Neillsville, Wisconsin: Chatty Belle, Talking Cow

I am the person who named Chatty Belle. Back in 1966 there was a contest, and the person who named the cow in the contest won 100 pounds of butter and a trip through the Grassland Dairy Cheese Factory. It was a big "doing" back then and I remember it like it was yesterday. I was in the 1st grade in Loyal, Wisconsin, and because it was such a big event the teacher had a radio going because they were going to announce who won. They said my name, and I started crying because I thought the "trip" through the cheese factory was a trip far away and I would have to leave mom and dad!

When the contest started, my mom got my sister a form and she put down "Buttercup" as the cow's name. Well, I wanted to be in the contest too, and put up a stink until mom went and got a form for me. My mom and I thought up the name together. Since the cow talked, Mom said "Chatty" and I thought that cows wore bells so we came up with Chatty Belle. I'm sure it was more my mom than me who thought up this name, but I was the one who was on the contest form so I got all the recognition.