Miss Eugene Pro Rodeo

Information

2011-11-20T22:26:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone has been doing good! It has been an awesome year! Just to update everyone, we are moving a lot of our Miss Eugene Pro Rodeo information over to facebook. I put a copy of the finalized packet on here, and there is also a copy on the facebook page. Don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Miss-Eugene-Pro-Rodeo/176450012428943

More Updates!

2011-06-14T22:06:00.000-07:00

Wow how time flies! Its been an amazing spring and start to summer and I am so excited for our rodeo coming up!
I saw a first little taste of summer at the Rhodie Fest in Florence, Oregon. When we first got there I was worried the weather wouldn't be good, but by the time the parade started it turned out gorgeous! Our 2010 miss EPR, also a good friend of mine happened to be at the coast that weekend with her fiance, another good friend and they were kind enough to help me get my horse ready. Kyra is a lot more crafty than I am and decorated Rhodies all throughout Rulu's mane and tail. It looked so cute!

And Cody was my rodeo queen mom for the day pinning my sash on :)

It turned out to be an overall great day! The inner "child at heart" came out in me on the way home when we went by the Gingerbread Village Restaurant in Mapleton. They had the Gingerbread man out, so of course I had to get a picture! He even gave me a free gingerbread cookie ;)

Our next event was KKNU dinner at Putters. It was great to finally meet the radio crew, Barrett, Fox, and Berry. I hear them on the radio almost every day they are such great people! I had a lot of fun chatting with everyone and helping out with the raffle for rodeo tickets!

At last but certainly not least, I just got back from the Sisters Rodeo this last weekend. I had such an amazing time. I ran into some of the queens I have already met, and got to meet some new ones too. There was so many nice, beautiful girls and everyone was very welcoming! I felt right at home. Saturday morning we had the parade and right after all of the contestants were treated to ice cream bars :) I was really excited for Sunday because I got to wear my new pink chaps for Tough Enough to Wear Pink night. Rulu was such a trooper for a long hot weekend. I was a bit bummed to come home because the weather was so amazing there and I didn't want to leave!

April Updates!

2011-04-17T21:49:00.001-07:00

I was able to run into Benton County's
Queen, Clara and we got to visit for a while.
It was great seeing her!

I feel like its been a while since I have given everyone an update! I have had a fun and busy month so far and finally got a chance to sit down and post!

And then I ran into Mr. Gage :)
One of the cutes cowboys I know!

First, I will start off with the PBR at the Matthew Knight Arena. I was really excited because I hadn't been there yet and the first time I got to go was for a rodeo event. We had an awesome booth set up for Eugene Pro Rodeo and I met some great people!

And I couldn't complete the night without taking a picture
with the UO Duck Mascot!

The next weekend I headed up to Corvallis to the Benton County Spring rodeo. I had a great time! The weather is starting to get better and we managed to stay dry! I was excited to come again because I had a lot of fun at their last rodeo, Super Bulls in January. It's always fun helping out with the games for the kids. Since Easter is coming up, they did an egg and spoon race with plastic easter eggs. It was so cute watching the little kids run across the arena! One of the kids was a little impatient though and wanted to eat his chocolate before the race! (He had spotted the Hershey's Kiss inside his egg).

Me and the 2011 Cottage Grove Queen, Jenny Conrad

All of the girls looked great and the rodeo made for a really fun weekend!

OHSRA rodeo at Oregon Horse Center

2011-02-27T14:59:00.000-08:00

Once again, this is Kyra blogging!
While Jessica was attending the Cowgirls and Crowns clinic held by Miss Rodeo Oregon this weekend, the Oregon Horse Center was playing host to a rodeo for the Oregon High School Rodeo Association. And since OHC is the home of the Eugene Pro Rodeo, we all felt we needed the EPR to be present! And so, since Jessica couldn't be in two places at once, I got to be her substitute and be queen again for the weekend.
First off I was really ecxited because I haven't been very involved with horses in the past few months since my pony is now leased out and so naturally I am very sore today! Anyway, I had the great honor of wearing the "retired" queen chaps and I even got the chance to use the "souvenir crown" that my mom had made for me post-reign.
I was very glad to be able to work cattle and run a couple sponsor flags for the rodeo and the best part was watching all of these upcoming rodeo-stars doing what they do best! It made me sort of wish that I had done competition-rodeo while I was in high school, even though I would not have been nearly as good as the kids competing this weekend!
I just want to thank all of the people who made my weekend a blast and for letting me get my well-needed rodeo time in! Thank you to all of the members of OHSRA for having me and for running such a well organized high school event, and the biggest thank you goes to Mandi and Kaylee Hansen for letting me borrow Keely for my run-in and cows! She was fantastic and I loved getting to ride again!
And now, back to Jessica, your 2011 queen :D -Kyra Turner

Duck Parade

2011-01-30T01:24:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, I went just a few minutes from my house to our local Parade of Champions, Duck Parade. I had a lot of fun! I was a little worried at first trying to find parking in the middle of downtown Eugene, but luckily they had a big area cleared out so I was able to unload....right at the heart of Campus! I never thought I would be riding on the UO campus, and Rulu wasn't so sure about it at first, but she quickly realized it was game time and did great with all the new and interesting sights to see!
Since we were the only horse entry in the parade, I had a lot of people really excited to see Rulu. A couple of the girls working the parade traffic wanted to take a picture with her. The one girl however was scared of horses so any time Rulu moved she got a little nervous ;) I hope they were able to get a picture though! It was nice meeting lots of new people, and I ended up running into a lot of people that I knew throughout the parade. There was a lot of Duck Spirit and I think that it was a really fun atmosphere. I was really excited to get my Great Uncle's old parade saddle out too! It reminds me of a saddle Roy Rogers would have for Trigger. My Great Uncle used it in parades when he was part of the Sheriffs Posse so it was neat keeping the family history alive! I would also like to thank my helpers, Lian and Bev for helping me get ready, and McKenzie and Maddison for being my pooper scoopers. Not a very fun job but they can say they helped out when they try out for Miss EPR someday :)

Super Bulls

2011-01-18T22:47:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I made the short trip up to Corvallis to attend the Super Bulls rodeo. I must say I was a little nervous because I hadn't been to the fairgrounds in years and wanted to make sure I knew where to go! I was thankful I left home early though, and I had a good copilot, my friend Lian, to come there with me. We got there with lots of time to spare which made it nice to have plenty of time to get Rulu (my horse) ready. Once the crowd started filling in, the Queens and barrel racers got in the arena quickly to get out of the rain! I got to meet Benton County Fair & Rodeo Queen, Clara Crocker who was very welcoming. It was nice meeting her along with all of the other queens.

After I was done helping in the arena (and getting very wet from the rainy barrels we had to set up) Jen Conrad (Cottage Grove's queen) and I gathered up some kids for the stick horse race. It was so adorable watching the little kids who could barely walk try to run across the arena with their stick horses. Too cute!! Once all of us were done helping, we took some pictures and wrapped up a fun evening. I had a great time!

Me and the 2011 Cottage Grove Queen, Jenny Conrad

Coronation

2011-01-14T14:59:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! As of last night, I am officially your 2011 Miss EPR! I am so excited! I hope everyone had as great of an evening as I did! We started off the evening with a slide show if pictures that have been taken of the queens over the last few years, and got to see some of the amazing pictures that Chris Sloan, the Queen Coordinator takes. After that, we had some delicious dinner and I got to visit with people and start taking the first of the many pictures for the evening! I was glad to see everyone there, and appreciated the visiting royalty coming to support! I got to meet Jenny Conrad, Cottage Grove's 2011 Queen, and Shalaina Joiner, Miss NPRA. It was so sweet of her to come. She had a very long drive and we appreciated her making the trip!

(All of the goodies for the silent auction! Thank you so much to everyone who donated and Bid!)

I also want to thank all of the girls that tried out- Whitney Richey, Kyra Russel, Jess Stanfill, and Angela Hurlburt. . Everyone did a great job at tryouts and the parade! It was great getting to know them all. Jess also donated a guided fishing trip to the silent auction which I greatly appreciated! I'm glad I got to meet all of the girls and I hope they had as much fun as I did! I hope they stick around this year so I can get to know them more!

2011 Miss Eugene Pro Rodeo Tryouts

2011-01-08T04:12:00.000-08:00

2011 Miss Eugene Pro Rodeo- Jessica Shafer

Horsemanship- Jessica Shafer

Appearance/Personality- Jessica Shafer

People's Choice- Jessica Shafer

Congratulations to all of our contestants and their very hard work. They all prepared and it was great seeing their hard work in action. For me, I had a little bit of a hard time since I am friends with all of the contestants except for Jess, but she quickly grew on me and the other judges as well :)

I hope we will see all of our contestants competing next year, or on another court, or even better, they can help me as a volunteer at the rodeo! This will also be my farewell blog post, since as of Thursday at 6pm, I will be handing down my title. Again, congratulations Jessica, and welcome to a very busy and rewarding year! --Kyra Turner

The girls doing a queen run all together :)

Award Sponsors for the 2011 Tryouts

2010-12-17T09:41:00.000-08:00

First, I want to say a huge thank you to Innovative Fabricators Inc. who sent us some goodies to give to each of our contestants at the coronation on January 13. And another huge thank you is due to Jean Sirotek. She doubles as my mom and as a vinyl cutting artist! She is donating full trailer vinyl to the winning contest and a serape! She also does other queen's vinyl. She did mine, 2010 Yoncalla Rodeo Queen, Kayla Weeldreyer and she did the 2010 South Douglas Rodeo Queen, Hannah Sheely's trailer. She does window decals and vinyl for awards and glass etching! She does completely unique custom work and is very inexpensive. Another award sponsor that we have is Natalie Napier who makes custom jewelry. She kindly sponsored a necklace for the Appearance/Interview portion of the competition.

If you or anyone would like to sponsor some awards for our five lovely contestants, please email me (Kyra) kturner91@hotmail.com . We would love to show off your business and products at the coronation which will have an entire room full of people to appreciate the awards. Right now I still need a horsemanship award, appearance, and a speech award. We are also having a silent auction to raise funds for the queen to travel with next summer. I would estimate that I spent at least $500 on gas alone this year with all of the different events I attended. At the coronation, I will be able to share your fliers or business cards, and you will be linked on this blog which averages about 120 views per day.

Please help out in the making of the 20th Annual Eugene Pro Rodeo!

Here is a sample of the work Jean is doing for the serape and also a sample of Innovative Fabricator's.

Springfield Christmas Parade

2010-12-16T14:34:00.000-08:00

On December 11, the 2011 contestants and I got together for the 58th annual Springfield Christmas Parade. I had a great time getting to meet and talk with all of the girls at once. And we all got soaked together by the rainy weather! The contestants also had no idea that this was one part of their judging process for the competition! We were a little rushed getting ready because I am not used to getting more than one horse decorated in time :)

Thank you to all the girls for showing up on time and helping me represent the rodeo in my hometown! And thank you to their families that helped where they could and on behalf of all of the contestants and myself, thank you to Cody Fulkerson for following us in the parade and being our pooper-scooper and co-judge. And one final thank you to the city of Springfield for providing this opportunity for us to ride.

The next stop for us is the 2011 Miss Eugene Pro Rodeo tryouts on January 8th.

Photo Credit: Brian Jones

2011 Miss Eugene Pro Rodeo Contestants

2010-11-30T19:23:00.000-08:00

CHECK BACK FOR UPDATED PHOTOS AND STATEMENTS

Why do you want to become the next MEPR?


Jess Stanfill	Whitney Richey
I would be honored to become MEPR so that I could fill the position to lead and set a positive example to children and the community. I love public speaking, traveling, volunteering, and rodeo! To me there's no better way to spend 2011 than graciously representing my favorite rodeo!	I want to be Miss Eugene Pro Rodeo 2011 because I have the knowledge and experience to fulfill the duties expected. I have learned exactly what it takes to represent rodeo as a sport and recognize that I am the image of the rodeo 24 hours a day 7 days a week as long as I reign. I am willing to do whatever it takes to carry out the responsibilities set in front of me.


Angela Hurlburt	Jessica Shafer
The reason that I want to be Miss Eugene Pro Rodeo is because I want to represent the Eugene Pro Rodeo and to be a role model to little cowgirls throughout Oregon. I love to work with kids and am very excited for Kids Club.	I have always had a desire to be around horses, interact with people, and I love rodeo. I consider myself a genuine, respectful person with the foundations of what a true cowgirl should be. With the desire and commitment I have, I hope you will consider me for your 2011 Eugene Pro Rodeo Queen.

Kyra Russell

As a queen you are not just a pretty face with a fancy title that can ride a horse. You are a representative of a rodeo family and its community, someone that children can look up to, helping the fans feel right at home. I want to be that queen that lends the helping hand to those in need by supporting the hard work and dedication of the contestants and stall members of the Eugene Pro Rodeo.

Meet the Contestants!

Springfield Christmas Parade Entry #63-December 11, 2010
2011 MEPR Tryouts @ OHC-January 8, 2011
2011 MEPR Coronation @ OHC-January 13, 2011

Thanksgiving Thunder Rough Stock Rodeo

2010-11-28T18:32:00.000-08:00

Last night I visited the Thanksgiving Thunder Rough Stock Rodeo at the Benton County Fairgrounds. I had a great time visiting with my queenie friends like Nicole Shrock, Miss NPRA and Karen Hoagland the Benton Co. Fair and Rodeo Queen. She looked fabulous as always carrying our beautiful flag around the arena.
I also go to take my nephew who is 11 months old in the stick horse race. He loved it! I was surprised he gave up his stick horse for another kid. Anyway, I got to see the coronation of the 2011 Benton County Fair and Rodeo Queen, Clara Crocker. I didn't get to really meet the other two that tried out, but I hope to see them in the future :) Congrats Clara! And thanks to Karen for hosting my last rodeo as queen.

2011 OTHER Rodeo Queen Tryouts

2010-11-18T06:40:00.000-08:00

I noticed I am getting a lot of hits on my blog about tryouts for other rodeos. So will try to give some info :)

The Eugene Pro Rodeo tryout packets are due in 4 days, Nov. 22nd.

2011 Benton County Fair and Rodeo-
Queen tryouts are November 27th and the packets deadline is already over. Its not too late to go watch the results at their rodeo that night in Corvallis!

2011 Sweet Home Rodeo-

Sweet Home Rodeo queen tryouts. Ages 16-24, single w/o children, live in adjoining county. Applications due Jan 3rd, mtg Jan12, tryouts Jan 22. Contact Missy Santana at mbmsantana@msn.com or Bambi Wells at bambiwells@yahoo.com.

The 2011 Yoncalla Rodeo-
They informed me that they had no date set yet, but were shooting for tryouts in April. I also heard that they renamed Kayla Weeldreyer as the 2011 Queen, so for info, I would get on facebook and try to get a hold of Kayla.

The Cottage Grove Rodeo also named Jenny Conrad as their 2011 Queen this week.

Congrats Jenny and good luck to the contestants for the 2011 Benton County title, I will be there to cheer everyone on :)

And furthermore, good luck to Ashley Zeigler who is traveling to Las Vegas for the Miss Rodeo America pageant!

2011 Eugene Pro Rodeo Queen Tryout Info

2010-11-07T17:02:00.001-08:00

The tryout packets to become the 2011 Eugene Pro Rodeo Queen are ready! You can find them on the rodeo's website (http://www.eugeneprorodeo.com/queen.html) The packets are due November 22, since we will need some information in order for the contestants to ride with me in the Springfield Christmas Parade on December 11th. (The parade is required of contestants) If you have questions, feel free to call Oregon Horse Center and ask for Chris 541-689-9700 or find me on facebook and I can help you there also.

Tryouts will be held Saturday, January 8th and the coronation ceremony & dinner will be held Thursday, January 13th.

Veteran's Day Parade in Springfield, OR

2010-11-07T16:52:00.000-08:00

Since I live in Springfield, OR, it was hard not to find a reason to attend the 10th annual Veteran's Day Parade! Our exciting Oregon weather cleared up just for our parade today except for a little bit of sprinkling and luckily, Wilco was at the staging area so I ran in at the last minute to purchase a clear plastic hat cover :) I had a great time in my home town waving at some familiar faces and passing by McKenzie-Willamette Hospital because I know how much it means to the patients to see the parade go by. I got a lot of cheers for my clean, white pony and my pooper-scooper, Cody Fulkerson. I had a blast talking to some of our vets and getting to show off the red, white, and blue that they have all fought for. Thank you to all of our soldiers, past, present, and future :)

Me and my nephew, Barrett

P.S. Here is a video from KEZI News about the parade. I am in it briefly :) http://kezi.com/news/local/194
325

Walterville Community Fair Parade

2010-09-12T10:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I traveld right up the road to Walterville, OR for their community fair and parade. I had a great time being in their community and visitng with a few people! We staged before the parade near Herrick's farm and the fire station. It was great to see the community come out and enjoy the great break in the rainy weather we've had! Thanks for having me Walterville :)

NW Youth Rodeo Assoc. in Cottage Grove, OR

2010-08-08T21:39:00.000-07:00

While I was in Benton County I got an invite to attend the NW Youth Rodeo Associations rodeo that they were holding at the Cottage Grove Rodeo grounds. So this morning, that is exactly where I was headed!
Since it was a cool morning, I got ready early and headed up to see what was going on. I met with the NYRA Court and they gave me the scoop. Oddly enough, I never attended a NYRA Rodeo before and today made me wish I had! I loved seeing all of the kids get together and compete. I was amazed at how everyone was really tight-knit and were friends, no doubt from traveling to all of the same rodeos together throughout the northwest.

I particularily enjoyed watching the bareback event, with a very small boy on a very small bucking pony which literally launched him a good five feet into the air. It's not that him being airborne was exciting, but the exciting part was seeing that these little coyboys are just as tough or more-so than grown-up cowboys. Im so glad I was able to get to meet the NYRA girls again; Queen Cheyenne Phillips, Princess Macy Sullenger, and Princess Madison Wyant. I was also glad that I could help out the little bit that I did.

Benton County Fair and Rodeo

2010-08-08T21:27:00.000-07:00

August 6th and 7th, I was in Corvallis, OR for the Benton County Fair and Rodeo! I had a wonderful time each night and really enjoyed going to rodeo that was combined with the fair. I also enjoyed the good fair-food :)
Queen Karen Hoagland made us right at home with her Queen's luncheon where she fed us some real food and some amazing cupcakes. It was a great time to relax and hang out with the other visiting royalty like Miss NPRA, the Sweet Home Queen, the Salem Fairgrounds Queen and the Philomath Frolic Queen.

I really enjoyed the rodeo and all of the other fair festivities. Especially the Donkey Races that Karen won again this year! It was hilarious. I also enjoyed helping with the stick-horse race with all of the kids that came to watch the rodeo.

Mary Cole Days Parade

2010-07-24T23:59:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-24T23:45:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-24T23:30:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-24T22:46:00.000-07:00

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!

Crooked River Roundup - Prineville, OR

2010-06-28T23:25:00.000-07:00

For June 25-27 I headed east for Crooked River Roundup! It was a lot of fun with 3 PRCA performances and a parade on Saturday. I had a blast.

I think the best part for me was camping! I haven't ever camped at a rodeo before, and let me tell you, if you are planning on sleeping in a tent at a rodeo BEFORE 2 am, it isn't gonna happen. Luckily the second night, I got some ear plugs :)

I got to know a few more queens on this trip including Lacey McBeth, the 2010 Crooked River Roundup Queen, Ashley Zeigler who is our 2010 Miss Rodeo Oregon and the 2010 Canby Rodeo girls, Queen Katie Trapp, Princess Erika Roney and Princess Emily Wilhite. I am very thankful that the Canby girls adopted me and let me hang out with them, especially on the walk to our staging spot in the parade! We had a good time hanging out and getting lost in Prineville.

I had a wonderful time on Tough Enough to Wear Pink night and was especially enthralled with the Posie Shop in Prineville, OR who set up a booth named Double D Ranch and sold Bras For A Cause! It was amazing to see the people support the fight against breast cancer, which I get to do at my own rodeo next weekend.

I also want to say thanks to Lacey for asking me to help out with running cattle back during the rodeo. I haven't actually gotten to work cattle at a RODEO before so it was nice to do that before my chance came up at the Eugene Pro! I had a blast helping with the give-away of some Wranglers to two audience members and helping with the stick-horse race for all the kids! Thanks Prineville for a fun rodeo!

and Lacey McBeth, the CRR Queen

Sisters Rodeo - Sisters, OR

2010-06-17T14:45:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was the Sisters Rodeo and it definitly got me in rodeo/summer mode! The rodeo was June 11-13 but I had to miss the Friday night performance and the parade Saturday morning because of my high school graduation. (Congrats PHill Class of 2010!!) But after a little bit of rush and no sleep due to the all-night grad party, we hopped in the truck and made it LITERALLY just in time for the afternoon performance on Saturday.

The weather was amazing and I had a great time hanging out waiting for the performance later that night. I was pretty pumped when I found out that Sunday was Tough Enough To Wear Pink Night since I just happened to bring my pink stuff with me. I have to admit that my pink shirt looked a little odd with red, white and blue chaps :) I enjoyed getting to talk to the Cottage Grove court a little more and thank you Karen Hoagland for letting my tie my pony to your trailor when we left for some food! And while Im saying the thank you's, thanks Karissa for letting us stay with you!

I was also excited to be handing out autograph sheets for the first time this season! Emily Strub with Unbridled Imagery did an AMAZING job taking photos for me! At the rodeo, not only did kids rush me for autogrphs, I also had a few adults ask for one too! One man in particular asked for one and asked that I write it "Big Daddy Delish". I dont think that was his real name... lol

< Me and Cottage Grove Jr. Queen, Tana Weston

Strawberry Festival Parade - Lebanon, OR

2010-06-09T21:41:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, I headed to Lebanon for the Strawberry Festival and Parade! I was very surprised that so many people came out to watch and it was such a beautiful day, which has been pretty rare lately :)

I had a great time getting ready for my first parade of the season and had a little help from Karen (Benton County Queen) who loaned me a couple zip ties. I was in need of these, mostly because of the incredible flower-pack that Tine Johnson made for me! The pack was huge! But Im sure my pony loved it. We too 2nd in the horse divsion of the parade. The Canby court was there, along with the Cottage Grove court, the Philomath Frolic Queen, the Benton County Queen and the Sweet Home Queen.

I had a great time on the route and even heard a few people say they would be seeing me on the 4th of July! I cant wait and the time is getting close to this year's EPR! This weekend I have my high school graduation and then leaving that night for the Sisters Rodeo. See you there!

Cottage Grove Rodeo Queen Coronation

2010-04-20T09:21:00.000-07:00

On Friday night I visited the Cottage Grove Coronation at the Masonic Lodge in Cottage Grove. We had a wonderful dinner which doubled as a fundraiser for the Rodeo Drill Team, which being from the area, I have a lot of friends that are on the team. I had the chance to visit with my friend Bre Whiting who was the 2009 CG Jr. Queen. (Who in a few years better be trying out for Eugene!) I had a great time seeing Nicole, Hannah, Kayla, and the Salem Flag Team girls who all came as visiting royalty. Of course Karen Hoagland was there too, as she was the 2009 CG Sr. Queen and is now the 2010 Benton County Fair and Rodeo Queen. We all had a great time talking about how gracefully we could try to eat spaghetti and salad which obvioulsy did not go well :)
After dinner was the coronation and we got to meet our new Cottag Grove Sr. Queen, Jessica Marshal and her Sr. Princess Kristen Ankeny. Also we met Tana Weston who is the Cottage Grove Jr. Queen. Tana also won the MRO Spirit award, and just from listening to her talk briefly, I can tell she deserved it! I'm very excited to see them at upcoming events!
I want to thank Cottage Grove for having me, especially Tonia Porter for giving me some advice and working with me even though she has her own new court to worry about now!
I'd like to say the next event I'm going to would be the Salem Rodeo this weekend, but I haven't been able to find anything out about it. So my next written down event will be Sister's Rodeo in June. (However I know I won't be able to wait that long!)

Yoncalla Rodeo Tryouts

2010-04-10T20:30:00.000-07:00

Today I spent all day in Yoncalla, OR visiting old friends, helping as much as I could, and smiling a ton!
I had a blast and got to watch 4 girls compete for the title of the 2010 Yoncalla Rodeo Queen. The contestants were Whitney Richey, Katie Watkins, Kayla Weeldreyer and Koryssa Campbell. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I was not the only visiting royalty, Miss NPRA Nicole Schrock came and so did the South Douglas Rodeo Queen Hannah. Also there to help was the 2009 Yoncalla Rodeo Queen, Jessi. I enjoyed meeting them and can't wait to see Nicole and Hannah around.
The girls competed first in horsemanship then modeling and speech. I thought everyone did great even when they had to switch ponies! I actually felt nervous like I was the one competing; imagine how they felt!

After eating some delicious cake, the new queen was announced! I want to congratulate Kayla on becoming the next Yoncalla Rodeo Queen with runner-up Whitney. I look forward to see her around at rodeos and having a familiar face to chat with! I know I will see her this Friday as we are both attending the Cottage Grove Rodeo Coronation. Good luck CG girls!

And one last thought, I overheard Nicole (Miss NPRA) talking about her response to people when they ask why she doesn't run for Miss Rodeo Oregon and I loved what she said. (however I am bad at quoting, so I'm getting the gist of it :D) She said that she loved being Miss NPRA because she could be a part of the smaller rodeos that are family-oriented and tightly knitted into the community. And to her, that was what rodeo is about. I loved hearing this because that is what I think rodeo should be about also and I admire her for being humble and just totally awesome.

Spring Stampede - Corvallis, OR

2010-04-05T08:38:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, April 3rd, I traveled up Highway 99 to the Spring Stampede at the Benton County Fairgrounds. I was invited by Karen Hoagland who is the 2010 queen there.
It was a huge rush getting there, as this weekend was also my last OHSET meet! The minute I got off of my horse after running poles, I went to the bathroom, put in my hot rollers and loaded the pony. Because horse shows run late, I was also running late to get to the rodeo by 6 pm. I ended up getting there and ready just in time and would have been locked out had it not been for the tractor going in to till the arena! I missed warm up and the time to meet everyone so I was pretty nervous!
Thanks to Karen for getting me cooled down; it was also my first rodeo without a court to ask something like, did that lady just say I go in after the Corvallis Queen? Does that exist? Turns out she ment Fort Dalles! I got to see Cera Kem who was the Benton County Queen last year and I got to to talk with Jean McPherson shortly who is the coordinator for Miss NPRA.
I was excited to see so many queens at the rodeo like the Northwest Youth Rodeo Assoc. Court, the Fort Dalles Queen, the Sweet Home Queen, Miss NPRA and more.
Sadly, I didn't get any pictures, and I had to leave almost as soon as I got there since I had to get back to Oregon Horse Center for my meet. I hope to see everyone at the next rodeo I go to, which will probably be the Salem Rodeo later this month.

Northwest Horse Expo

2010-03-27T18:12:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I got the chance to ride in the Northwest Horse Expo, not only representing my pony's breed (POA) but also as the Eugene Pro Rodeo Queen! Friday through Sunday, the Oregon POA Club had a ten minute slot to ride in the arena. On Saturday, March 20th, we rode in the main arena and I got to do my first official run-in as queen! I was already pretty pumped and I was even more excited when I actually heard a some people cheering for me when they made my introduction. Right after getting off, my pony and I got stuck in the congestion of people outside and I got off to remove my chaps and a little girl came and asked to pet Dusty. I said yes, if she didn't mind a sweaty pony. (Ten minutes of being amped up in the arena!) She had a good time and told me about the pony she was going to get when she grows up and I remembered why I love this job out of all of the horse things I've ever done.

The weekend was long, lots of driving back and forth from Springfield to Albany, but I definitly had a blast. And since our arena slots were so late in the day, I got lots of laughs and comments on my hot rollers in my hair! And even more comments asking how I keep my white jeans and white pony clean! And I learned it is very hard to try to warm up a hyper pony with hot rollers in! A lady even asked if she could take a picture of me trying to ride with them. I declined :)
The next appearance I plan on being at will be the Yoncalla Rodeo Tryouts on April 10th. That way I can represent my rodeo, visit some old friends from my reign in 2008 and help out a couple friends trying out. Good luck Katie and Whitney!

My Coronation- March 15, 2010

2010-03-26T15:32:00.000-07:00

It's hard to think the coronation was less than 2 weeks ago! I have already bagan the hectic preparations for the rodeo season!
First of all, I want thank the girls that tried out for Miss Eugene, Jessica Shaffer and Whitney Richey. It was great to see the hard work that everyone put in and getting to know Jessica. I'm very thankful that Whitney was there, becaue we were both on The Yoncalla Rodeo court in 2008 together and I definitly needed someone to vent with at the tryouts when my WHITE hat came off during our first flag run. Talk about a nightmare! Good luck to Whitney who is trying out for the South Douglas Queen title this weekend, hope to see both of you at the rodeo this summer!

Well the coronation was in the Feed Room at Oregon Horse Center and I was surprised to see the entire room fill up! Earlier that day, Beth Oberst (family friend and OHSET drill coach) assisted me in picking out the perfect brown pants for my becoming-queen-outfit, which was a huge help. So many people came out to support me and I am very greatful! I was happy to have Natalie Napier be visiting royalty as the 2009 Sutherlin Stampede Queen. She was also part of the Yoncalla court in 2008.

Many MANY picutres later, (thanks mom) I got to talk with a few of the people who make the Eugene Pro Rodeo a success, like the owner of Oregon Horse Center, Major Defoe; the announcer, Wayne White; and the 2008/2009 Queen, Rachel Anderson. I also met some people from the rodeo committee like Chris and Miranda Sloan, Larry Von Moos and his wife Char, and many others! I look forward to working with everyone and having a great year.
Dusty and I look forward to traveling the state as the Eugene Pro Rodeo Queen and Cute-Pony :)