In the beginning
"Milk Center of the World"
What started as a small downtown tribute to the dairy farmer in 1942 became a major festival by the end of the decade with 25,000 people attending Harvard Milk Day staged at the Speedway. "It is only right and natural that Harvard should honor the producers who have made it the Milk Center of the World." said program chairman  Charles A Minot in 1943. "This Milk Day will be much more than the glorified picnic it started out to be." ....more
Nowadays
 THE TRADITION CONTINUES
TO EVOLVE.
Today, the huge crowds continue to come to Harvard the first weekend in June. The milk, the dairy industry's contribution and tradition continue to be the foundation for the festival. |
Milk Day Figures
1st Milk Day Queen
 Norma Garrett of Harvard was elected the 1st Harvard Milk Day Queen in 1945.
"One of my outstanding memories is of sitting in a huge wooden milk bottle, waiting for my cue to kick out the door of the milk bottle and emerge as Harvard's First Milk Queen."
-Norma (Garrett) Wittmus
 Norma reenacts her Milk Queen debut for a photographer. Until the tradition ended in 1983, each year the queen would emerge from the huge milk bottle or a huge milk carton .
Harmilda
 Harmilda is the fiberglass cow that sits at the intersection of Hwy 14 & 173. Her name is from the words HArvard MILk DAys. She has become the town's mascot. |
