The Pilot Club’s 62nd Putnam County Dairy Festival provided local families and visitors with a wholesome throwback to a simpler time on Saturday.
Punctuated by parades, barbecues, beauty queens, rides and games for the kids, and even a live cow, the Dairy Festival had something for all tastes – especially if it related to milk or dairy products.
“This is so much fun,” Ed Morgan of Atlanta declared while watching his eight-year-old daughter, Emma, get harnessed into an elasticized harness that allowed her to safely bounce 12-plus feet in the air while demonstrating flips learned in gymnastics class. “We’re just visiting for the weekend, but I love it here. The small-town atmosphere and just the slower pace of life you feel here is so …”
Morgan pauses while searching for the word. “Refreshing,” he finally says.
This year, the Dairy Festival featured the Morgan County-based Georgia Dairy Youth Foundation, which promotes participation in dairy farming through funding competitions, dairy cattle judging, and 4-H dairy initiatives, GDYF President Carol Williams explained.
In a brief speech delivered in front of the Putnam County courthouse steps as the official festival began, Williams said 95 percent of the kids participating in GDYF events are not even from a dairy, “so a lot of them get their only exposure to dairy farming through different GDYF projects.”
She then introduced four of seven members of the GDYF junior board, including Putnam County’s own Seth Harris, Luke Huff, Caden Swartz and Christian Page.
“We include them in everything we do,” Williams said. “They attend our board meetings. They input what they think we need to be doing, and again, we’re teaching leadership and responsibility at young ages.”
Upon completing her talk, Williams accepted a $500 donation from Eatonton’s Farmers & Merchants Bank and a $250 donation from The Pilot Club.
“Thank you so much for highlighting our group today, we really appreciate it,” she said. “I hope everyone enjoys their day.”