorite recipes,” said Connelly.
Linda Christensen, who has sculpted the butter carvings since 1972, is staying in California due to the coronavirus. Though, she was able to check in through Zoom on her apprentice’s work.
“When she was looking at it, I turned it so she could see it straight-on, she told me how the cheeks were a little uneven and the smile on one side was down farther,” said Kulzer.
Kulzer has been training under Christensen for the past couple years and this year was due to carve a couple on his own, but not all ten.
“It’s one thing to sit in there for eight hours,” he said. “It’s another thing to come back the next day and sit in there another eight hours.”
Add to that, the Plexiglas shield between Kulzer and Connelly that fogs up every time someone opens the door. There's also the masks they wear, which means to carve most of her face, Connelly sometimes has to stand outside on a ladder.
The experience still happens and in many ways, is more memorable than any other year.
“I’m just grateful we have the opportunity to be here today,” said Connelly. “I still get my dream of wearing this crown and getting my likeness sculpted in butter.”