Cow Calf Sculpture From the Butter Cow Lady

For over 40 years a women from Toledo, Iowa sculpted a cow from butter at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines. Norma "Duffy" Lyons passed way in June 2011. She was known as the Butter Cow Lady. Her annual creation became an icon of the fair.

In 1991 she created a fiberglass with bronze patina sculpture of a cow and calf. The sculpture was erected on the hilltop at the intersection of Highways 30 and 63 and is framed by a huge Burr Oak tree. Since the summer of 2011 when the Highway 30 Tama/Toledo bypass opened, traffic at this intersection decreased. But don't let that stop you from catching the sculpture in various lights of the day and night. And, if you are hungry and want a bite of another Toledo tradition, try the Maid-Rite diner (loose meat sandwiches since 1926) just in front of the sculpture. Know that.