Every year Norma "Duffy" Lyon sculpts a cow out of butter for the Iowa
State Fair. This year she's doing Jesus at the Last Supper. "I've knocked
three fingers off him today," said the butter lady. In past years she's
warmed up with Smokey the Bear, and more recently Elvis, but those icons
seem to have only whetted her appetite for her masterwork, the King of
Kings and his band of merry men.
The sculpture when finished will weigh nearly a ton. This year she has, as
usual, also sculpted the perennial cow, which has been featured every year
since 1911. The State Fair commission has announced no plans to replace
the cow with a more elevating subject: "You wouldn't want to do away with
the butter cow, ever," cautions Ms. Lyon.
No announcement was available as to the disposition of the butter, although
butter has in the past been distributed to the poor. "This is my body
which is given for you: This do in remembrance of me," Jesus commented.
