FORTUNA, Calif. – April 14, 2025 – Two young women will compete for the prestigious title of Dairy Princess during the District 1 Dairy Princess contest on May 9, 2025, at the River Lodge in Fortuna.
This year's contestants are Catarina Freitas of Eureka and Tinnley Pidgeon of Ferndale.
Catarina is the daughter of Maria and Marco Freitas. She is a junior at Northern United Humboldt Charter. Her grandparents started The Freitas Dairy, and she showed dairy cattle at Redwood Acres Fair and Humboldt County Fair. She is on the basketball and volleyball teams and participates in track and field. Catarina is serving as President of her school’s Future Farmers of America Chapter and has been on the Freshwater 4-H Officer Team for seven years.
Tinnley, daughter of Beckie McCanless and Matt Pidgeon, is a junior at Ferndale High School. Her family has been in the dairy business for five generations and she has her own herd of Jersey cattle. Tinnley is on the softball and basketball team and is serving as the Associated Student Body President. She is also active in the Future Farmers of America program serving as Chapter President and North Coast Region Vice President at Large.
The young lady crowned as Dairy Princess will represent the dairy industry in Humboldt and Del Norte counties where she will serve the area as an ambassador for the dairy industry with various audiences. The newly selected princess and her alternate will participate in mandatory training, provided by the California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB), where they will receive professional development coaching.
To learn more about the program or to purchase tickets for the contest, please contact Mary Ann Renner at (707) 496-1501 or dmarenner@frontiernet.net.
California is the nation’s leading milk producer, and makes more butter, ice cream and nonfat dry milk than any other state. California is the second-largest producer of cheese and yogurt. California milk and dairy foods can be identified by the Real California Milk seal, which means they are made with milk from the state’s dairy farm families who lead the nation in sustainable farming practices.
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About Real California Milk/California Milk Advisory Board
The California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB), an instrumentality of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, is funded by the state’s dairy farm families who lead the nation in sustainable dairy farming practices. With a vision to nourish the world with the wholesome goodness of Real California Milk, the CMAB’s programs focus on increasing demand for California’s sustainable dairy products in the state, across the U.S. and around the world. Connect with the CMAB at RealCaliforniaMilk.com, Facebook, YouTube, Tik Tok, Instagram, X and Pinterest.