Chinook and Augusta Rodeos

It is HOT, HOT, HOT!!! I have just returned from the Chinook and Augusta rodeos this past weekend and even though they are in relatively different parts of the state they were both very HOT rodeos! I am sure that it was just a precursor to what I will encounter during the July and August rodeos. Through the heat Lorissa and I managed to have a pretty great time; we kept well hydrated thanks to our lovely mom’s and my sister. Thursday night was a BBQ and Calcutta in Chinook to kick off the weekend of rodeo. Chinook is a pretty small town on the hi-line so when the rodeo wasn’t going on there wasn’t a whole lot to do but thankfully I had my mom and sister with me this weekend to keep me company. I really enjoyed spending my down time with them. The rodeo on Friday had a few minor glitches, like the sound system shorting out, but once we got them worked out it proved to be a pretty great rodeo with a beautiful sunset. Saturday there was a parade and like I said, Chinook is a pretty small town, so in order to make the parade longer, we went through town twice! The rodeo that night went as smooth as glass and it was a beautiful evening. Shane and Heather Schwanke with the rest of the Bear Paw Roundup committee and of course Brookman rodeo provided the spectators with really great rodeo action.


Sunday morning Lorissa and I left Chinook at the crack of dawn in order to get to Augusta to sign autographs before the afternoon rodeo. The Augusta rodeo has a reputation for being the “Wildest One Day Rodeo in the West” ; I have never been so I was curious to see just how wild it got in Augusta. I can tell you now, it lives up to its reputation! When we arrived at ten the streets were already busy with people shopping, eating, and socializing. Lorissa and I signed autographs at a cute little store called Latigo & Lace where we met many tourists, locals and familiar faces we would see at the rodeo. The afternoon brought so many people into the tiny rodeo grounds of Augusta, MT! There were people everywhere; thank goodness I was on trusty Cisco again! Kesler’s brought in the stock to Augusta so of course the stock performed wonderfully! I will be doing the usual catching up on things like my laundry this week before I start “Cowboy Christmas” for the Fourth of July. I will be in Cody, Wyoming and Livingston this weekend through next week. Happy summer everyone!

Belt PRCA Rodeo

I survived yet another wet and cold rodeo weekend. The rain just seems to follow me around the state and even out of state! I haven’t been to a rodeo thus far where we haven’t got rained on. Coming from a ranching and farming family in eastern Montana, I have learned not to complain about the rain regardless of the circumstances!! This past weekend I met with Lorissa again in Belt along with Janneka O’Neil and Hannah Heckman, Little Miss Big Sky Pro Rodeo 2006. I had a great time getting to know these girls a little better. Montana truly has a promising future of rodeo queens.

I got to sign several rodeo programs for the rodeos daily give-a-ways which I thought was pretty cool. I felt like a celebrity every time Kyle Shobe, the announcer, told everyone to open their programs if they have a signature from me they won something! Carrying the Dodge Pickup flag on Cody’s Royal Cisco was another thrill for me. I never had to worry about my horse spooking or not standing still. He was a dream to ride and I am so thankful to Jeff and Sue Thompson for letting me use him this summer. The other queens, Lorissa, and me were pleased that quite a few kids showed up for the kiddie rodeo and of course the entire town of Belt attended the annual parade through town. Thanks to those girls who helped with the kids rodeo! Overall, the 47th annual Belt rodeo was a blast and the rain didn’t keep away any die hard fans.

On Tuesday I was a model in an Ariat boots and apparel style show here in Bozeman. It was a lot of fun to model and see first hand what Ariat will be coming out with next season. I’ll give you a hint; there will be some pretty ‘exotic’ fall boots and very trendy clothes! After just a few short days home with my dogs, whom I think are beginning to feel pretty rejected because I am never home, I am driving up to Chinook and Augusta for their rodeos this weekend. I hope to see you all there!

NEBRASKAland Days

What a great time I have had in the last week or so! I ran over to Billings on Friday morning to meet up with Lorissa so we could have our photo shoot together. We drove to Miles City where Kara with On the Move Photography was ready for a day of taking pictures. Overall I think we got some really nice shots taken of me for the Miss Rodeo America pageant and of Lorissa and me for the Miss Rodeo Montana pageant. I can’t believe we are already talking about either of those!
The next day I was scheduled to fly out of Billings for the NEBRASKAland Days and Miss Rodeo Nebraska Pageant in North Platte. The queens weren’t scheduled to do anything until Sunday but my connecting flights wouldn’t get me there in time so I chose to go a day early. The plane ride into North Platte was a little shaky. I think there were only eight seats total and there wasn’t even a curtain dividing the cabin and the pilots. I had no idea what to expect out of Nebraska after that plane ride!

I wasn’t disappointed though, North Platte always arranges for the visiting queens (usually around 15 of us) to stay in host homes across the city. My host home was Jody and Cindy Smith; they were truly amazing hosts to me and I couldn’t have asked for better. They showed me what true Nebraska hospitality was!

Since I was crowned this January I have had several first time experiences. This trip served me no different. I got to ride my first motorcycle, a Harley, and I got to ride on a jet ski for the first time. Of course I let Jody of my host family drive the motorcycle and show me the town but the jet ski was a little different. On Sunday since we didn’t have anything scheduled the Smith’s took me to the local lake along with Katie, the newly crowned Miss Rodeo Arizona and Lindsay, Miss Rodeo Alabama. I hadn’t met either of those girls yet so it was great hanging out with them; we really had a blast. After watching the other girls who have jet skied before I decided to try my hand on one. I was hesitant starting off but really got the hang of it and was really glad to find out that this was something that I could crash…and it was fun to do it! When the day was done I even got to bring back a little piece of Nebraska sun as I improved my tan!

With the fun came some business matters. All the queens attended the horsemanship portion of the Miss Rodeo Nebraska 2008 contest. I have to say, Nebraska girls sure know how to ride. Later that evening the contestants and visiting queens all gathered for a get acquainted BBQ. For those of us queens not from the Midwest we got a little nervous when a huge thunderstorm brought in some pretty nasty looking clouds and severe winds. Needless to say we were moved to the garage and thank goodness I didn’t have to see my first tornado while I was there! My host family spoiled me so bad during my stay there that they let me drive a Grand Prix right off the car lot they own in North Platte. Most of the other girls were pretty jealous!
The next three days held a lot of fun events for the visiting queens. I signed over 500 autographs at local sponsors, banks, western stores and my favorite was the kid’s parade. It was the official kick off to the NEBRASKAland days and allowed kids to put on their costumes and parade around the block. I saw some pretty neat costumes while walking with the kids and signing autographs. Of course we were busy with the pageant events. This year was the second year they had a Miss Teen Rodeo Nebraska so I got to see those girls model, speak, and ride. They were great girls. The Miss Rodeo Nebraska contestants were no different. The five young ladies competing for the title were obviously having fun and all did very well. Among the many highlights of the trip was the cowboy bowling where we bowled with the PRCA cowboys. We didn’t get to stay very long but that was probably a good thing because I was losing to Miss Rodeo Wyoming pretty bad when we had to leave. Before going out to the rodeo the last night there was a big group dinner including the Miss Rodeo Nebraska committee, queens, host families, etc. Paula Stobbs, one of the drivers during the week gave us all special queen awards for the week. One state girl was the Queen of Bling and wouldn’t you know I was the Queen of Crashing! The ski trip from Pocatello seems to be sticking with me and I was pretty excited to tell everyone about my bravery of crashing on the jet ski. Although on my trip back to Montana I was thinking I should be the queen of lost luggage because I haven’t flown anywhere without the airlines losing my luggage…ever! Queen or not, regardless of the length of layover, I think my bags are marked for it! I spent the rest of the day in Billings waiting on my bags which finally did show up. I was relieved to have them back and really glad to be back in Montana even though I had a blast in North Platte!

Shodair Telethon and Great Falls

Just another busy week for Miss Rodeo Montana! This past Saturday I traveled to Helena for a very exciting event at the Shodair Children’s Hospital; it was the hospital’s annual telethon fundraiser. Not only was it televised state wide but Miss Rodeo Montana has never been involved with this event, needless to say, I was pretty excited to be there! This event really meant a lot to me because the Children’s Miracle Network (Shodair’s) formed a soft spot in my heart after raising money for them while I was in Pocatello. The telethon rose over $200,000!!!! All of that money stays right here in Montana to help anyone who gets treatment at Shodair. I was again accompanied by Miss Montana, Christy Hageman. It was so nice to spend some more time with her; she is such a great girl and I will be sad to see her pass on her crown this month. The telethon lasted well into the night and by the end Christy and I were still having fun answering phones and being interviewed on TV but by 1am we were getting pretty giggly and tired!

After the telethon I drove over to Great Falls for a few more days to take care of a number of things. First, I had the wonderful time staying with the Thompson’s at Western Sky Equine. What a great family they are! Jeff, Sue, Tyrell, and Bailey all were so generous for welcoming me into their home and family for three days. On Monday I spent much of the day with Jody and the crew at KRTV taping media interviews for the upcoming rodeos in June. We drove out to Jody’s place to record three media commercials for the Augusta, Chinook, and Stanford rodeos. It was definitely harder than I thought it was going to be! By the end of the shoot everyone was just wishing I could remember my lines! Eventually we got it all taped and once they are edited I think they will turn out to be great commercials. On Tuesday I had some spare time to spend with the Thompson’s and Sue presented me with the wonderful opportunity to ride their stud, Cody’s Royal Cisco. He and I got along great; he is such a fun horse to ride! I spent the morning riding with Sue and that evening I traveled over to Stanford to meet with their rodeo committee about the upcoming rodeo in July. It sounds like it’s going to be a great rodeo and the guys are working hard already to get everything in line. Wednesday was my last day in Great Falls. I was the guest of Bill Beckman during the Great Falls Optimist Club meeting. The Optimists were wonderful to talk to and really appreciated someone coming into meet and talk to them. I am home for just one day before I am on the road to Miles City to shoot my second photo session with On the Move Photography; Lorissa will be joining me. Not only will I be glad to hang out with her again but I am excited for the opportunity to have someone else behind the wheel for a change!!

Rodeo Season Begins!

Even though the weather in Bozeman the last couple of weeks has not indicated that summer is any where near, I can assure you it is! I woke up to snow this morning and I am really glad it waited until today because I had just another busy week. Memorial Day weekend is the weekend America hits the road as the weekend that summer has officially begun. I didn’t wait until the weekend to hit the road. I left early Wednesday morning to talk to the Junior High students at Lewistown Junior High School. I talked to seven different classes for an hour each! It was interesting to see how the older students responded to what I was there to speak about. I changed the message in my presentation so they would be able to relate a bit better, as opposed to the elementary school presentation. I talked to all the young adults that day about dreams and goals and the importance of having them; some were a little more eager to share than others! After a hanging out with my friends Kate Ruland and Laura Lake in Lewistown that night, I went to a day care in Lewistown and the Moore Elementary School the next day. Both of these places were so happy to have me and I enjoyed myself immensely. I was able to sign autographs and hand out the coloring books that Audrey Sholte started with “Eat Smart and Play Hard;” they were all very gracious. The elementary school in Moore only had about 30 students in the whole school but they were so eager to learn about what I do and had the most wonderful questions for me!

After I returned to Bozeman I was off again on Saturday to Helena. I was taking place in a Celebrity Team Penning with the Montana Team Penning Association. A few weeks ago I sneaked over to practice with them for a few hours so I was ready to show up with my “A game”! The team penners recruited about a dozen “celebrities” to participate in this event in order to raise money for breast cancer. Most of these celebrities were significant members of the community or people who have been personally affected by cancer. Each of the celebrities was paired with two team penners and that team was auctioned off in a Calcutta. I wish I could tell you that not only was I the most expensive celebrity but that I won the whole thing…but I would be lying. The event raised $2600 for breast cancer awareness, which was amazing considering it was not a highly advertised event; and no I didn’t win. Actually, I didn’t even come close but I gave it my all!!

Memorial Day weekend is a three day weekend so as you might expect I had another stop to make on this busy holiday. I drove to Arlee for the Memorial Day PRCA rodeo, the first of the season on the Montana Pro Rodeo Circuit! I had a really good time meeting up with some old friends that I usually only get to see at rodeos and also meeting new acquaintances that I am sure I will continue to see through out the summer. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate very well and we spent the rodeo in the rain on Sunday night and the cold on Monday afternoon. I have no idea what I was thinking leaving the house for a rodeo in Montana because I did not bring a rain jacket or even a coat; I managed though! It was a very exciting weekend of rodeo. I had the great opportunity to meet and work with the great Hadley Barrett, who was announcing, and Leon Coffee, who was the rodeo clown. What great guys they are and it truly added to the already exciting rodeo.

Special Olympics

Whew! What a big week I have had! I just returned on my “tour” of western Montana. On Wednesday morning I left for Great Falls where I was a guest at the Montana State Special Olympics. They kept me extremely busy all three days! I was first a member of the high five team at gymnastics. This required me to be nothing more than a cheerleader for all of the athletes. As they would tell me all week, they were very glad that I could be there. Next I met up with Miss Montana, Christy Hageman, where we left our hotel room together to meet and greet all 1,000 athletes and teams from all across the state. There were a lot of hand shaking and hugs! After the meet and greeting of the athletes Christy and I got to attend the opening ceremonies. This was my favorite event to attend; we got to lead the parade of athletes into the 4-seasons. It was the opening ceremonies just like you see on TV! Among the honorary talented guests was Montana’s own PBR and PRCA rodeo clown, Flint Rasmussen. He was entertaining as always. On Thursday I had a full day at the Eagle Mount Equestrian center. I was first assigned to take pictures and award medals to the athletes but was fast recruited to be the announcer. I felt right at home! It was a beautiful day to be at the arena and the athletes competing in the events had obviously worked hard to get there. The day’s events didn’t stop there. Christy and I attended a team BBQ where all the athletes were eager to tell us the day’s accomplishments; and then there was the dance! To be honest, this event was a little overwhelming. Everyone at the dance either wanted an autograph or wanted to dance with Christy and me or both. The attention we received was amazing and it was a good thing there was two of us because we certainly couldn’t have accommodated for all of the people wanting to talk to us alone! Christy and I were exhausted after our busy day but were up and at it again on Friday where we helped give away the final medals of the week at track and field. This was a humbling experience seeing how excited the athletes were to be awarded their medals. After the closing ceremonies I took a moment to reflect on what a great event I just took place in. The support Great Falls has for the Special Olympics is astronomical with almost a 1 to 1 ratio of volunteers to athletes and several dozen equally supportive sponsors. Great Falls will be the host for the state summer games one more year until it moves to Bozeman.

In between the chaos of the Olympics I got to stop downtown to visit with Mike from Hogland’s, one of my supportive sponsors. He set me up with a great pair of boots. While I was visiting with him I got stuck with a $3 parking ticket! I was the brunt of jokes the rest of the week because I thought I was innocent until Christy, Miss Montana, asked me if I paid the parking meter before I went in to the store. She thought I was crazy when I told her that I have never had to pay a parking meter in all my life, so naturally I didn’t think the meter applied to me at that time. Another lesson learned!

After the closing ceremonies at the Olympics I jumped in the pickup and drove to the Paws Up arena by Missoula. I had never been to the Paws Up so I was in for a real treat. What a beautiful resort and arena! Paws Up was host to the 2nd annual Cowgirl U event. Last year it was at a resort in Texas so it is an honor to have it here in Montana this year. Cowgirl U is hosted by the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas. Basically, it is a cowgirl camp where 30 ladies from around the US apply to come and learn how to be a cowgirl, which was to include roping, trail riding, branding, etc. Well instead of regular instructors the Hall of Fame brought in five ladies who are in the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame! So I got to mingle with the honorees and other ladies for the night. The Paws Up arena had an open house where there was a marketplace set up with different vendors from around the state. I met up with Sarah Capp who helped me with my booth. There were a lot of people interested in Miss Rodeo Montana and my duties!

Sarah and I stayed at a beautiful cabin between Seely Lake and Condon that night and drove to Kalispell the next day. Here there was to be the 2nd Annual LWI, Luke Warner Invitational. It was called Broncs, Bruises, and Braggin Rights which was a bronc riding only. I carried the American Flag, greeted the audience, and signed autographs. The horse I got to ride was extremely special! If you have ever seen the movie Open Range with Kevin Costner I got to ride Coyote who was the horse Kevin rode throughout the movie! Needless to say, I had a good mount for this already special event! It was a busy week and I am glad to be back in Bozeman for a few days until I am on the road again!

Helena Middle School

Well the weather is starting to really warm up fast across the Big Sky state which is a good indicator that the rodeos will be in full swing in just a matter of days or weeks. This week I got to go to Helena on Friday morning to visit with the Helena Middle School students. I had so much fun! It was their Vigil Annie days which involved the whole school in a parade and dressing up western. Their day started off with a special treat, an assembly with several special guests including myself. Cowboy poetry was read to them by Montana’s own cowboy poet Mike Logan. I talked to them about setting goals relating to my own experiences through rodeo and Miss Rodeo Montana. Then a crew of cowboys and I explained and demonstrated all of the rodeo events to the school. Thinking I would be the one to explain the girls’ events was a big mistake. The school voted and wanted me to demonstrate the bull riding, of all events. I am competitive by nature so the last thing I was going to do in front of a whole school was fall off! I stayed on for 8 seconds and scored 90 points! I am definitely not cut out to be a bull rider; I was fairly sore in various places the next day. I guess you can say my bull riding muscles have scarcely been used! I signed autographs and talked to some very curious girls who could be Montana’s up and coming barrel racers and future Miss Rodeo Montana’s! It was a great morning.

Saturday was MSU’s graduation so there were many friends in town and in the graduating class. It was a bit of a sad day around here because one of my room mates graduated and the other moved out of the house to go back home, not to mention many of my other friends moving back home or to new jobs after graduation. On the positive side, I was lucky enough to be in town for part of the day and join in on graduation parties, meeting family, and catching up with friends. I have a big weekend ahead of me now. I will be in Great Falls, Missoula, and Kalispell in a matter of three days! Check back next week to hear about that! Best wishes!

Wolf Point School Tour

Looking back on my blog history it’s been about two weeks since I have been able to inform everyone on what I have been doing! Well it’s been so long not because I have been too busy but just the opposite! I sincerely have not had anything “blog worthy” to report on! Since my last blog I have just been spending my down time working at Murdoch’s (who has become one of my latest sponsors!) and continuing to keep up on preparation for this summer.

This past weekend was my first weekend back “on the job” since Lorissa’s Gala. I traveled the seven hours back to my home town of Wolf Point. Located in the far north eastern corner of Montana it is a full day drive to get there! I had been really looking forward to this weekend as it was my homecoming since I have been crowned. The tiny town of Wolf Point didn’t let me down. I was treated like nothing less than a celebrity. During my time home I visited the three elementary schools including the one I attended in grade school, the Faith Luthern Rest home, and was the guest of honor at a mixer for the Chamber of Commerce. Not only that, but I got to help my folks on the ranch halter breaking the first of the spring foals. It was a busy weekend!!

At the three elementary schools the principals introduced me to the entire schools during an assembly. I gave my “Real Cowboy” demonstration and everyone loved it. Wolf Point is very educated in rodeo merely because the oldest rodeo in Montana takes place there. It is truly one of Montana’s greatest small town rodeos with big town heart. The families in Wolf Point and beyond make a holiday of the Wolf Point Stampede. I was proud to announce I would be able to attend all three nights of the legendary rodeo. So when I asked questions like what are some of the events seen at a rodeo, the students were able to cover them all with out too much thought. I signed autographs at every school and every other stop along the way. I think after the weekend was over everyone in Wolf Point and the surrounding communities have an autographed picture of me! I even had a line outside my pickup window at the gas station as I attempted to fill up!

The next thing was the visit to the rest home. With each visit to assisted living homes and rest homes I become more appreciative of what the elderly have to offer. It can sometimes be difficult but the reward is far worth it. My family has been in Wolf Point for over 100 years so no matter where I go there is someone who knows my family. It was such a treat seeing old friends and hearing stories about new friends and how they are connected to my family.

My hope is to get back to Wolf Point as much as I can. With it being in such a north eastern corner of a huge state it would be almost impossible for me to live back home and be able to travel as much as I do. The people in Wolf Point are eager to help me in my quest to become the first girl from Montana to win Miss Rodeo America but they couldn’t be more proud of Miss Rodeo Montana being from their tiny one horse town.

Miss Teen Rodeo Montana Gala

It has finally slowed down the past week or so where I was home long enough to do my own laundry! I was in Bozeman for the Easter weekend and spent it with some close friends. I also had a style show for the Montana State University College Rodeo Alumnus. The college rodeo has been in Bozeman 50 years this year and it welcomed back some of the graduates of MSU who were involved or competed in college rodeo for MSU. During the banquet the guests were treated with a small style show. Featured models were girls currently on the rodeo team, Myriah Allen - Miss Rodeo Montana 1999, and myself. Easter weekend had a big treat for me as well because my chaps came in the mail…finally! For the last several months I have been wearing Cassidy Han’s, Miss Rodeo Montana 2006, chaps. So thankfully Cassidy got to have her chaps back and I can wear my own now! I love them! I designed them myself and had Chuck Serr from Bismarck, North Dakota make them. As you can see in the picture, they feature my favorite color, purple!

On Friday I headed over to Billings for Lorissa’s Gala! I was so excited to see how all of her hard work paid off. I was so impressed by the set up! She had it at the Holiday Inn Atrium and many family and friends showed up to support her. I got to meet some more Montana royalty who I am sure I will spend plenty of time with this summer. Lorissa’s auction went very well. She had me helping with things here and there but she didn’t keep me busy enough to keep me away from the silent auction! I won 2 oil changes to Lithia Dodge and some note cards which always come in handy! It was such an honor to be there for Lorissa and I am sure she will comment on the fact that it was a real success!

Now I am in for a week of work at Murdoch’s before I go off on a special trip to Austin, Texas! I can’t wait and I am sure I will have some interesting comments about my trip!

Montana Governor's Conference on Tourism

I didn’t have any time to recuperate from coronation on Sunday as I was off to my first executive meeting as Miss Rodeo Montana. It was convenient to meet here in Bozeman with the members of my executive committee as most of them attended my coronation the night before. We addressed my goals as Miss Rodeo Montana and started the planning for my quest to be Miss Rodeo America 2008. They had some great insight on how to prepare myself during my “slow months” and gave me suggestions on how to get my wardrobe started! I took their advice and words of wisdom to heart immediately and am currently scrambling to get everything done ASAP before summer hits!

After the executive meeting I packed my bags and I was on the road again! I was to be in Helena at 8am the next morning and since the week was pretty grueling I decided to drive over that night so I wasn’t so tired the next day! I was pretty lucky this trip because my mom and my favorite little sister, Vanessa, wanted to travel with me to Helena. Thank goodness they did because I was one tired girl and they kept me company during my down time. The Governor’s Conference on Tourism was very interesting. I learned even more about Montana as a state and most importantly I learned some tips on how to market Montana out of state. The most fun part of the trip was going on a field trip to Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Department where they had several stations set up to practice outdoor activities. I tried the shooting (with a laser) and the archery! I was a pro at the shooting and impressed many of the other people with me. However, at the archery I was a bit of a handicap student because I am left handed and of course no one plans for such a thing! Like many things, I learned to cope and I didn’t end up being too bad at it!

After I returned to Bozeman I caught up on some much needed rest and “chores” that had been piling up around the house. I couldn’t slow down much though because of the pile of work that had to be done post-coronation. Next week I am off to Lorissa’s Gala in Billings! I know she is getting nervous so that must be indication that it’s going to be a lot of fun! I can’t wait to see how it turns out as I know her and her mom, Linda, have been putting a lot of work into it! Until next time, Happy Trails!

Coronation!

What a whirlwind the last 10 days or so has been for me! I was off last week to Billings for the State FFA Convention where I would meet up with my favorite teen queen, Lorissa. Since she had school all week and was competing in FFA herself I set up the booth on Wednesday. She was in the booth off and on between competing in her events as a FFA member. We had a great time together and never seemed to get bored during the trade show, this was all thanks to the ‘Lil Blue Heeler from Grizzly Saddlery in Great Falls. This little contraption was a hit throughout the week! There were people who had their own booth and would come to visit ours just because ours was so fun! We had some interest from some FFA girls who wanted to know more about being rodeo queens and we were more than glad to answer their eager questions. Among the highlights was being able to meet Miss Montana, Christie Hageman, who is from Billings. We traded “pageant talk” over lunch and learned a lot about each others’ passions. One of hers happens to be opera singing. Well I definitely could not relate to that but I can most certainly say she has a talent in singing!

I left Lorissa in charge of the booth on Friday afternoon because I had to get back to Bozeman for the Western Underground concert! I was so excited for this event because I think it was the biggest crowd I have ever been in front of. Western Underground is the Late Chris LeDoux’s band and a very popular favorite in Bozeman. By the time I was introduced on stage after the opening band, Night Ride, the crowd was beginning to get a little rowdy so as soon as they saw a girl with sparkles all over you can imagine they went wild. What a feeling to have hundreds of screaming fans and friends and know they were screaming for me! I threw prizes into the crowd and talked briefly about my coronation. As expected, the concert was great and I had such a wonderful time!

Saturday was the big day. We spent all day setting up from 10am until right up to 5 when the event was supposed to start. The whole day went by in a blur. Thank goodness for all of the help I had in setting up and getting the final touches taken care of. Sarah Capp has been a true lifesaver in pulling off a successful coronation. She planned most everything and had it not been for her none of it would have happened! After everyone arrived and got acquainted during social hour a very delicious meal was served by the Gourmet Gas Station from Gallatin Gateway. Sarah and I exchanged a few teary thanks to each other and the live auction began! I had such great items thanks to all of the surrounding businesses that contributed. The night ended after Bobby Chitwood and the Hard Ride band had played for several hours. They are such an amazing band. They have a recording contract and everything so I am so glad they were able to play at my event. I was even able to snag a CD from them, take my word for it, it’s good! I had a few visiting royalty and was especially happy to see my traveling friend, Morgan, Miss Rodeo Idaho. I saw so many familiar faces and some that I hadn’t seen in many years. Thank you to everyone who came and contributed to my fundraiser. The numbers are still being counted but I can easily say it was a success. For those of you who couldn’t make it, I hope to see you sometime during my year!

Malmstrom Air Force Base

After the DNCFR I didn’t even return to Bozeman before I was off to another appearance. I drove from Pocatello straight to Great Falls for the Wing Standup for the Wild Wild West Event on Malmstrom Air Force Base. I wasn’t sure what awaited me because I am very unfamiliar with most military branches so I was a little out of my own element. I had two ladies that work in Services on the base, Joann and Staci, who chaperoned me around the base all day. I was introduced at the weekly Wing Standup meeting which is a meeting where the different squadrons report their weekly duties and what’s been going on to the Colonel of the base. Along with that, Services usually have a presentation on what is going on for extracurricular events on base. That is why I was there! I announced the Wild West event and gave out the Buckaroo Bucks they would be playing with on Friday. The Wild West event is a social event for the air men and their families; basically it is a fun poker night with Black Jack, Roulette, and Texas Hold ‘Em and the best part is you gamble with fake money! At the end of the night they auction of items with their fake money and I just happened to be an item. So on Monday I was bussed around the base and participated in several different tours as I promoted Wild West night.

On Friday I returned to Great Falls for the event. I had some spare time so I visited an assisted living home in Great Falls. Things like that is one of the many reasons why I love my job. To know that I can touch a person’s life in just a few minutes of talking with them and giving them a picture of me is such an amazing feeling. I also stopped in to Grizzly Saddlery to pick up a fun little roping toy called “Lil Blue Heeler” that Lorissa and I will be using at our booth at the Montana State FFA Convention Trade Show. I am sure it will be a hit! Once I arrived on base I checked into the cowgirl suite. This was by far the best hotel room I have stayed in so far this year! Dedicated to a Miss Rodeo Montana theme, this room was decorated in the utmost western fashion! I was truly treated like a queen! The Wild West event was a hit among the air men on base. I ended up winning $375,000 playing Black Jack!!! Too bad it was fake money and since I was an auction item I had to give it all away. At the end of the night they sold off a dance with me for almost $400,000!

During the few short days I was home this week I was running around Bozeman like crazy promoting my fundraiser. Pete Hanson let me talk on XL Country again. On Thursday I had an awesome time in Miss Tollefeson’s 5th grade class at Longfellow Elementary. I brought my saddle in and talked to them about the qualities of a real cowboy and showed them what the saddle does and how it works. They were so intrigued! Everyone liked my presentation so well that I have three more teachers getting back to me on when I can come in to talk with their class! It was a blast and a great start to what I hope to be a very successful school tour.

This coming week is a busy one for me. I get to read to the 1st graders at Longfellow Elementary on Monday, I do a quick radio spot for my coronation on XL Country on Tuesday morning and then I am off to Billings for the FFA trade booth set up. I get back on Friday night just in time to meet up with the guys from XL Country at the Western Underground concert. Western Underground is the late Chris LeDoux’s band and I get to be a guest! I am going to plug my coronation and I get to introduce the band! For some reason, I am incredibly nervous for this event! And of course, Saturday is the big day! Don’t forget my coronation is at the Rockin’ TJ Ranch here in Bozeman and everything kicks off at 5pm. Call me or Sarah Capp if you need directions, everyone is invited and it is going to be a lot of fun! My number is 406-209-1931 and Sarah’s is 406-539-4386.

More at the DNCFR

I left off last time on my exciting experiences in Pocatello. I am back in Bozeman and am attempting to catch up on my rest. The events in Idaho continued to be exciting for me. I left off on Wednesday so…Thursday was another early morning as the 17 queens (local queens included) broke up into groups to tour the Pocatello and surrounding communities schools. I was grouped with Miss Rodeo Arizona, Elizabeth Scott and Miss Rodeo Arkansas, Brittany Sing. Dennis Helstad the rodeo clown also joined us and had some funny tricks up his sleeve for the younger students. I felt right at home in the schools because that has been my field of comfort for so long. In front of 2 groups of about 40 to 60 kids I led a discussion on what it takes to be a cowboy and what happens at the DNCFR. They were full of questions!

The next event was skiing up on Pebble Creek ski hill outside of Pocatello. There wasn’t any snow in town so we were all questioning what kind of skiing it would be. Well there were several days of 60 degree weather so it was extremely icy. Many of the girls had never even seen snow before! Needless to say, they were a little shaky in learning, but everyone at least tried! Myself, I am not the most seasoned skier but I mastered the bunny hill so I ventured to the second out of the three chair lifts and went to a more intermediate slope with Miss Rodeo Arkansas. She was about the same level of skier as I was so we felt comfortable going together. Things started a little shaky because of the ice but I gathered my footing and was going along just fine when somehow I fell (I do that often) but this time I couldn’t stop. I lost both my skis and slid right into the thicket of trees on my rear end. I hit at least three trees on my way down and still couldn’t stop! I am not sure how or what stopped me but finally I did stop. I was hurting pretty good but I seemed to be all right. After laying on the slab of I ice for awhile a nice man came to help me up and search the mountain side for my skis. We finally did find them somewhere in the trees. After he came up to hand them to me he asked if I was “one of those queens”. I said yes and when he asked me which state I sheepishly said Montana, embarrassed because the queen from Montana should have been able to ski better than she did! He laughed and said “Well I had better introduce myself then.” It turned out to be Dave Wiefrich from Brookman Rodeo! He said he’s sorry we had to meet this way but he’s glad I am ok. It was extremely difficult to ski down the rest of the hill because I was so scared but I felt it was kind of like getting back on your horse again not to mention I was too stubborn to let them cart me off on a snow mobile as long as I could still walk! I went down the bunny hill once more to ensure I wouldn’t be too scared to ski again and after that, I was done for the day! My new nicknames are “ice burn” and “digger” amongst the stock contractors from Montana and by the time rodeo rolled around everyone had heard about the queen from Montana. I promise I represented Montana much better on horseback than on the ski hill!

Friday we all went to Wal-Mart to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network. Together we raised over $700 in just three hours. I met a little angel by the name of Anna who is only three years old. She was diagnosed with cancer a little over a year ago and just finished treatment a few months ago. She won’t be completely clear of her cancer for at least 4 more years of checkups every three months. She was a courageous little girl and has never complained a day in her life. She was amazing and I felt like I really made a difference because of all the money we raised for the hospital that treats children like her.

Other than that the weekend was full of incredible rodeo! Sadly the Montanan’s didn’t take home a national championship from any of the standard rodeo events but JC Mortenson did come back on Saturday for the mutton bustin’ and came back to Montana $1000 richer! He won more money than the cowboys that walked away with a Dodge pickup won! What an honor that must have been for him. Dale Stoller, Brett Fleming and Ryan Seimsen were the cowboys that made it to the Wrangler Round and made a really good run for the national championship. Well that is a pretty good review of my trip to Pocatello. It was definitely a trip I won’t forget. And for those of you who are concerned, my bumps and bruises from my skiing accident are healing beautifully!

DNCFR

I couldn’t wait to share all of my amazing experiences from the DNCFR with everyone that visits my blog so since I bring my laptop on the road and had some down time I thought I would let everyone know what has gone on so far this week. The DNCFR is the crowning rodeo of the PRCA circuit system of regional competition. National circuit champions are determined in the elimination-style event. The rodeo consists of five performances and is broken into preliminary, semi-finals, and the finals or the Wrangler Round. The top eight contestants in each event qualify for the semi-finals round, all of the cowboy’s scores are erased. After that, the top four contestants from that round qualify for the Wrangler Round where again, their previous scores or times are erased. This is when your national champions are determined! Each event champion will receive a one year lease on a brand new Dodge pickup and will automatically be qualified in the first two rounds of the Wrangler ProRodeo Tour Playoffs later in the year. Pocatello, Idaho has hosted this event since it’s beginning in 1987!

There were 14 state queens selected to appear for their circuit and I was one of the lucky ones. Every state queen hopes to represent their circuit in March at the Holt Arena. I can not describe the feeling as Tim Fuller introduces me as Miss Rodeo Montana carrying the Montana Circuit flag every night. It is an honor to be here for Montana representing the entire state and its people. I can easily say I was able to touch the lives of many people while I was in Pocatello. I spent the week visiting sponsors, the assisted living homes, schools, and hospitals and I feel I left a piece of Montana with them and made a special place in my heart for all of the people I encountered during my visit. Thank you Pocatello!

I arrived safely in Pocatello on Tuesday evening in time to get checked into my hotel room with Miss Rodeo Oregon and Idaho. We quickly changed into our dresses and headed to the kick off party for the rodeo. I got to meet a lot of the other state queens I haven’t gotten to meet yet this year. After getting to know them this week they are really great girls and we all had such a great time together.

On Wednesday we woke up early for rehearsal at the arena. We rode Sutton horses and luckily I was already familiar with them from the Rapid City Stock Show. They are great horses to ride and some of the horses have been there almost every year since 87! They know the routine! After lunch all of the queens split into groups as our “official queen drivers” drove us around to different sponsors. We signed a lot of autographs and did some shopping. Next, my group was off to the assisted living home and then the hospital. It was a difficult but very touching afternoon. We met elderly people that didn’t have much to look forward to in their days but to have a group of 3 or 4 rodeo queens come in to visit and sign pictures pretty much gave them hope for another day. One man cried and another woman who could not move from her bed said she no longer had to pray to sleep because she could look at our beautiful pictures as she lay in her bed.

The Montana cowboys have been going strong! Curt LaDuke, Steven Lambert, and Andy Bolich are some of our best cowboys and are here to compete. Some of them will be making it back tonight (Friday) for the semi-finals round. We are so close to home there are plenty of Montana fans to help me in cheering them on to a National Championship! I will let everyone know how it turns out on my next blog. I can not forget to mention we already have a champion that will be returning home and he is J.C. Mortenson, one of Montana’s up and comings, he won the Mutton Bustin’ last night! I was once again proud to be from Montana! Check back on my blog soon and I will update everyone on the rest of the results and more of what I have been up to this week in Pocatello!

Outdoor Show and Coronation Preparation

It’s been a pretty busy week for me here in Bozeman. I worked a lot of the week to get some cash flow into my bank account! I never realized how much time it takes to keep up with the paper work I have to take care of and follow ups on things like sponsors and getting auction donations. I’ve been making some real progress in getting sponsors for my year, thanks to all the generous friends and businesses out there that want to support me throughout my year. I have to admit at the beginning it wasn’t all smooth sailing and I thought I would never be able to raise any money outside of my coronation. Thankfully I turned out to be wrong!

Plans for coronation are still going well. The invitations came in last week and they will be sent out this coming week. Because the prices for invitations are so high, we cut down the mailing list so we are doing more public invitations. So, if you don’t get one, don’t worry, you are invited!!! My coronation committee and I have been putting up posters like crazy and I have some advertisement on 100.7 XL Country. We also plan to put invitations in free ad newspapers. In case you didn’t know already my coronation will be held on Saturday, March 31st at the Rockin’ TJ Ranch in Bozeman. Social hour starts at 5pm and you can get tickets online or at the door or by RSVP to myself or Sarah Capp!

After the crazy week of working at the store and working on coronation I was off to Kalispell on Saturday. Miss Teen Rodeo Montana met up with me in Bozeman and we left the morning and returned that night. It made out for a pretty long day being a 5 hour drive from my house. We were going to the Outdoor Show at the Majestic Valley Arena to be guests at the Montana Trappers Association booths. We didn’t really know what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised at what was in store for us! I am just a beginner hunter so I don’t know a whole lot about the hunting, fishing, and trapping kind of thing but I was amazed at all the different booths they had. We walked around, visited, and signed autographs. Lorissa and I learned more than we expected about fur trapping. Ask me anything, I feel I could answer any question after this weekend! Fran, Bill, and Ed the 3rd were very nice and told us great trapping stories!

The trip didn’t end with the fur trappers though. Lorissa and I got two auction items for us each out of the trip and matching bobcat tail key chains! Of course with it being our first official road trip together we had to come up with some kind of crazy story and Lorissa thought on the way to Kalispell it would be “funny” if we got pulled over to see if the crown really worked to our advantage. Well someone forgot to knock on wood because on the way back to Bozeman we did get pulled over! Just outside of Townsend I must have missed the sign that said 65 at night. I won’t say how fast I was going but the officer was nice enough to give me a citation and lowered my fine so, in way I guess the crown did work in our favor.

I have a couple of very busy weeks ahead of me so I will probably have plenty of exciting stories to come! Thanks for visiting my blog and happy trails!

Kids Care Fair and Preparation for Coronation!

Well it’s been about two weeks since I updated on what I have been doing since the NRA finals in Billings. I have actually had about two weeks of down time, if you could call it that! After returning home from the NRA finals and San Antonio I caught up on sleep and laundry and I have had a little bit of time to work. My bosses appreciate me coming in every now and then to justify me keeping my employee discount! I am very lucky that they have agreed to be so flexible with my schedule. I can pretty much call in on Monday’s and ask if it’s all right if I work a couple days this week. It’s pretty nice!

This past Saturday I made a quick day trip to Helena for a kiddie rodeo at the Kids Care Fair and I finally got a hold of my first printing of autograph sheets! Jody and I were in question that it was never going to happen. The Kids Care Fair was held at the mall in Helena where different organizations around the state set up booths aiming towards the kids. Booths such as Eagle Mount, dental hygiene and healthy diets were on display. Between booths and exhibits was the event room where every hour there was a presentation by a “celebrity.” I happened to be one of the celebrities! I put on a kiddie rodeo and although attendance was down the children and parents that were there loved it! The girls (and some boys) got paper Miss Rodeo America crowns and I signed autographs after the rodeo. It was a fun day!

In a week I head off to Pocatello, Idaho for the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo. I am really excited for this event because it’s not a long drive for me and I will get to meet some of the state queens I haven’t met already. Not to mention that the DNCFR is like second to the NFR. There is a selection process for the queens that actually get to go and this year I was selected so that’s exciting in itself! I am sure they will keep us very busy throughout the week.

The rest of March is pretty busy for me so I am spending this week working hard on my preparations for my coronation fundraiser. Finding silent and live auction items is a time consuming and sometimes difficult task. If anyone has an idea for an auction item or knows someone who would like to donate please contact me! My coronation committee and I need all the help we can get! Happy trails everyone!

San Antonio and NRA Finals

In the top pictures are Miss Rodeo Texas, Joanna Blackwell, Margarie Murphy, Texas National Director, and Julie my hostess.

Boy I am glad to be home! I was gone for 8 days but it felt like a month! I have just returned from Billings where I flew down to the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo and the Northern Rodeo Association Finals in Billings. I am beginning to get this traveling and packing thing down. I drove to Billings on the 11th to fly out to Texas. I was hoping it would be really nice weather but it turned out to be only about 40 or 50 degrees. I thought it wasn’t too bad but those poor Texans are so used to the warm weather they were out in their ski masks and beanie caps! I was fortunate enough to have a hostess to stay with. Julie picked me up from the airport that night; I ended up getting to know her very well and we had a lot of fun together. The San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo takes pride on being voted two years in a row the Large Indoor Rodeo of the Year and is the first regular-season rodeo to offer $1 million in prize money! Needless to say, I was in the big time! I got to see my favorite cowboy, Trevor Brazile up close and in action! Once again Montana was very well represented, Rod Lyman made a run in the bull dogging, Shaun Stroh, Shelly Anzick and Will Stovall also made impressions in Texas. I can’t go without mentioning the stock. A spectator would hear Hadley Barrett announce the state of Montana countless times during the rough stock events because both Sankey and Kesler rodeo brought their best stock to town. After each rodeo performance was a concert and I was there during what I thought were the best three concerts! I got to see Willie Nelson, The Beach Boys, and Neal McCoy. I definitely can not choose a favorite from those three! Miss Rodeo Texas, Joanna Blackwell and I spoke at daily school tour events, visited sponsors and shopped at the huge trade show and signed hundreds of autographs after each rodeo. Joanna is a real class act and after getting to know her throughout the week I know I have gained a new friend!

The rodeo and stock show were only a fraction of my experience in San Antonio. Since I was staying with Julie she knew all the really cool places to eat and all the sight seeing experiences I needed to see. On this trip there were a lot of firsts including trying caviar for the first time and experiencing valet parking. I don’t think I have ever been to a zoo before either and San Antonio’s zoo is ranked 3rd best in the nation! You can bet I was going to see that zoo! San Antonio’s leading industry is their tourism so I had plenty to see. I spent some time on the beautiful Riverwalk, did some local shopping, and ate at the Tower of America’s restaurant. The Tower of America’s was built in 1968 during the World’s Fair. It is a close resemblance to the Space Needle in Seattle and when you are eating in the restaurant the floor rotates around so you can see every angle of San Antonio as it stretches for miles in each direction. If you’re afraid of heights this is a restaurant you probably want to skip when you’re in San Antone. I had such a blast and once again met a ton of people all wanting to connect with Miss Rodeo Montana in some way.

A slight damper in my trip was missing my plane because of a mix up with the gate numbers so once I finally got back to Billings of course my luggage was no where to be found. Well, thankfully it came in and it was all undamaged so I survived more rough traveling accommodations.

I wasn’t ready to go home yet. I had the NRA finals right there in Billings for the weekend. I was so excited to be at a Montana rodeo and I was able to carry flags with Miss Teen Rodeo Montana, Lorissa Harris for the first time since we were crowned together in Great Falls. I also had the chance to meet Jessica the Ravalli County Queen. She traveled 10 hours to carry flags at the NRA!! The two girls and I had a blast. Lorissa and I had a small radio spot on Friday and we all signed autographs after the rodeo with the bullfighters and announcers. Many of our family and friends traveled to Billings just to see us in the rodeo! It was a weekend of great entertainment and fast action rodeo. For all of our work the committee was generous enough to give us girls free NRA finals vests!

I have a nice break before I enter a pretty busy month of March. I will be talking on 100.7 XL Country here in Bozeman on Wednesday about my travels. Until next time Montana, Happy Trails!

Rapid City Stock Show and Rodeo

Well it has been a most interesting and busy week for Miss Rodeo Montana. After a quick day to recuperate after the weekend in Billings and Lewistown I was off to get my Double H custom hat from Jimmy Harrison in Darby. Just so you all know, this small town Montanan girl relies heavily on mapquest.com and not to mention the fact I am just not the best with directions. In order to get to Darby the quickest (in miles) was to go through tiny little western Montana towns like Wisdom according to the all knowing mapquest. I soon found out this is not the best way to go as it took me well over four hours to arrive at my final destination. For a day trip it was quite a drive! But I made it safely and I got my custom hat! It is bone colored with black bound edging. On top of that, Jimmy whip stitched over 500 black Swavorski crystals into the bound edging. He had a silversmith put two custom cut outs on each side: the state of Montana with my initials and a crown with MRM 2007. This is a one-of-a-kind hat you won’t find anywhere! While in Darby, I visited the elementary school and showed a class of third graders my neat hat; they were all very impressed. After finishing up in Darby I traveled up the highway 60 miles to meet with Laura Bakker and Terri Boyer in Missoula; we put our heads together to come up with some good ideas for sponsors and fundraisers. I retreated back to Bozeman that night and it ended up being a much easier drive from Missoula. After the trip through Wisdom I started a list of highways in Montana NOT to take in the winter and if anyone is interested Highway 43 is included in that list, although I would love to take it sometime in the summer!
Next I was off to the Black Hills Stock Show and Rodeo in Rapid City, SD. Once again I had traveling problems. I planned on taking I-90 the entire way and getting to Rapid with several hours to spare before the first rodeo performance since the drive was only going to be about seven hours. Silly me, I got to Billings where I was to turn south to Wyoming and wouldn’t you know the roads were all closed! After a lot of time on the cell phone with people checking road maps and weather conditions I found out I had no choice but to go the long way. When I say long, I am not exaggerating. I went all the way to Belfield, ND and south from there resulting in a 12 and a half hour drive rather than the “quick” seven hours that I had planned. Of course I didn’t make it to the rodeo in time and thankfully the folks in charge in Rapid City understood completely. I arrived late at night and met Miss Rodeo Oregon and Miss Rodeo Idaho who I roomed with all weekend. We were up bright and early the next morning for the Old Timer’s Breakfast. This was a modest event to attend. I talked to many South Dakota natives ranging from old cowboys, farmers and ranchers or just members of the community. They loved to be among the royalty as about eight state queens attended the breakfast. There was cowboy poetry, country music, and achievement awards presented. What an interesting event to have! Our next stop was Landstrom’s Black Hills Gold. We were taken through the shop where all of the jewelry is made. A person finds a new appreciation for Black Hills Gold after seeing the process each piece goes through to be made. Off to the rodeo! Two performances every day ensured us queens for a lot of good rodeo entertainment and that’s what we saw. Montana was very well represented during each performance. Curt LaDuke, Donna Leibrand, T.K. Leibrand, Colt Gorrell, and Andy Bolich were just some of the Montanan’s who made the Rapid City Stock Show and rodeo from Montana. One of the highlights to the weekend was getting to meet some of the other state queens for the first time. Idaho, Oregon, North and South Dakota, Colorado, Iowa, Wyoming, Nebraska, and Nevada were all very welcoming to me being the “new queen.” Saturday we helped with the auction that sold off old western items for the scholarship fund. I was proud to be from Montana as the historical items that were made here in Montana sold the highest every time! I returned to Bozeman “the short way” this time and it only took me eight hours. Man was I glad to be home! As I survived my first out of state trip I look back and I just never cease to be amazed of the wonderful state I stem from. Everyone I came in contact could relate to someone or something in Montana and was eager to tell me their story. I am so honored to represent this great state and most of all, the people in it; that’s the key ingredient in an honorable state: the people.
I have a week to work on sponsors and other miscellaneous things until I fly off to the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo. I am hoping it will be warmer there and my travels go a bit smoother since I am flying and not driving! Until next week, best wishes Montana!

A weekend in Lewistown and Billings

Greetings! I think the realization is finally hitting me that I am Miss Rodeo Montana! I’ll be honest, it seemed like just a dream even a week after everything happened so fast in Great Falls! But I can easily say this week I “got my feet wet” with a couple different events and I am off and running!
My week started out with trying to find some sponsors during any free moment I had. The search for sponsors is going….slow but it has plenty of potential!
On Thursday night I headed to Billings for my first photo shoot on Friday morning with Kara and On the Move Photography. I was driving from Bozeman and by the time I got to Columbus (for those of you who don’t know the area it is only about 25 miles from Billings) I realized I forgot my buckle. Needless to say, I need the Miss Rodeo Montana buckle for my photo shoot! I had no choice but turn around and back track an hour and a half to meet a friend who was nice enough to meet me in Livingston with my buckle. Don’t ask me how I managed to forget such a thing; I even have a checklist I go over! On the positive side, I don’t think I will forget my buckle again the rest of the year. The photo shoot went great though. I wore several different outfits and Kara was a riot. We shot the pictures in the brand new Best Western in Billings. They were generous enough to donate their facilities for a day because they have a beautiful lobby with very nice western décor.
Saturday was a busy day. Miss Teen Rodeo Montana, Lorissa Harris, qualified for state speech so she was not able to travel this weekend; therefore, I drove to Lewistown for the morning and part of the afternoon. It was their winter fair and every year they put on the best kiddie rodeo in the state by many standards. The winter fair was impressive in itself. The small community of Lewistown really reaches out to put this on. The kiddie rodeo had about 85 entries and had everything from a grand entry to cow milking. The kids loved it and each time they finished an event they got a prize. I wasn’t able to stay for very long unfortunately because meanwhile in Billings, I was being inducted into the Montana Pro Rodeo Hall and Wall of Fame! Among the Montana cowboys, past Miss Rodeo Montana’s came for the honor as well and I even got to meet some of them I didn’t already know. The banquet was a scholarship fundraiser and a quite successful one at that. There were so many people there; I felt like Cinderella at the ball! We ate an incredible dinner and mingled with people from every area of business and rodeo. I helped with the live auction which was able to raise a great amount of money for scholarships and got my picture taken with Dan Mortenson. I was star struck! That pretty much summed up my week on the Miss Rodeo Montana trail! Thank you to all of you that are keeping up with my blog. Feel free to leave me a message if you are wondering what I am doing this week! Best wishes until next time!

Miss Rodeo Montana 2007 Megan Hardy

Hello everyone! Coming to you from Bozeman, Montana as your newly crowned Miss Rodeo Montana 2007 I would like to welcome you all to my blog! First and foremost thank you for all the kind calls, emails, and cards many of you have sent over this past week. They have all meant a great deal to me and I am so glad I can share my dream of being Miss Rodeo Montana with as many people as possible by keeping up with the Miss Rodeo Montana travel blog. As one of my goals for this year is to try and keep everyone updated on my travels throughout the year. I have my Mom to thank for coming up with this great idea and putting everything together for me.

Well, my first week as the newly crowned Miss Rodeo Montana was hectic and somewhat overwhelming but I survived! My year kicked off with the last performance of the Montana Pro Rodeo Circuit Finals where I carried flags, chased cattle, and handed out awards. I got through the rodeo without any major road blocks. The next morning was an early one; I was interviewed on about five different radio stations and had one TV interview in Great Falls. I am that girl that continues to have problems with driving directions thus I found that one thing I can see myself struggling with this year is getting directions to the different functions because I proceeded to get myself lost in Great Falls at 6:30 in the morning trying to find the radio station. It turns out that the radio stations were “hidden” in the upstairs of a retirement home. Who would have thought! All in all, the many interviews I had in the days after I was crowned ran very smoothly. After I returned to Bozeman I had a very long list of things to be done in just a few days before I was back on the road again headed to Great Falls for the M.A.G.I.E. I have gotten off to a great start and thanks to XL Country here in Bozeman I have already gotten some calls from businesses wanting to sponsor me. I was the co-host on Friday morning on the country morning show and I can now include playing the tambourine to my list of “talents.” It will be just one of the many impromptu things that will happen to me throughout my year as Miss Rodeo Montana I am sure. I spent the weekend in Great Falls for the industrial expo where I met some more potential sponsors. Meeting even more people that day, Cassidy and I then went to “A Night at the Mint” at the Charlie Russell Museum. Continuing to try and find sponsors, plan my coronation, and get some rest when time allows I am now back in Bozeman for a few days before I am off to Billings and Lewistown next weekend. I have already been blessed by so many people offering to help me in however they can and I truly am excited about representing our beautiful state of Montana in the coming year. I will look forward to reading everyone’s responses and emails! See you down the road!