Producers, processors and the urban community joined together to celebrate June Dairy Month at the 2012 Dairy Farmers of Oregon Milk Carton Boat Race held Sunday, June 10, at Westmoreland Casting Pond in Portland, Oregon. Competitors paraded their creatively crafted showboats and raced the width of the pond on hand-made boats that floated entirely by milk cartons and milk jugs. The pond was full of unique boats from the yellow brick road and Dorothy in the "Land of Oz" to the bicycle-powered “OS-CAR."

All boats competed for the coveted Best in Show honor and milk can trophy, an award given to a boat which is both fast and creatively designed. This year’s winner was the boat “Dairy Air."

“We saw creative engineering and artistic spirit on the pond,” said Pete Kent, executive director of the Oregon Dairy Products Commission. “The Milk Carton Boat Race is just one of the many ways Oregon’s dairy farm families connect with and support their local community.”

The race returned to Portland in 2009 after a seven-year hiatus. This classic event, dating back to 1973, is part of Portland’s Rose Festival activities and was revived by the Dairy Farmers of Oregon in celebration of June Dairy Month. PD

—From Dairy Farmers of Oregon news release

PHOTOS
TOP RIGHT: Land of Oz showboat.
TOP MIDDLE: OS-CAR showboat. Photos courtesy of Dairy Farmers of Oregon.