Mary Cole Days Parade

Today was the Mary Cole Days Parade in Marcola, OR which is conveniently about 10 miles from my barn. Luckily I was reminded that the parade was coming up and I decided to go just this week, and I am very glad I did! I felt very welcomed by the parade staff and I was extremely flattered that they were so happy to have me attend! I remember doing this parade as a kid in my 4H club and that same year Miska Asman was in the parade as the 2003 Eugene Pro Rodeo Queen! I would have never dreamed that I would be in her place today. I was also very honored to be asked by the parade staff to lead the parade carrying our beautiful American flag. All I can say is thank you Marcola for the opportunity to do so! I hope to be back in the future, and I will definitly recommend the parade to the 2011 rodeo queen :)

My pony deserves a picture this time too, because she was amazing in the parade! My best horse friend, Dusty.

Cottage Grove Rodeo

July 9th and 10th I drove down to Cottage Grove, OR to represent Eugene at the 62nd annual Cottage Grove Rodeo. July 9th was unblievably hot, but then again, that's rodeo weather! After setting up all day for the Lane County 4H Youth Fair, I met up with other 4Her friends who happened to be on the drill team there in CG. It was a hot one, but I got ready and did my run-in accompanied by the Yoncalla Rodeo Queen, Miss NPRA and the Salem Fairgrounds Queen. I had a great time seeing the Cottage Grove girls take over their rodeo and I was very glad to see that Jessica was good to ride after her accident! Lindy, the Sr. Princess did a great job singing the National Anthem and I was impressed! After grand entry I left early and after 4H fair the next day, I was back for more!
July 10th, was an exciting one, because during grand entry my horse tripped and fell right out from under me! We came around a corner pretty fast right in front of the chutes and shoop! There we went! Luckily we're both fine, my pony and I were just filthy! I always panic about my hat coming off and for once, I lived up to the saying, "If your hat is gonna come off, your head better be in it" which it was, but my crown shot right off of it. Immediatly following my wreck, someone caught my horse, I got back on, my crown was brought to me and I stood back in place like nothing happened. I finished my run-in and was totally humiliated. I know I shouldn't have been, but I was coved in dirt and that is probably the opposite of a rodeo queen! After dusting off, I went and signed some autographs and had a great night actually watching the rodeo for once! My favorite was the trailor race in which a friend of mine was seconds away from winning. I had a great time at Cottage Grove, and lesson learned, no running full out in a corner! (Again, probably not my fault, but I still want to think it is!)

Eugene Pro Rodeo

The Eugene Pro Rodeo finally came! It seemed like I had been waiting for years for it! We had an extremely successful rodeo July 1-4. The rodeo even sold out on the 4th of July! It was an incredible experience.

First of all, Guaranty of Junction City lent me an amazing RV to stay in over the course of the rodeo which definitly made me feel like royalty.

 I had a great time "people-watching" out of it while I was waiting to start getting ready. I especially enjoyed the man who parked in front of it on July 3rd and set his car alarm off at 2 am. Yay for no sleeping!

Anyway, I had the time of my life. Thank you to all of the visiting royalty that came like the Cottage Grove Court; Philomath Frolic Queen, Sarah McRae; the South Douglas Queen; the Sutherlin Stampede Queen, Annie Lee; Miss Rodeo Oregon; Miss Rodeo Washington: Miss NPRA; the Yoncalla Queen; the Sweet Home Queen; and the Benton County Queen. I'm sure there were more girls, but at the moment I a drawing a blank.

 The first night of the rodeo, July 1st, was Tough Enough To Wear Pink night in support of breast cancer awareness and the race for the cure on 10-10-10 later this year. I also got to do my first TV interview with KEZI which was terrifying but totally worth it! The weather started to sprinkle on us and got everything a little damp during the pre-rodeo activities, but all it did was kill the dust and thanks to our dedicated rodeo fans, we had a great opening night.                  

On July 3rd I headed down to Yoncalla for their parade and saw a lot of the other queens that I had seen at my rodeo! Somehow we all ended up taking first place in the parade (??  lol) I had a great time while I was there and decided to head back up to Eugene before Yoncalla's rodeo actually kicked off.

And then the Fourth Of July!

My morning began in Creswell, OR for their 4th of July Parade! I was very excited to be doing a semi-local parade since I knew some people I saw on the route. Unfortunately, Jessica Marshal, a friend and the Cottage Grove Sr. Queen, had an accident with her horse and after some of the most impressive moves I've seen a horse do in a while, Jessica needed to sit out on the parade and the rodeo that night in order to be good to go for her own rodeo a week away. I'm very glad she is doing well! Well, after the parade, I headed back to Eugene for our heart-pounding Firecracker Bullride ironically sponsored by Oregon Oral and Facial Surgeons! The company had a dinner at our rodeo and I was very glad to go in and meet a couple of the doctors and other staff and family. The rodeo sold out about 20 minutes into the rodeo and the weather was PERFECT. I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to work cattle on the 4th, but I had plenty of action. I got the chance to do some give-aways in the middle of the arena on the mic and for any of you that know me, you'll know that it was a huge step out of my comfort zone! But I got through it, gave away some awesome gifts from our sponsors, and came out wanting to do it again.

I had the time of my life at the rodeo this year and got to see a lot of good friends and make some new ones. None of it could have been possible without the help from our generous sponsors like BiMart, Pepsi, Jerry's and many, many more. The other people that need a GIANT pat on the back are our rodeo volunteers and coordinators. Larry Von Moos does some amazing things to keep our rodeo running smoothly, Lisa Johnson kept our gate open and running like clock-work, and all of our arena crew and behind the scenes people. My best friend was even out there un-tying calfs during tie-down and coordinating the 14-20 Dance. Thank you so much to everyone who made the 2010 rodeo a success and all those who helped me succeed at my job! I can't wait to be back next year helping out.

Eugene Pro Rodeo - KIDS CLUB

To start off our rodeo festivities at the Eugene Pro Rodeo, one of our fabulous volunteers named Larry Wicklund puts on our annual Kids Club a few days before the rodeo. The Kids Club is an opportunity for kids to come to the arena and tour the shoots, learn about rodeo, and meet rodeo "celebrities" like myself.
This year Kids Club was held on June 29 and we had over 400 kids come tour with us! We had groups bus in from summer camps and things like that and we also had kids come from the general public.

As far as celebrities go, we had myself; Wayne White, our announcer; Jesse Tennant, our Bull FIGHTER; and Tyler Gorham, a Bull RIDER. Wayne told the kids about the history of rodeo and even set up a game where a fast kid would pretend to be bull and chase Tyler while Jesse (being the bull fighter) would try to catch the "bull". It was a lot of fun. Some kids took it pretty seriously and even came up and head-butted me and one of our other helpers, Miranda. Then Wayne took them out back and explained where the cowboys enter the rodeo and then we toured the chutes. Wayne even offered the kids to take home a "rodeo souvenir" AKA dried horse poop. Then the kids were shut in the bucking chutes and released to go bucking through the arena and back to the beginning for ice cream and face painting.

I had a great time helping out. Meeting kids and sharing rodeo with them is one of my ultimate favorite parts of being the queen and the Kids Club was definitly the place to do that!