Busy Busy June!

My month of June was a CRAZY busy one! I started the month of by going to Cherokee the first weekend. I was there Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Miss Teen Rodeo Iowa, Charity Howk, Miss Rodeo Minnesota, Paige Oveson and I had a great time! 

Along with the new and last year’s Cherokee rodeo queen, we did different activities. We went to a lunch appearance at the Dodge dealership in town, visited a nursing home, had a radio interview and were also in the town parade. It was amazing to see how many participants they had for the parade. For a small town they have a lot of heart and love their PRCA rodeo!   

While I was in Cherokee I also had the opportunity to judge their queen pageant. They only had one contestant this year but I still had a lot of fun being able to be on the other side of the table and ask the questions. 

Even though we couldn’t ride in the grand entry or chase out cattle (due to the EHV outbreak they didn’t want extra horses coming in) I had a great time in Cherokee! It was the first PRCA rodeo in Iowa and I knew it was the start to a great summer!!!

 My next stop after Cherokee was just a few days after I got back. I headed out Wednesday the 8^th for Ft. Madison, Iowa. I was going down there to judge the Iowa High School Rodeo Finals. I was so glad I had some practice being a judge up in Cherokee so I was ready in Ft. Madison. There were 6 judges total and we started right away Thursday morning with interviews. 

Iowa High School Rodeo Queen Pageant

Later that day we had speeches and modeling. Friday morning was the horsemanship portion of the pageant. They had 3 great contestants running and it was a lot of fun to see them all shine! I left soon after the horsemanship contest was over I headed home right away to get ready for an appearance that night.

 I was appearing at MoJo’s in the Dubuque Diamond Casino. They were holding a promotional event for the Bellevue rodeo. Since this rodeo is so close to me I consider it my ‘hometown’ rodeo. I wanted to help promote as much as I could! I spent a few hours greeting people and visiting with the Three Hills Rodeo family. I love being able to do rodeo promotions close to home, knowing so many people.

Mom, Dad and me at MoJo's

That next Sunday I was all packed up again and hitting the rodeo. This time I was heading towards Nebraska, North Platte to be exact. I had a little pit stop to make first. I was stopping in Omaha to pick up Miss Rodeo Oklahoma Jamie. It was much cheaper for her to fly into Omaha and since I would be driving right through we worked it out that I could just pick her up! It was a great drive having Jamie along. There hasn’t been much time for me and her to talk one on one, so we had a wonderful talk the rest of the 5 hours we had to drive. Once we got the North Platte we headed straight to the rodeo grounds. They were having a kick off BBQ and live auction. The rest of the state queens and me got to help sell some items and we had a chance to meet the contestants running for Miss Rodeo Nebraska title. After the BBQ was over the committee held a ranch stick horse show. We all had a lot of fun with that! We split into groups and would do things such as rescue race and we had to chase these balloons and “fence” them back in like cattle! We all had a blast! When we were done at the rodeo grounds we headed out to our host families. Miss Rodeo Illinois, Brooke Owen and I were staying with the Dan and Betty Twarling. 

They were SUCH nice people!!! They couldn’t have been more welcoming and fun to stay with. We got to do some great things while out in Nebraska. They had a wonderful relaxed BBQ for all of us girls and Miss Rodeo Nebraska committee. We signed autographs at Target. We were in a kids walking parade in town, which had a LOT of kids in it! They all had costumes on and it was a great time! We also got to visit and tour the Golden Spike museum where there are so many train tracks that come through! It was a very historical place for the railroad and was interested to learn about.We got to go up in the tower that over looked all the tracks. 90 feet up was a bit much for me though! Some of the other girls helped me look over there edge for a picture or two!

scared beyond belief!

On Tuesday night was the fashion show and speeches for the MRN pageant. That was amazing to see such a production they put on! All of us girls got to go on stage in our dresses and model a little bit. We each got to introduce ourselves also and say a little bit about our state. I got a pretty good reaction when I mentioned to the Husker fans “Go Cyclones!”  After the fashion show was done I headed out right away. I had a long drive to make that night. I made it as far as Omaha, stayed with a friend and drove the rest of the way home in the morning. I was heading home for the Jackson County Pro Rodeo in Bellevue!

Wednesday night the 15^th was the kick-off party of the Bellevue rodeo. It was at the Off Shore, a new restaurant and reception hall. It was set right along the beautiful Mississippi river and had an amazing view! We were greeting people that night and giving out rodeo information and little prizes. That night I was also helping crown the new little miss rodeo queen, the little junior cowboy and the junior rodeo clown. They had quite a few kids and we all had a great time! Even a little rain shower couldn’t slow us down! 

Me and my nephew Mason

Thursday morning I got to Bellevue (only a short distance from my house) and got my horse settled in and meet with Trish (she was ‘in charge’ of the queen for the weekend!) I actually have known Trish for a really long time beings she use to work at my orthodontist. Trish and I get along great!!! 

She and I and my little royalty went to visit a nursing home and get people excited about the upcoming rodeo.  The rodeo started Thursday night and they had an AMAZING crowd! Both the hillside and the bleachers were packed full! It was so amazing to see so many people that I know and grew up. They all were very excited for the rodeo and were cheering me on. 

Some wonderful fans!

I can’t even describe the feeling being at that rodeo. I had been traveling for 6 months already, but there at Bellevue at my home rodeo, it really hit me what my job was and how important it was to others. I felt truly blessed and fortunate to have such a great opportunity! The next two days were just relaxing during the day and rodeo at night! We lucked out and only had a short sprinkle Friday night. Compared to last year (which had terrible flooding and storms) Bellevue was a great success and so much fun!!!

The very next day after Bellevue rodeo was the start of Dubuque County Trailblazers Horse and Pony Camp. This is a camp put on by a 4-H group where boys and girls bring their horse and stay for a week. I have been going to that camp since I was 9. I was a camper for many years, then a junior instructor and then an instructor for the past 3 or 4 years. This year was my first year not being there all week. I did still want to be involved so I was asked to do a presentation one of the days. I did Learning Center (what they call it at camp) for the 3 age groups in the morning on Wednesday. I informed them of what Miss Rodeo Iowa did, the pageant coming up and ways to get involved with rodeo. Afterwards we had a little fun when I broke them into groups and we played some rodeo trivia! I was very impressed how much some of the kids knew about rodeo!

Me and Baili

On Thursday I was back on the road again! This time to another close rodeo that I had been to many times growing up. I was heading to the Edgewood Rodeo Days. For this rodeo I was staying with the Kerns Family. They own the Edgewood Locker in town and are an amazing family! The oldest daughter Baili was a school friend of mine from ISU. 

Me with Jim and Jody Kerns

 She was on an internship down in Arkansas so this was the first time she was home since school was done.  Having Baili around again made the weekend even better!

I started off the weekend by signing autographs at the kids carnival in town Thursday afternoon. The rodeo was that night and they had a wonderful crowd! The stock contractor was Three Hill Rodeo again, just like in Bellevue so it was pretty simple to remember what all to do. 

On Friday afternoon I went into town to the nursing home to help work Bingo. I got to visit with the residents and even won a candy bar! At the rodeo that night we were lucky enough to have the rain hold off of us again. I got talked into doing the rescue race with Payson Kerns, Baili’s brother. It was a great crowd pleaser to see the rodeo queen come pick up Payson and push him off my horse at the end of the arena!  On Saturday there was the parade through town. I got to be one of the first people through the parade, which I was glad; I didn’t know how the horse I was using was going to act!

Me and Payson doing the rescue race

But everything went great and I had a lot of fun. When the parade was over I got to go help with the sheep rodeo. There were two age groups, 4-5 year olds and 6-7 year olds. There were SO many kids that signed up! I got to be the judge and give each of the kids’ rides a score. I loved seeing the kids get involved and have a great time! Saturday night rodeo was just as great as the other and it was a wonderful last performance! I even had a chance to make it out on the river with Baili Sunday morning before her and I had to part and go our separate ways. June was a fabulous month being Miss Rodeo Iowa. I just knew I had even more great adventures coming up with July!!!