MEXICO — Kera Bentz, of Richfield, was crowned the 2025-26 Juniata County Dairy Princess on Sunday, May 4, at the Walker Grange, Mexico, Pa. She was crowned by the Pennsylvania Alternate Dairy Princess, Sadie Innerest. Innerest also had some encouraging and motivational comments for the dairy court.

Bentz is the 19-year-old daughter of Karen Bentz of Richfield. She has been involved with the Juniata County Dairy Promotion team for six years as she started in 2019 as a dairy maid. Kera is currently attending De’rielle cosmetology school in Millerstown where she will graduate as a licensed nail tech and esthetician. Her future goal is to attend a university to be a dermatologist and own her own med spa. She currently works at the OIP in Richfield as a waitress and also works on a dairy farm in Snyder County. In her spare time, she is caring for her own animals at home including goats, rabbits and chickens. She enjoys reading, baking and painting. Kera’s favorite promotion from the past year was handing out ribbons at the Juniata County dairy show and sharing fun facts about the dairy industry.

Bentz presented a speech and a skit during the program. Her speech mentioned the people who have helped her become the person she is today in regards to promoting dairy. Bentz’s skit informed the audience about the benefits of dairy milk compared to other types of “milk” beverages, as given by a dairy cow.

Having held several fundraisers throughout the year for the “Fill A Glass With Hope” campaign, Juniata County Dairy Promotion was proud to present a check to the Juniata County Food Pantry in the amount of $4,092. This money will be used to purchase milk and dairy products for their customers.

All court members created a poster display board, showcasing a dairy message, fun dairy fact or highlighting their participation in dairy promotion throughout the year.