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.