All right, Mike Brindisi here for Good News York.
I should call it Great News York because we're
at the Great New York State Fair. I consider
this the kickoff event. Look, Times Square has
the ball drop, right? Pennsylvania has Punxsutawney
fill. Well, guess what? Syracuse, New York has
the butter sculpture reveal. And we are lucky
enough to be here today. And I'm standing with
two awesome women from the American Dairy Association,
Olivia and... Addy! So I'm here with two of the
ambassadors of the American Dairy Association,
Addy and Olivia. Thank you for doing an interview
with us. Tell us a little bit about yourselves
and about how you got into this position. Yeah,
so I grew up surrounded by the dairy industry.
My grandparents have... retired dairy farm. They
previously milked about 120 head of dairy cows
and growing up I always helped on the dairy farm
and I grew up showing dairy cows and it inspired
me to join programs like FFA and 4 -H and then
I eventually got tied into the dairy ambassador
program and I fell in love with it and decided
to run for a state dairy ambassador position
this coming year. Well that is awesome and Yeah,
I'm Addie Brown. I'm from right here in Onondaga
County. I've always been submerged in the dairy
industry. I show dairy cattle at the county,
state, and national level. I love to promote
the dairy industry to everyone and anyone and
share how nutritious and delicious dairy can
be. And it is. I'm a big fan of chocolate milk,
by the way. Is that okay? Did you know that chocolate
milk actually, well, all milk has 13 essential
nutrients, but chocolate milk is the perfect
beverage to refuel with after exercise because
it reboots your muscles after hard work. My brother
-in -law was a college athlete and after every
game my mother -in -law would bring him this
Milk chocolate milk that was a muscle milk and
I used to laugh and I go who drinks chocolate
milk out So it looks like the jokes on me. It's
it is good for you. Yes, so my volleyball team
I actually bring a gallon of chocolate milk after
our workouts in practice and we all drink chocolate
milk after because it really helps Refuel your
muscles. What about brownies? Are those good
for you? No, all right. I'm put They do they
do so you guys are doing amazing things we're
here for the great sculpture reveal, which is
amazing in itself. Tell us a little bit about
how you applied to become an ambassador. What
does that entail? What do you guys do? So we
start at the county level. Every county is different
with how you get involved in their dairy promotions
program, but you eventually, if you're interested,
you can run for a state ambassador position.
And I know for us it changes a little bit every
year, but we had a competition in February and
there were five girls from different counties
across New York State and we had to put together
a portfolio of pictures of our time as a dairy
ambassador at the county level we were asked
to prepare a speech and what else there was something
else oh we underwent an interview yes we did
an interview as well so yeah it's a great way
to be ready for the real world. We learn a lot
of skills within this organization, learning
how to give an interview, write a speech, and
be able to give it. These interview skills, like
a live interview like this, these skills will
carry on with us for the rest of our life, and
we're so grateful to have this opportunity. I'm
so grateful to see your generation. Learning
those kind of skills and by the way, you're crushing
it. So you're doing well So for you to want to
be an ambassador of the American Dairy Association,
you must love dairy Where does that come from?
Is it a pass down through the family or is this
something you just kind of? Yeah, so I personally
get my love for dairy from my grandpa. He obviously
had a dairy farm, but he is just so passionate
about it. And I'm just so grateful to have him
in my life to be able to teach me all these skills.
And honestly, I don't think I'd be standing here
today without his love for dairy. It's such amazing.
Don't get me crying on camera, all right? Well,
both of my parents work in the dairy industry.
Both of them are health and food inspectors for
dairy specifically. I work on a dairy farm and
have show cattle, so I do a lot on the fancier
cow side, but I do a lot on the conventional
too. I've always been in the dairy industry.
I've been in this program since I've been in
a bucket seat. My mom used to run a program in
Cortland County, so it's been a kind of family
thing. My great -grandfather and grandfather
ran a pretty large dairy farm out in Cortland,
New York, and they sold in the 90s, but it's
definitely a generational thing that I'll carry
on forever. That's amazing. Couple more questions
because I know we got a busy day here. What is
kind of the main message that the American Dairy
Association ambassadors want to spread? What
is the message you're trying to get out? What
are you really trying to do for the dairy industry?
couple of key messages so animal care dairy farmers
take phenomenal care of their animals and most
of them yeah every day and they put their animals
before themselves sustainability they take care
of their land and then dairy is nutritious and
delicious so it's packed with 13 essential nutrients
to help your body grow and function so make sure
to have your three servings of dairy a day. Wow
you guys are well rehearsed. Would you say now
this this particular event the butter sculpture
reveal Obviously, it's a huge deal in this area
How does it, like you wake up today, is this
like the Super Bowl for an American Dairy Association
ambassador? Pretty much. It's just really the
butter sculpture reveal. It's been going on for
57 years and it really just goes to show the
importance of dairy in New York. It brings everyone
together and it gives people something to look
forward to that is surrounded by dairy and I
just think it's a great representation of what
New York dairy has to offer. And it's made of
800 pounds of butter, which is about 2 ,000 gallons
of milk, which is about a day's work for 222
cows. So that's a lot of milk. But it's really
cool that farmers are, again, being sustainable.
All this butter will go to a farm in Western
New York to be processed in a digester, a methane
digester, so it'll be able to be reused and sent
back into the earth. So in addition to having
800 pounds of butter in here shaped into some
sort of amazing sculpture, none of it goes to
waste. Correct. I toured the farm. The energy
used from the anaerobic digester can power a
house for five days or something like that. It
was really cool. Some crazy math, but it was
really interesting. Do you know what the sculpture...
I know you can't tell me, but do you already
know what it is? Yes. It is super cool. It is
very cool. Well, I mean, I feel like it's cool
no matter what. I think if you revealed, like
if the curtain dropped and it was just a big
square, I would think it was awesome. So, I mean.
It's a very New York theme and it will all make
sense when you guys see it. Yes. We have an inside
little track there. It's something New York themed.
Okay, good to know. Last question. This is a
personal question. I grew up hearing that when
cows lay down, that means it's going to rain.
Is that true? I haven't ever heard that. heard
that either. I don't think that's true. We have
somebody in the background who I trust, who knows,
saying that it is it is not true they lay down
all the time. They lay down all the time. They
spend a lot of their time resting. They're only
milked for a little short time during the day,
but the rest of the time they're eating, sleeping,
and just hanging out with their friends in the
barn. Yeah, see, I feel like my mom told me that
just to make me feel better about something.
I don't know. I don't know where I heard that,
but now I know it's my whole life's been a lie.
Last question and we ask everybody this. You
kind of already did, but we are Good News York.
This week we're Great News York because of the
Great New York State Fair. Give us some good
news. It could be about you. It could be about
the dairy industry. It could be anything. Just
give me good news. I'm just super happy to be
here, honestly. been such a blessing I live about
four hours away so to be able to come to the
State Fair for a reason is super cool. Well welcome
to Syracuse and thank you for the good news.
And my great news is it's the State Fair I live
30 minutes here I live just up south of Atisco
Lake so this is kind of a short drive for me
and I come up here a lot but the New York State
Fair is so amazing it has so many ways or so
many opportunities to learn about agriculture
so I really encourage you as the public to please
get out to the State Fair talk to the dairy exhibitors
go see the birthing center and watch them. miracle
of life and grab a 25 cent glass of milk because
it is so delicious and nutritious. Or chocolate
milk, it's actually good for you. Addy and Olivia
from the American Dairy Association, the official
ambassadors of the American Dairy Association.
Last one, plugs, anything you want, a website,
emails, phone numbers, anything. You can go follow
us on the New York State Dairy Ambassador Instagram
and you can keep track of what we're doing throughout
our time as Dairy Ambassadors. We post a lot
and we do some super fun videos so watch out
what we do. New York State Fair this week. Oh
my gosh. All right. You just kicked off this
event for us personally at Good News York. Thank
you for your time and your wisdom and for ruining
the childhood notion that cows lay down when
it rains. Addie Olivia, American Dairy Association
ambassadors, we love you. We're ready for the
reveal. New York themed. All right. Thank you
so much. Good luck. Thank you. Countdown three,
two, one. Let's pull the curtains. There it is.
The theme of this year's butter sculpture is
Dairy for Good, Nourish, Grow, Thrive. It celebrates
the joy and nourishment dairy provides at every
stage of life, and it's inspired by the 125th
anniversary of the wonderful Wizard of Oz and
its local New York author, L. Fran Kahn. I want
to do this MTV crib style coming to my butter
hut. I had to butter someone up to get in here
Anyway, we are inside. I know you wish you were
here. We are inside next to the New York State
Fair's butter sculpture and Here's the theme
dairy for good nourish grow thought thrive It's
celebrating the joys and nourishment that dairy
provides at every stage of life. But here's the
thing They also incorporated the Wizard of Oz,
because it's inspired by the 125th anniversary
of the wonderful Wizard of Oz, and it's the local
New York author, L. Frank Baum. But check this
out, guys. Every bit of detail has to do with
exactly what I said, the Wizard of Oz. Cowardly
lion, right? Milk jugs holding down the thing.
We've got Dairy Defies Gravity, a little Wicked
reference. This is apparently for, um... What
is it? Reasons of licensing, we're gonna call
this dog Dot. But we know what the dog, who the
dog is. And this of course is a young girl, possibly
named Dorothy. The poppies. I mean. And it's
Linda, the good witch. This is absolutely stunning.
Folks, we are looking at 800 pounds of butter.
This is about the amount I put on every bagel
I eat. And my wife gets mad. But check it out,
man. Look at the detail on the brick road. Wickedly
good for you. And one of the sculptors I was
talking to mentioned that they didn't know how
to make the yellow brick road pop because everything's
yellow. So they did the contrast with the grass
and the poppies. It's the first time, oh, and
the hooves on the cow. It's the first time that
they've actually used color. Um, on the butter
sculpture, it's always been yellow, so that's
kind of cool that we're here for that, too. And
then there she is. My wife. I mean, the Wicked
Witch, everybody. The Wicked Witch. So, good
New York, live, the great New York State Fair.
I dare say it's great New York. I've always wanted
to see the butter sculpture up close. Being next
to it is, uh, it's pretty awesome, man. I want
to eat my way out of this thing. All right, Mike
Brindisi of Good New York, or I should say Great
New York, because we're at the Great New York
State Fair. I'm honored to be standing here with
the New York State Fair director. I think it's
even more than that. Is that the right title?
We'll go with director. We'll go with director.
Julie LaFaith, how are you, besides tired? 23
hours to go, and I've never been more alive.
I bet. This is your Super Bowl. I mean, you are
the head honcho of this thing, the Great New
York State Fair. Everybody knows about it. You
know something I was interested in is what goes
into the planning and and what is your background
like how do you How do you even get appointed
by the governor for this? I mean, what are the
credentials? I wouldn't even know somewhere around
15 years ago I realized that I really liked doing
big massive events and my first 20 years my career
was Parks and Recreation and I was with the city
of Syracuse and as you know Clinton Square any
of those big downtown festivals So I really fell
in love with that and I love public service I
found that I really love working to make other
people happy. And that's what the state fair
is, right? I mean, the whole thing worked for
11 months so that we could see 13 days of joy.
I mean, we're standing in front of an 800 pound
butter sculpture. What's not fun about that,
right? So the planning process, I'm going to
imagine this is a 364 day thing a year. It is.
And we get to say fun sentences that you never
thought you'd say in your life. Like yesterday,
I said, make sure the bike rack is in front of
the. Brontosaur or the wooly mammoth. And I was
like, that's a sentence I never thought I would
say. It's like having kids. I say things to my
kids that I'm just like, what? Why? I never thought
those words would come out of my mouth. Yeah,
I mean, it's 800 pounds of butter. And then,
you know, you're going to see 100 tons of sand.
And we get to work all the logistics out of that
so that in a few days, you can see what the sand
sculpture is. It's phenomenal. Now, so when this
is all over, which is we're just kicking it off,
do you have like a week to yourself or does it
go right back into it? Oddly enough, the fair
ends on September 1st Labor Day for the public,
but we then have to tear down for three weeks.
Five days later, a horse show comes in. People
forget that we are a year round event center.
We also host 200 other events. So the fair, everybody
is going back to school or prepping for fall
or getting their pumpkin spice lattes, and we're
bringing in horses. Julie, I am concerned for
your health. You need to rest. So tell us, I
mean, every year there's a lot of staples that
we will obviously expect at the New York State
Fair. Is there anything different this year?
Anything new that you're excited to unveil or
to talk about? There's a lot of new food. obviously.
Good. You can't have the fair without food. We
have new competitions. I keep plugging this one
because I'm so excited to see it. Bunny Agility.
Bunny Agility? Bunny Agility and it's exactly
what it sounds like. Bunnies going through a
course. There's the llama contest, the llama
jumping contest, the goat costume contest. There's
a new sensory shed. We have amazing music this
year and when I say music I don't just mean Chevy
Court, suburban park. I mean the permanent restaurant
stands and the cultural villages who all book
full days worth of music. You can come on a day.
and probably see 15 concerts. That's insane.
I took a look at the lineup, and it's not just
in the Chevy court. It's all over the place,
and it's all throughout the fair. If you're going
for that suburban park show, there's a new bar
up there called the Empire Bar, and they're going
to start doing music every day at 5 .30. So if
you're going to go to that 8 p .m. show, go at
5 .30 and start listening to local bands like
Just Joe. You don't have to have a beer, just
sit and enjoy. We love Joe. Yeah, Just Joe. Just
Joe. Go listen to him, have a water, have a bag
of chips, and then wait for suburban park show.
You just spent zero dollars. Dude, you nailed
it. Um, so I've got, I've got to ask. Let's just
pretend I live under a rock. I've never been
to the New York State Fair. What, what is the
one food? I'm at the New York State Fair. I'm
like, I got to eat one thing. I know this is
very hard, but, but I told you there'd be no
hard hitting questions. I think I lied. What
is the one or maybe three, if you have to pick
a favorite child. Oh, you got me there. I can't
pick a favorite child. My daughter thinks you
can, but yeah, you're right. Uh, you know what?
I'll tell you what people go for. There you go.
the dollar potato, New York potatoes, the 25
cent milk, all of those things. See, I'm a big
sausage and peppers guy. I feel like sausage
and peppers gets overlooked. And then, obviously,
we have now the Toss and Fire stand, so you've
got to get your wood -fired pizza. We love Nick
and the boys. We have pizza in a cone this year.
We have cookie dough in a bowl. These are all
new things. We have deep -fried turkey legs,
deep -fried ribs. I mean, deep -fried anything.
Take whatever you find and just deep -fry it.
You don't get it here. You can deep -fry your
cell phone and eat it here. New cream puffs here.
Really? They're the size of your head. They're
the size of your head right here in the Jerry
Product building, so... Come hungry. The Great
New York State Fair does it big. Julie LaFave,
director of the fair. I want you to sleep after
this. Anything else you want to say before we
go? Give us some good news for Good News York.
It could be about you. It could be about the
fair. What's the good news? I challenge every
fairgoer to find something new that they've,
if they're a returner, go into the Goat Barn
if you've never been there. Try a new food. If
it's not your genre of music, try it out anyways.
Do something new. I think that's just a good
life lesson, you know? Julia LaFave, thank you
so much for your time. Thank you. Director, I
want to say it right. Are you the director, head
honcho, president, CEO? Director of the Great
New York State Fair. Julia LaFave, this is the
woman behind it all, and she's amazing. Thank
you so much for your time. All right. I've seen
lonely times when I could not find a friend