Nicole Sanders of Turlock was selected as the 2016 Dairy Princess for the California Milk Advisory Board’s (CMAB) District 6. The crowning took place before a crowd of approximately 275 dairy industry members and their families and friends, on Thursday, June 16 at Our Lady of Assumption Hall in Turlock.

Retiring Dairy Princess Makenzie Neves ended her reign by turning over the title to Nicole, and wished her well as she represents the California dairy industry throughout the coming year.

Nicole will represent District 6, which includes Alameda, Mariposa, Merced, Monterey, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Stanislaus and Tuolumne counties. As Dairy Princess, she will play an important role on the CMAB’s Communications Services team in meeting community relations objectives.

The daughter of Scott and Sharalee Sanders, Nicole recently graduated from Turlock Christian High School and will attend Modesto Junior College in the fall majoring in agriculture business.

First Alternate, Alexia Nunes, is the daughter of Pete and Sandra Nunes of Turlock and was also selected as Miss Vitality by the contestants. She is a recent graduate of Turlock High School and plans to attend Modesto Junior College in the fall and major in animal science.

Marion Carpenter was selected as Second Alternate. She is the daughter of Michael and Adelia Carpenter of Merced. She is currently attending El Capitan High School and will graduate in 2017 with plans to attend a four year university and major in business administration and agriculture business.

Alexia and Marion will assist the new District 6 Dairy Princess in her duties, which include speaking on behalf of the California dairy industry at schools, service clubs, with the media, and at numerous public events throughout the year.

In addition, the Dairy Princess and her Alternates will attend a training session, including etiquette training, presentation skills, a CMAB orientation, and a local dairy tour.

Along with the excitement of naming the new Dairy Princess, the District 6 Dairy Princess committee awarded each contestant a scholarship based on academics and extracurricular activities. The Master of Ceremonies for the gala event was Curt Andre of Turlock. Contestants were judged on poise, personality, speaking ability, education and dairy background. Judges for the contest were Dayna Ghiradelli of Petaluma, Lauren Evangelo of Hanford and Steve Riesenbeck of Escalon. The event Chairperson was Linda Teixeira. The Dairy Princess Contest was catered by Neto’s Catering of Turlock.

California is the nation’s leading milk producer. It also produces more butter, ice cream and nonfat dry milk than any other state. The state is the second-largest producer of cheese and yogurt. Dairy products made with Real California milk can be identified by the Real California Milk or Cheese seals, which certify that the products are made exclusively with milk produced on California dairy farms.

The California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB), an instrumentality of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, is funded by the state’s more than 1,400 dairy families.