By Kris Leonhardt

MARSHFIELD – Marshfield’s celebration of Wisconsin dairy continued through a weekend of activity, as the Dairyfest parade stepped off June 2 at 11 a.m. on Central Avenue.

The Mayor’s Trophy for Overall Excellence went to the Marshfield Area Girl Scouts. Members Sarah and Emily Nemitz helped create the concept of the winning float.

The Marshfield Area Special Olympics received the award for best float by an organization. The float was spearheaded by Jaclyn Zigglemeyer.

“We have eight of our athletes that are dressed maids,” she explained. “We’ve got an old-time farmer ringing the bell with a rope, and we’ve got some nice volunteers for Special Olympics to help carry out the candy to all of the kids and have a good time today.

“Last year, we went with ‘Chocolate Milk Does the Athletes Good,’ and I don’t know where it came from – I guess I was thinking about Christmas-time and eight maids a-milking.

“It was quite a trip coming over here – it was about two miles an hour. We had a couple of athletes helping us get our cow over here.
“Special Olympics are real special, and they do know how to milk a cow.”

For the third-straight year, Figi’s took home top honors for best float by a business. The float featured parodies of popular songs set to the “Celebrate Wisconsin Dairy” theme – “YMCA” became “MILK,” “California Girls” was reworded to “Wisconsin Cows,” and “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” became “Cows Just Want to Have Fun” – recorded by a Figi’s employee.

The Marshfield Silver Laces Figure Skating Club took home top honors for Best Youth float.