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! 

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!

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!

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!

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!

It rained and it snowed and the mud just kept getting deeper, but that wouldn’t hold up the high school rodeo competitors!  Tuesday before the rodeo started the Miss Montana High School Rodeo Queen competition was under way and Jennifer and I were able to help the five beautiful contestants prepare for the competition that was ahead of them for the week.   Later on Thursday I had the pleasure of emceeing the fashion show, speech, and impromptu competition.  All five of the contestants looked beautiful, spoke with poise and grace, and I haven’t seen such a great group of girls in a long time, and a couple of them had to leave half way through to get back to the arena to compete.  I wish all of them the best and any of them will represent us well at Nationals and Silver State.

Saturday, May 21^st I met up with Kirsten Mantooth, Miss Montana 2007 to help raise funds for the Shodair Children’s Miracle Network.  We were located at the Shodair Hospital in Helena to help with the 12 hour telethon.  Mostly we helped bring in the tote board every hour to show how much money the telethon had currently raised.  We also helped talk about what the Shodair Hospital and Children’s Miracle Network is all about, and why viewers should call in and pledge money to help support continue such a great program. 

The Saturday before the Arlee Rodeo I got to go do something that I haven’t had much time to do this winter…ski!  May 24^th my cousin Richie and I jumped into the truck and drove over to Idaho and skied Silver Mountain, one of the only mountains still open that late in the season.  We loaded gondola in sixty-seven degree weather with shorts on and got off at the top to thirty degree weather where we slipped into spring ski gear and headed down the mountain.  The snow was a little slushy but it was still fun to be skiing. 

Then Sunday was a little bit drizzly but in Montana we don’t put a rodeo on hold for anything, so it was rodeo time in Arlee, Montana! The first Montana ProRodeo for the season was under way.  I hauled my horse Bartender with me to Arlee for the rodeo and boy was he excited to be there.  He was ready to start a rodeo of his own with me on his back!  He tried to buck me off a couple of times, but I managed to stay on.  Needless to say he didn’t try anything on Monday.  The Monday performance was my favorite because the arena had dried up, the cattle weren’t as fresh, the weather was great, and the crowd was a lot bigger.  It was a fun rodeo and a great was to start off the summer rodeo season.  It’s so fun to see how the Arlee rodeo continues to grow every year since they started in 2006.

Saturday I drove like crazy from Great Falls to Kalispell to help out with Third Annual Luke Warner Invitational Broncs, Bruises, & Braggin’ Rights!  My evening at the Majestic Valley Arena mostly consisted of visiting with VIP’s and fans, and signing tons of autographs.  Although I did get to jump on a horse for a little while to bring in the American Flag for our national anthem to start the show.  I had a wonderful time working with Joe Warner and his son Luke along with the rest of the crew who helped to put on a great event showcasing some of our top cowboys across Montana.

On a side note I’ll share a quick story about a young boy I met that night that seemed to be infatuated with rodeo.  This little boy was about six years old and his name was Justin.  I sat and visited with him about rodeo and started to sign him and autograph, I asked him what his name was and he replied, “J.J.”  I wrote “J.J.” at the top and wrote him a quick note and signed my picture.  Just as I was leaving his mother came up to me and said, “You know his name is actually Justin, but he makes everyone call him J.J. because he wants to be a bull rider one day.  He told us that all of the good cowboys have initials for their name, so J.J. it is”

Never in my life have my eyes been filled with so many tears.  Now don’t get me wrong…not a single tear was out of sadness, but instead joy, happiness, and the feeling of camaraderie that seemed to saturate the air in Great Falls last week.  It was the Special Olympics State Games.  Each athlete with their own needs, but for three days in Great Falls they were the stars.  The focus was turned to each one of the 1,000+ athletes. 

The first day I attended gymnastics which ranged from floor exercises to vaulting and beam exercises.  Most of the event I was with the Bozeman team, and giggled a lot with one of the younger athletes, Katie.  The best part was presenting metals at the end of the event and I even got to put a couple of gold metals around Katie’s neck.  Later that night I attended the VIP Reception along with Miss Montana, Kristen, and Miss Montana USA, Tori.  Following the reception was the opening ceremonies, where they packed all of the athletes, families, and volunteers into the Four Seasons for an evening filled with entertainment.  High Street Band was decked out in bright colored suits and played some awesome dancing music and even rodeo clown extraordinaire Flint Rasmussen came to entertain the packed house.

The next morning I found myself out at Eagle Mount for the equestrian portion of the games.  It was great to be surrounded by athletes that shared the same passion as I do, horses.  During the day I helped to co-announce the event with Dale Sivumaki.  At the end of the day we were back at the Four Seasons where it was the carnival and dance.  Kristen and I signed autographs until we thought our hands were going to fall off!  But that’s okay because we took a quick break to go dance!  After a long day and way too much fun Kristen and I stopped for a quick ice cream at the golden arches before heading back to the hotel for the night.

Friday morning we headed to track which was then followed by the closing ceremonies.  All day we did awards, which was great to see the excitement from the athletes as they received the metals that they had worked so hard for. 

To say the least about my experience at the Montana Special Olympics State Games, it was and inspiration.