Montana Fairs!

Oh my goodness I have been so busy lately I don’t know if I am coming or going! It’s been two weeks since I have even had time to write on my blog! In the past two weeks I have made a complete circle of the Big Sky state. You never know how big Montana really is until you spend the majority of the time on the highway. I was first in Great Falls for the State Fair, Big Sky Pro Rodeo Roundup and the Roundup Queen pageant. I was kept very busy but I had one of my favorite queens to assist me in my appearances, Miss Rodeo America, Ashley Andrews. Ashley and I have known each other since high school so it was great getting to hang out with her again. The girls running in the pageant had a great opportunity to ask her all sorts of questions about what she does and her experiences as MRA.

The rodeo went great each night. I was on my favorite queen horse, Cisco again and got to hang out with Sue and Bailey Thompson which is always a great time. Congratulations to Kirsten, Tiffany, and Jennika on winning 2007-2008 Big Sky Pro Rodeo royalty. Lorissa was there to help with the pageant too but unfortunately we didn’t get to see much of each other because our schedules didn’t line up the same.

I was home for one day until I drove to Missoula for their fair and pageant. I went a day early to be at the Auto Spa for a mini-fundraiser. They gave me $1 for every car that was washed that day. At this point in my year that is wonderful because every dollar matters! Thanks Auto Spa! I felt right at home staying at Laura Bakker’s house with her two little dogs. We had a great time while I was there. The contestants had a BBQ and kicked off the fair by all of us riding the Merry-Go-Round at the carnival. I am glad they picked that ride because I am pretty sure my stomach couldn’t handle anything faster than that! Wednesday night was the PBR and I carried the American Flag. It was an almost sold out performance and of course Flint Rasmussen was there to entertain the crowd.

The rest of the fair and rodeos flew by! Lorissa and I were kept pretty busy emceeing the style show and horsemanship portion of the pageant, hosting kiddie rodeos, signing autographs, and even handing out cake at the Wells Fargo bank. I tried my best not to raise to much controversy over the fact that I was in Grizzly country but I couldn’t help but say “Go Bobcats”, during the style show. I definitely wasn’t the most popular emcee at that point! Friday night was coronation for the contestants and congratulations to all the girls who won, Leslie, Reagan, Skylar, and Hannah. All of our new Montana royalty are going to represent the state and rodeo very well all year!

Saturday Lorissa and I drank a lot of coffee in order to drive all the way to Glasgow for their North East Montana Fair and rodeo. We witnessed a different kind of kiddie rodeo at the fair grounds. Instead of barrels and roping they had greased pig race and a chicken race where the kids had to catch a greased pig and chickens and put them in a barrel. It was pretty entertaining to watch but the best part was when a pig got out of the pen and ran through the arena and into the fair with a herd of kids chasing after him. Thankfully the pig farmer didn’t have to cut his profit because the kids finally caught him somehow. We put on a standard kiddie rodeo at the Elderly Home in Glasgow. One of my favorite parts of being Miss Rodeo Montana is visiting with the residents; they are always so happy to see a smiling girl. My sister, Vanessa, brought in her horse Topaz for me to ride during the rodeo so I was very well mounted once again! Kirsten, the new Miss Big Sky Pro Rodeo Queen, Lorissa and I carried flags at the rodeos and helped Tessa Weifrich chase cattle out of the arena. I had a pretty good time because Glasgow is practically home for me being only 45 miles west of Wolf Point. So of course I ran into many people who were glad to see me so close to home again.