Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Dayton and Ft. Madison rodeos


It was a great start to another very busy month… I started September off by helping promote the Dayton rodeo. I went up to Dayton to meet up with Jim Heckman, the local queens and some of the rodeo bull fighters, Will O’Connell and Cory Wall. I went around and visited the schools in the area. We did the school in Dayton, Boxholm and in Boone. 

At each school we spoke with different age groups. We were getting the kids all pumped up for the rodeo coming that weekend. At some of the schools we were able to speak to them outside. This was SO much fun! We even got to play with the kids at recess some. 
Once the school visits were over we grabbed lunch and finished up for the day. The next day I was down in Des Moines bright and early for a radio interview. I was on 97.3 the Hawk to talk about the Dayton rodeo. Lindsey and Danger with the radio were a lot of fun to talk to. That night was the first performance of the rodeo. I went up and got ready for the grand entry. Once we had gotten through that we were ready for the rodeo to start. We had hoped that the rain was going to hold off; we were lucky for the most part. Once the bull riding started so did the rain! And man did it RAIN! 
We tried to hold off by the food stand for a few minutes but then gave in. I was told there would not be any autographs that night so I b-lined it for my car and headed back to Ames. Even though it was a very short time I had a lot of fun in Dayton and helping beforehand.


Saturday morning I was off to Ft. Madison for a special rodeo.  It was absolutely amazing what I saw when I got down there. I have never seen such an event as the one that was down in Ft. Madison. They had so many people participating and so many volunteers! It was great seeing so many people and all the smiling faces. It was definitely a day I could not have been more happy to be a part of!  After helping out with the rodeo I headed home to get ready for the busy week ahead. I headed back down to Ft. Madison Monday morning for the little spurs rodeo. Now when I heard about this rodeo I figured it was everything else I have seen before, a few kids riding sheep, maybe some stick horse racing. But man was that just the half of it… there was over 200 kids for this rodeo!!! 
It went from 10am to 3pm! It was a long day but man was it fun! Those kids never gave up all day long! They were still having fun even at the end of the day. Later that night I was judging the little miss rodeo and all around cowboy contest. It was so much fun! There was one cowboy and 11 cowgirls! They all did such a great job getting up, answering questions and doing a little talent. It was a great way to end a wonderful day. I was staying with the Metcalfs that night which was a lot of fun having the little boys Owen and Cooper there! We all had breakfast together on Tuesday before I was off to school visits. I went to two local schools and told them all about the Tri-State rodeo coming up that week and weekend. Once I was done with the school and got checked in at the hotel I was off with the Sherwoods to the rodeo committee dinner. All the committee members were there and it was great to be a part of. They have such a wonderful team that puts on the Tri-State rodeo and I felt very blessed to be in that group. On Wednesday Brooke, Miss Rodeo Illinois was with me and our first stop with a new sponsor of the rodeo. We were at Hardees from 11 until 1. We had a great time talking with customers and even helping with the drive thru window! After Hardees we met up with Cory Wall and Will O’Connell and did one last school visit. At this school Chase Binion had one of their horses so that was a big hit with the kids! Once the school visits were over Brooke and I went to get ready for the first night of the rodeo. We had a great time at the rodeo that night and a pretty good crowd for Tough Enough to Wear Pink night. Brooke and I finished off a good day with grabbing milk shakes before heading back to the hotel. On Thursday we had some free time so I had a chance to go shopping and visit the town a little with my parents would had come down the day before. It was nice to spend the day with them especially since I am busy a lot lately.   
Thursday night we had the rodeo again and after we started working out our dance routine for coronation on Saturday. Friday morning we started with more dance practice then off to the arena for horsemanship. Both contestants did a wonderful job with horsemanship. That afternoon while the interviews were going on we worked on thank you notes and the coronation that next day. That night was the rodeo again and you could tell it was a Friday night. The crowd was great and ready for a good time! We did get rained on a little bit but nothing too terrible. On Saturday morning we were up bright and early for the parade through town. It is a very long and busy parade but this year it seemed to go so fast! It was a lot of fun to talking to the people and cheering on the Cyclones when most of the people were Hawkeye fans! (the big Iowa vs. Iowa State game was that day) Once we dropped the horses off back at the trailers we headed back to the hotel to get ready for our production. Once it started we started off by hearing the girls’ speeches. They all did such a wonderful job. It was great seeing the junior contestants getting so involved and doing so well. After the speeches were done we started off with the dancing and modeling.
It was a lot of fun to be back on that stage giving away my title. I even got to do something special and had a little dance/skit with Brooke that we had a lot of fun with! After all the crowning was done and I got Rachel Burton her new sash and the pictures were done we got ready for one last rodeo.  It was great to see the newly crowned girls do their thing. I knew that they would have a great year and do a wonderful job!  Before heading back to the hotel that night I was able to see the Casey Donahew band with Charity, Miss Teen Rodeo Iowa. It was a great way to end the week. Before heading home on Sunday we helped with the pancake breakfast at the airport. I was then on the rodeo again to do laundry and repack for my week trip to Oregon! It’s a never ending process!!!

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