In 2011, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Butter Cow, the Iowa State Fair invited people and organizations from across the state to decorate small concrete cow statues. These statues were then placed around the fairgrounds as a tribute to the Butter Cow. It was such a success that the State Fair has been continuing the concrete statue decorating tradition every year since, though it is a different statue and theme every year. Our family painted a cow statue that first year and many others in the years after. It’s a fun tradition that the entire family enjoys.
