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!