Tuesday, April 3, 2007

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!

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