Seventy-five people with 49 boats competed in the fifth annual Dairy Farmers of Oregon Milk Carton Boat Race, June 9 at Westmoreland Park Casting Pond. “Many of the boats paid homage to the event with dairy themes including a dairy bus, dairy cows and a ‘lactose tolerant boat’,” said Pete Kent, executive director of the Oregon Dairy Products Commission. “Oregon’s dairy farm families enjoy hosting the boat race and supporting their local community.”

Dairy Farmers of Oregon revived the event in 2009 to help celebrate June Dairy Month.

Children and adults raced the width of the pond in their handmade boats, created from milk cartons and jugs. Other boats were made just for show — such as “Banana Split,” commanded by two scoops of ice cream, and “Narnia,” which included Lucy and the Lion — while others included powered devices.

Hayden and Bob Kelly of Portland won Best in Show with their boat “Milky Way.” Their names will be engraved on the shiny, perpetual milk can trophy.

Other winners included:

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Showboats
1st place: Fawn Haase and Ericka Johnson of Oregon City with their boat “Wave Bus-ter”
2nd place: Sophie Abbassian, Myla Janssen and Julia Mescher of Portland with their boat “Narnia”
3rd place: Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District and the Natural Resources Conservation Service with their boat “Banana Split”

Corporate/Media
1st place: Colton Snook (Darigold) of Milwaukie, Oregon, in his boat “S.S. Darigold”
2nd place: Rodney Hasey (Kroger Swan Island Dairy) of Portland in his boat “Swan Island Dairy”
3rd place: Shelly Brown (105.1 The Buzz) of Portland on her boat “The ‘Buzz’ard”

Adult (ages 13 and up)
1st place: Colton Snook of Milwaukie, in his boat “S.S. Darigold”
2nd place: Rodney Hasey of Portland in his boat “Swan Island Dairy”
3rd place: Bob Kelly of Portland in his boat “Milky Way”

Adult Mechanical Advantage (boats with human-powered devices)
1st place: Adam Winiecki of Vancouver, Washington, in his boat “Milktacular”

Family/Multi-Rider
1st place: Hayden and Bob Kelly of Portland in their boat “Milky Way”
2nd place: Sarah and Connor Given of Clackamas, Oregon, with their boat “Enderman”
3rd place: Noah Clark and Jeremy Johnson of Portland with their boat “Skinny Cows”

Children’s Race (ages 7 to 13)
1st place: Portia Neth of Clackamas, Oregon, in her boat “Loch ‘Neth’ Monster”
2nd place: Isaac Nelson of Clackamas, in his boat “Incredible Isaac”
3rd place: Lily Salimena of Portland in her boat “Lil Moover”

Children’s Mechanical Advantage
1st place Josiah Winiecki of Vancouver in his boat “Milktacular”
2nd place: Evan McClelland of Milwaukie, with his boat “Dairy Air.” PD

—From Oregon Dairy Products Commission news release

PHOTO
Sophie Abbassian, Myla Janssen and Julia Mescher of Portland took second place in the Showboat category with their boat 'Narnia' during the fifth annual Dairy Farmers of Oregon Milk Carton Boat Race on June 9 at Westmoreland Park Casting Pond. Photo courtesy of Oregon Dairy Products Commission.