By Whitney Vickers
YELLOW SPRINGS — Hey diddle, diddle;
the wind caused a twiddle;
and the cow fell off of the sign;
the attendees gasped to see such a sport;
and the Facebook audience got involved with a swoon.
High winds ripped through the Miami Valley Saturday, April 2, taking electricity away from a number of residents and Young’s Jersey Dairy’s “Jersey” cow statue from atop of its sign at the farm, its home of more than 40 years.
Young’s Marketing Assistant/Manager Angela Rayner said a customer informed officials that Jersey was gone approximately 5 p.m. Saturday, which prompted them to believe a real cow had escaped. When they went to investigate the scene, they were greeted by the cow statue laying in the parking lot.
“We were just going to keep the public updated on her progress, but it was taken to a new level,” Rayner said. “People are into it and the response has been overwhelming — people love it … It’s been very humbling and awesome to see how many people actually love Young’s and their interaction and need to know what’s happening next.”
The fall took out Jersey’s back hoof, tail, one of her horns and her right ear. Sunday and Monday entailed evaluating Jersey’s condition and Young’s employees locating the missing parts. All but the right ear was found, but Young’s officials found a solution by creating a new one for the cow.
Jersey spent Tuesday in “surgery”, in which all of her missing parts were reattached. The rest of this week has allowed Jersey to rest and recover in a warm barn. Young’s officials are aiming to place the cow back in her original spot Friday, April 15.
“Everything has worked out ‘mooveless’,” Rayner said as she chuckled.
The event has grabbed some attention on Facebook, which Rayner said has provoked Young’s officials to feel both humbled and proud. Jersey received flowers Thursday from a company in Urbana.
“Despite all of the sad news happening in the world lately, this is a little humor and light,” she said. “We’ve had some comments thanking us for an uplifting, cheerful, [humorous] story as opposed to what’s going on in the world today.”
She credits the attention to Jersey’s story to its light-hearted nature. They had expected some attention from the cow-tastrophe, but were surprised with how large the audience grew upon adding humor to the event.
The cow statue is representative of the jersey breed of cattle, which is what Young’s Jersey Dairy raises. It uses the milk produced by its own cows to create the cheese offered at Young’s. Jersey additionally represents the farm’s values.
“We’re a family-owned farm and are in a tight-knit community with caring people surrounding us,” Rayner said. “We are all about family.”
She encourages the community to stay tuned as Young’s will give daily updates on Jersey’s progress.
