King Brothers Dairy and Mascot “Queenie” Celebrate National Milk Day with the Saratoga Springs City School District

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National Milk Day is observed every January 11th, celebrating the first home delivery of milk inside sterilized glass bottles sealed with waxed paper back in 1878. This year, King Brothers Dairy of Schuylerville, NY, has made its own special delivery to celebrate the day.

Along with mascot Queenie, the Schuylerville-based dairy delivered over 4,000 bottles of their award-winning milk to schools in the Saratoga Springs City School District. “Queenie greeted students getting off the bus,” said Jan King, one of two King brothers. “She brought 4,000 bottles of chocolate milk and 200 bottles of 2% milk for the kids.”

Last autumn, New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets awarded King Brothers Dairy gold in the Fluid Milk category for Small Processors and gold in the Chocolate Milk category for dairies of all sizes at the New York State Fair.

“This has been a great opportunity for King Brothers Dairy,” Jan said. “It’s the first time we have ever been able to partner with a school district to have an event like this. The team loved seeing how excited the students were to receive the milk. And the cafeteria staff had just as much fun!”

The milk was provided at no cost to the students. In addition, school cafeteria staff wore custom “Legen-Dairy” t-shirts to honor King Brothers Dairy and National Milk Day 2023.

Sarah Zdobnikow of the King Brothers Dairy team also participated in the celebration. “It’s so rewarding to see the kids eager to get one of our bottles of milk,” she said. “Many students already know and love us, while for others, this was their first time trying us out. One of my favorite moments was when a student thanked me as they walked by with their milk, adding 'this chocolate milk is soooooo good!’”

Eric Bush, the School Lunch Director for the Saratoga Springs City School District, was happy to see how the students reacted to the event. “Everyone, from leadership and teachers to the students, were thrilled to have King Brothers Dairy on-site for National Milk Day,” he said. “This event was a huge success and we would love to collaborate with the Dairy to have their milk and Queenie return to our schools for future events.”

Dairy is the leading agricultural sector in New York, and the state is one of the US's top producers of dairy products. As of 2020, the New York Department of Agriculture and Markets reports, “New York has nearly 3,600 dairy farms producing more than 15 billion pounds of milk, approximately seven percent of the country’s total milk supply”.

To learn more about King Brothers Dairy, visit their website.