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!!