The Daily Standard
Story Archive
A very festive calf poses for photos during MVP Dairy's MOOry Christmas event on Monday.
CELINA - Peppermint and Mittens, a pair of Christmas-sweater-clad calves who came into the world only the night before, were all the rage at MVP Dairy on Monday.
Children petted and nestled around the gentle, 100-pound calves in MVP Dairy's Learning Center, eager to have their pictures taken during what was the highlight for many visitors during the first MOOry Christmas.
MOOry Christmas aimed to introduce youngsters and their families to the milk-making process while also providing them with a host of fun activities to kindle the Christmas spirit.
"They were able to get off work with the holidays, so it was another time slot that they were able to come in, because sometimes that is the barrier with families not being able to get in during the open hours," said Allison Ryan, director of marketing and communications at MVP Dairy.
Jace Heinl, 4, Coldwater, smiles as he pets a newborn calf during MVP Dairy's MOOry Christmas event on Monday.
The nearly 4,500-head dairy is a multimillion-dollar, state-of-the-art facility on 82 acres at 7124 U.S. Route 33 that began milking in November 2018. It's owned and operated by two fourth-generation farming families, the McCarty family of Colby, Kansas, and the VanTilburg family of Celina.
"Anytime anyone wants to come to the Learning Center, they're able to see milk's journey from soil to, in our case, yogurt cup, and so this gives people another opportunity to do fun Christmas things, but also gives them a taste of what we're doing, while we're able to share that story," Ryan said.
Santa Claus himself was behind the wheel of a shuttle bus that drove visitors through the tunnel-ventilated free-stall barns where the cows are treated to sand bedding, brushes to scratch their backs and, when temperatures are much higher, misters and fans to keep them cool.
"Anything that we do here, cow care is essentially the top priority," Ryan said, adding MVP Dairy has a care team that, when needed, works with Ohio State University's veterinary team.
Heidi Guggenbiller, 4, St. Henry, decorates a Christmas tree cookie during MVP Dairy's MOOry Christmas event on Monday.
Inside MVP Dairy's Learning Center, local businesses Unique Roots Inc. and Feeding Frenzy Cookies led children in holiday plant crafting and cookie decorating activities. The kids also made Christmas cards.
"The kids can make one for themselves and then also one for a nursing home," Ryan pointed out. "And then the calves are over there that they can love on and get pictures."
MVP Dairy Co-Owner Kyle Van Tilburg said 12 to 15 calves are born each day at the facility.
To prevent injuries and potential illnesses, the calves are individually cared for at MVP Dairy, Ryan noted.
"Actually, it's a best practice to give individual care for the calves," she said. "There's some diseases that can be transferred from the mom and the calf when they're not in a clean, safe place."
Calves are birthed in a maternity area where they stay for a few hours before being transferred to an indivdual hutch, Ryan explained.
"Then, actually, our calves all go to a calf raiser," she said. "We have a pickup every day."
The calves' future trajectory depends on their sex and other factors.
"If it is a female calf, eventually it can be the future of the herd," Ryan said. "They will reach mature weight at about a year old, be bred, have their first calf at two years of age. So at about two years of age, they can come back."
One of the prominent features of the Learning Center is an area where guests can view the cows being milked.
"They are milked three times a day on an 80-cow carousel," Ryan said. MVP milks about 3,800 cows, Ryan added, and is home to closer to 4,400 in total.
In total, about 45,000 gallons of Non-GMO Project Verified milk are produced each day at the plant, which is transported about 20 miles to Danone North America's largest yogurt manufacturing plant in Minster. The six to seven truck loads MVP Dairy provides daily represent about 10% of the milk used each day at the Minster plant.
An on-theme ornament hangs on a tree during MVP Dairy's MOOry Christmas event on Monday.
Visitors on Monday could also be seen sauntering up to the hot cocoa bar covered in clumps of cotton giving the impression of a winter wonderland.
Elizabeth Hart and her two children, Maddie and Beau, had a blast.
"We needed something fun to do on our first day off of school and they both love milk, and so we just decided to come here," Hart said.
MOOry Christmas was an absolute hit, with 150 people attending one of three sessions on Monday, including a set of grandparents from Colorado.
MVP Dairy announced the event in early November, and within four hours it was sold out, prompting officials to add another time slot to allow for more people.
"When we built this facility we said we wanted to give back to the community and that's what we're trying to do," VanTilburg said. "We had to turn down a lot of people so we'll look forward to next year."
"We'd love to continue it, and we've gotten a lot of comments so I think that's positive reinforcement that we'll probably see this event pop up next year," Ryan added.
