Montana Trappers Rendezvous

Jennifer and I headed to Lewistown, Montana on a Friday to visit with some high school students about rodeo, rodeo livestock welfare, and the Miss Teen Rodeo Montana Pageant.  We even met a couple Miss Teen Rodeo Montana “hopefuls” whom I hope to see again in January.  But the big reason for our trip to Lewistown was for the Montana Trappers Rendezvous on Saturday.  We modeled fur garments that Craig of Paparazzi Fur brought, competed in a trap setting contest, and the skillet toss competition (yes, throwing a cast iron skillet), and caught up with trappers from across the state.  The best part was that I won first place in the women’s trap setting contest!  It was a great event and we’re so lucky to have the Montana Trappers Association as a sponsor and supporter of the Miss Rodeo Montana Pageant.   

Let’s Get Caught Up Part II

After a great weekend in Stanford I went to the Electric City; Helena, Montana!  So many people this year have been telling me what a great rodeo the Last Chance Stampede in Helena is.  Although this was my first time to experience the rodeo in Helena, and it didn’t disappoint.  Everything that everyone told me about the rodeo lived up to my expectations.  The Kesler Rodeo stock is always sure to be a crowd pleaser, and typically for the cowboys as well, that is if they can say on for the eight seconds!  Or what about the funnyman Robbie Hodges from down south along with the music tech Mark?  Awesome!  For those of you that have spent any time with me at a rodeo you know it doesn’t take much to make me laugh and I always enjoy myself.  But when Robbie would say, “Turn on some tunes Lunchbox,” referring to Mark I couldn’t stop laughing, throughout the entire rodeo Mark was “Lunchbox” and I just about fell off my horse laughing.  Then to top it all off there was Wayne Brooks announcing the rodeo horseback on “Old Paint.”  I had a great time getting to know Wayne and I really enjoyed the interviews he would do with me throughout the rodeo.  I can’t leave out the wonderful grand entry, which without the help of a committee member, Bonnie Jo, and the Last Chance Stampede Queen, Bridget Bodner, wouldn’t have been so successful.    

With only about a day home I was on the road Great Falls bound.  The Big Sky Pro Rodeo Round Up presented by Big R.  Five days of top notch rodeo with Sankey Rodeo, where some of the top cowboys in the PRCA can be found.  And let’s not forget about the Miss Big Sky Pro Rodeo Pageant where there were three titles up for grabs and ten contenders.  A big congratulations to Jourdan Han, queen, Libby Gurnett, princess, and Aspen Allen, little miss.  With five days of rodeo the only day that the weather wasn’t nice was the final day, and even then the stands were still filled.  The Montana State Fair along with the Big Sky Pro Rodeo Round-Up and concerts throughout the week is a great place to take the family as there is always something for everyone.

Home sweet home.  My very own bed to sleep in and my family surrounding me was exactly what I needed after a long rodeo run, but it wasn’t all relaxation.  The Missoula Stampede was in town and that was sure to keep me busy with the rodeo, Missoula Stampede Queen contest, and all of the Tough Enough to Wear Pink events.  My favorite was the Ribbons and Rhinestones Golf Tournament, Jimmy the Hat Man at Double H Custom Hats even made a pink hat to let me borrow for the day!

Immediately following the final performance of the Missoula Stampede I jumped in the truck and headed to Glasgow.  The Glasgow rodeo was a ton of fun and I was lucky enough to catch up with my friend and newly crowned Miss Big Sky Pro Rodeo Round-Up, Jourdan Han.  And again as soon as the rodeo was over I was on the road again, this time to Fort Collins, CO!  Miss Rodeo America Inc and Wrangler puts on a rodeo queen clinic, and it is fabulous!  I had the opportunity to catch up with just about all of the other state queens throughout the state, along with Amy Wilson, Miss Rodeo America 2008, and countless former Miss Rodeo Americas.  I had a great time in Colorado and am looking forward to the Miss Rodeo America Pageant, as I was able to pick up a lot of useful pointers and advice at the clinic.

Labor Day!  I was able to spend an entire week in Ellensburg, WA to attend the Ellensburg Rodeo and Miss Rodeo Washington Pageant.  Ellensburg is a huge rodeo and it was pretty neat to be a part of such a large production, and the best part was I got to ride Jody and Gary Rempel’s horse Twinkie! 

Let’s Get Caught Up

It seems as if I’ve hardly had a chance to take a breather let alone sit down and tell everyone what I’ve been up to lately.  For the moment I’m sitting up in the grand stands in Great Falls watching slack in the warm summer air.  Since the last time I wrote I was in Red Lodge then headed to Calgary for the “World’s Largest Outdoor Show” the infamous Calgary Stampede.  Luckily on the fourth of July my Mom and Dad drove over to meet me in Red Lodge and my Mom jumped in the truck to go to Calgary with me the next day.  And boy was it a good thing as she did a lot of driving and allowed me to catch up on some sleep. 

After experiencing the Calgary Stampede I find it truly impossible to explain and I encourage anyone and everyone who has the opportunity to go to do so…there is nothing on earth like it.  While in Canada we

·         Visited Spruce Meadows and watched the final go of the Queen Elizabeth II Cup where we watched the Canadian Olympic Equestrian Team jump

·         Watched the chuck wagon races for the first time not only from the grandstands, but right along the fence…so close to the action I didn’t mind the dirt flying all over me!

·         I met tons of world champion cowboys and cowgirls and those who are in the makings to become world champions, and enjoyed the rodeo action featuring those athletes and their four legged companions

·         Visited with Emerson Drive

·         And clowned around with fellow Montanan Flint Rasmussen

From Calgary Mom and I headed to Wolf Point, Montana for the Wild Horse Stampede; the oldest rodeo in the state of Montana, and home to the famous Catholic Burger!  Between the hospitality from the Stensland’s, Long’s, Wieferich’s, Wall’s, and the entire rodeo committee I couldn’t have felt more at home, granted I was about 500 miles from home.  But the biggest up-set of the Wild Horse Stampede was that the parade was canceled the first day!  With winds as fast as fifty miles an hour the parade wasn’t going to happen, but that didn’t stop everyone.  There were multiple die hard parade goers who still jumped on their floats (after being wind proofed) and tossed candy and waved to anyone in vehicles passing by or people on main street.  Come the last day the wind died off a little but it didn’t matter because there was going to be one heck of a parade in town! And it was just that.  The Wild Horse Stampede was a huge success and Brookman Rodeo put on quite the show with their top notch bucking stock.  But it wouldn’t be the “wild horse stampede” without the wild horse racing, which was a sure fire spectacle each night.

After Wolf Point it was a long drive home for a quick “pit-stop” to do some laundry and repack the truck to head down the road yet again.  But not for a rodeo this time…it was the Montana Pro Rodeo Hall and Wall of Fame’s Scholarship Banquet where I helped to award some of the outstanding student rodeo-athletes with scholarships.  As well as accept a scholarship that the Montana Pro Rodeo Hall and Wall of Fame so generously set aside for me for the year that I serve as Miss Rodeo Montana.  I can’t thank their board of directors and those who help though out the year to raise such large funds to turn into scholarships.  I appreciate them with helping out with the Miss Rodeo Montana Scholarship Fund’s mission in helping former Miss Rodeo Montana’s continuing with higher education.  I promise it will be hard at work at Montana Tech!

Then it was off to Stanford for the CM Russell Stampede and to celebrate Stanford’s Centennial birthday in style!  Between the quick draw art auction, bbq, parade, kiddie rodeo, and Pro Rodeo featuring Gold Buckle bucking stock I think we did all right!  It was a busy and fun weekend and I enjoyed the home town fun along with Barney Sheridan, announcer, daughter Nikki, Jennifer, Sparky along with the entire Gold Buckle Family, and of course the CM Russell Stampede Committee.  Thanks for letting me be a part of Stanford’s Birthday!

I getting to be a tired girl…so I’m going to head back to the O’Haire and hit the covers as it’s going to be a busy day tomorrow here at the Big Sky Pro Rodeo Round-Up.   Be on the lookout for the “Let’s Get Caught Up Part II” and then I think we’ll be up to speed on where I’m at and what I’ve been up to!  But for now it’s sweet cowgirl dreams for me!

Red Lodge Home of Champions

After a busy day in Cody the next morning I headed sixty miles north to Red Lodge, Montana.  One of my favorite parts about the Red Lodge Home of Champions Rodeo is the amount of spectators who are attending their first rodeo.  I have so much fun hearing what people’s favorite events are or maybe what they learned and all the answers are always different!  To start the three day rodeo off with a bang there was a huge parade down Main Street, which seemed to grow bigger and draw more people to the streets each day.  Then a kiddie rodeo at one of the parks down town where we helped some youngsters learn how to barrel race with stick horses and rope the dummy.

Evening rolled around and the pros went to work.  As usual the Brookman Rodeo Company brought their finest stock and gave the cowboys a run for their money.  Clown, Timber Tuckness kept the crowd in stitches each night with his Village People act and his great sense of humor.  And long time family friend Marv Davis was cooking burgers under the grand stands at the rodeo once again this year.  It was great to catch up with everyone in Red Lodge and I’m sure I’ll be back again to enjoy the rodeo, next time from the grand stands!

Cody, WY

Never have I experienced a flash flood before.   But the Buffalo Bill Antler Inn sits at the bottom of a large hill, and after a visit with the Mayor of Cody the next morning I found out that the city is trying to come up with the funds for a new drain system in Cody.  Mainly due to the problem of water pooling at the bottom of the hill, which almost floods the hotel.  Luckily I was staying on the second floor. 

The morning of July first Miss Rodeo Wyoming, Miss Cody Stampede, and I went to breakfast with the Cody Stampede rodeo committee, where we met up with our “Queen Daddy” Tim.  Tim helps to arrange our stay in Cody and keeps us laughing all week!  Unfortunately I was only in Cody for one day so Tim really made sure to have something good to say every time he saw me.

Later in the day we met up with Amy Wilson, Miss Rodeo America, and we took a trolley tour of Cody where we learned all about the town and Buffalo Bill Cody.  After that we were off to the rodeo.  The only problem was that right as all of the horses were in the arena for grand entry; the sky opened up and dumped buckets of rain on us.  But that didn’t slow the rodeo action one bit, soaked to the bone the rodeo went on.  The hospitality of the Cody Stampede Rodeo Committee and the people of Cody were overwhelming, and I can’t wait for my next visit. 

Augusta

It was a hot day in June, but that didn’t slow anyone down on their way to the small town of Augusta, Montana for “The Augusta American Legion Rodeo.”

I’ve never been to Augusta until Sunday and it was amazing to see the town of 284 people explode into about one thousand.  I started off the afternoon at Latigo and Lace on the main street, signing autographs for rodeo fans who were shopping and enjoying the town of Augusta before the rodeo started.  Later, before the rodeo I did a quick interview with Will Rasmussen, friend and rodeo announcer, for “The Rodeo Road Show” which Will is hosting, airing this fall on MontanaTV1.com.

 

When the Kesler’s roll into town, you know its going to be a great rodeo.

I haven’t seen or worked with the Kesler family since the Circuit Finals so it was great to catch up with them for the day.  Speaking of catching up, Leslie Furniss Miss Rodeo Western Montana, Kirsten Svennungsen Miss Big Sky Pro Rodeo, and Jennika O’Neil Little Miss Big Sky Pro Rodeo were all on hand for the rodeo.  The grand entry went well until my horse “Ben” decided the roar of the crowd was a little too much to handle before our National Anthem.  Ben reared up a couple of times, but then settled back down.  Once we started moving cattle in the arena he was fabulous, I must say Ben has been one of my very favorite horses that I’ve gotten to ride this year, so a huge “thank you” to the Levine Family and Sam Levine for bring Ben to the rodeo and letting me borrow him for the day.  And “thank you” to another Ben, Ben Arps and the Augusta American Legion Rodeo Committee for having me. 

And the rodeo highlight for the weekend…this was a weekend to remember for Ryan Siemsen who won the all-around at both Chinook and Augusta.  Congratulations Ryan and the best of luck to you for the rest of the season! 

 

Chinook’s Bear Paw Round-Up

I arrived in Chinook on Thursday evening to attend the Silver Spurs Dinner and Calcutta.  It was a nice evening with great food.  Not to mention a perfect time to catch up with community members as well as committee members before everyone would be busy the next two days with the rodeo.  Friday morning I drove to Harlem to visit Shane and Heather Schwenke’s store, Heart of the West.  I’m still trying to decide if that was a good idea because I may have gone a little over board on the shopping, but it’s hard not to do at that store with all sorts of western apparel, jewelry, and so much more.  The rodeo Friday night went well as tonight.  But I’m starting to get a little bit tired after a busy evening of rodeo and better get my rest for the “wildest one day rodeo in the west!”  See you all in Augusta tomorrow!  Be sure to stop by Latigo and Lace for autographs with me before the rodeo too!

Vaughn

The JS Rodeo Company’s Summer Solstice was under way Friday evening and continued on Saturday.  Personally Saturday was my favorite because the weather was nice and warm, the crowd was even bigger than the night before, and I got to put on a kiddie rodeo with the help of Jennifer.  The kiddie rodeo was very well organized.  The kids not only received candy, but JS Rodeo Stickers and Gatorade to cool them down on a hot day after they were finished roping and riding stick horses though the barrel pattern. 

But not only was the kiddie rodeo good, let’s talk about the “big dogs” in the rodeo arena.  The team roping went really well with Treston Vermandel and Sid Sporer posting a 6 second run that held though Friday and Saturday’s Performances to capture a win for the Summer Solstice Rodeo.  But right on their tails was Brant Davis and Kory Mytty, a fellow Missoula Stampede committee member along with me, who roped their steer in 6.3 seconds.  The win in the tie-down roping was a give away to Donnie Benson who tied his calf in 9.7 seconds with second place Bill Boyce tying his in 12 seconds flat.

Vaughn was an action packed couple of days with perfect weather, tough competition, and good family fun.  If you weren’t able to join us this last weekend be sure to mark September 27^th and 28^th on your calendar where we will convene in Vaughn once again as the JS Rodeo Company will host’s “Fall Finale” which I’m sure will hold even more excitement and entertainment!

NEBRASKAland Days

Lets start by saying that I don’t like to fly…you can already see the writing on the wall.  I am the person on a plane who gets seated and sits and fidgets the entire time down the runway looks out the window waiting for something terrible to happen and once in the air immediately forces herself to go to sleep and hopes not to wake up until the plane is back on the ground.  The flight leaving Denver to North Platte was, well you call it a pack of gum.  Luckily I was able to fall asleep and managed to sleep though all of the turbulence and the buzzer on the plane that evidently accompanied the turbulence.  Nonetheless I made it safe and sound to North Platte where I met my host family, Jim and Mary Backenstose at the airport.  I was lucky getting paired with Jim and Mary because Jim has spent time in Montana, which gave us lots to talk about and explain to Mary who has never had the opportunity to visit our great state.  In the guest room I stayed in there was a grizzly bear with a UofM jersey, talk about feeling at home.  Then to top off a great host family I must mention their two dogs Kallie and Sadie who greeted me whenever I was there.

Throughout the time I was in Nebraska we (about 12 state queens and Miss Rodeo America, Amy Wilson) watched and participated in the 2009 Miss Rodeo Nebraska Pageant.  Along with the Miss Rodeo Nebraska Pageant NEBRASKAland days is filled with all sorts of events, including the Buffalo Bill PRCA Rodeo.  But one of my favorite events we attended was the kiddie parade, where hundreds of kids dressed up and had a parade around one of the street blocks in town.  There were dinosaurs to cowboys, princesses to Batman and everything in between. 

One of the most memorable times that I will remember from my time spent in Nebraska will be riding carnival rides with Miss Rodeo Idaho, Natalie, Miss Rodeo Alabama, Ellen, and Miss Rodeo Kentucky, Haylee.  We did the sizzler, and flew though the air on the kamikaze and let’s just say that Natalie and I were the only ones who didn’t toss our cookies by the time it was all said and done.  But boy did we have fun, I don’t know if I’ve ever laughed as much as the four of us did that night.  Also on an ending note, congratulations to Amy Amak, Miss Rodeo Nebraska 2009!

Belt

I can’t say how excited I was when I was able to catch up with the Weifrich family in Belt.  Whenever I get the chance to go to a Brookman rodeo the Weifrich family always makes me feel like one of their own.  Although this year they have new horses!  I miss Cowboy and Cody, but I did have fun getting to know DJ or “Doug Jr.” during the grand entry and pushing cattle out of the arena.  Grand Entry was a little interesting as I lost my flag boot half way around and had a slight panic attach trying to put the flag in my stirrup or somewhere without causing some sort of injury to DJ or myself or making to noticeable to the crowd.  Luckily we got by with what we had and made it out of the arena safe and sound and old glory never hit the ground…dodged that bullet! Few!

Unfortunately my time in Belt was cut short as I had to fly to Nebraska early Sunday morning.  Luckily Quincy Gibbs had a day to spare in her busy schedule of barrel racing to jump in the truck to keep me company and help me drive that night back home.  I had so much fun with Miss Quincy and I hope she can keep me company on the road more this summer!  Jennifer put on the kiddie rodeo on Sunday and worked the rodeo that night, so I’m betting you can hear even more details of the Belt rodeo on the Miss Teen Rodeo Montana Blog!