Visit to Court's Saddlery

It is always a pleasure visiting Miss Rodeo America sponsors and I had a wonderful time visiting the Court family and Court's Saddlery in Bryan, Texas. While in the Lone Star state, I had the privilege of spending time at their shop and sight-seeing. Kathy and I spent a day at Court's Saddlery, where I learned about the saddle-making process and how tool leather. On our second day, we visited local sights and spent time at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library, where I met President Bush. I had a short stay in Bryan, but was a great trip. Thank you to Kathy and Jimmy for their kind hospitality!

Miss Rodeo America Mid-Year Meeting

Viva Las Vegas! I was thrilled to have had the opportunity to attend this year’s Miss Rodeo America Mid-Year Meeting. Usually Miss Rodeo America’s schedule does not allow her to attend, so it was a special treat for me to have the chance to be on hand for the meeting.

Thank you to the Miss Rodeo America volunteers, National Advisory Council members, National Directors, Miss Rodeo America Scholarship Foundation board members, and the Executive Board members who traveled to Las Vegas for the meetings. The Miss Rodeo America organization is truly blessed to have such dedicated, wonderful volunteers. I had great time seeing everyone again, sharing stories of my travels, and weighing in on the discussions about the 2011 pageant.

The “big news” of the weekend was the increase in scholarships for the top ten finalists and Miss Rodeo America at the 2011 Pageant. I cannot say thank you enough to the Scholarship Foundation for all of their work to continually increase the scholarship opportunities for the MRA Pageant Contestants. Other new “news” about the pageant will be discussed in the upcoming Miss Rodeo America Newsletters, so be on the lookout.

In addition to the Mid-Year meetings, while I was in Las Vegas I also had the opportunity to attend the PBR World Cup Red Carpet event and the Academy of Country Music Awards. Thank you to Wrangler Jeans and Shirts for making it possible for me to attend the ACMs! I had a fabulous time with the Miss Rodeo America group at the ACMs. The show was the best I’ve seen in Las Vegas, well maybe except the Miss Rodeo America Fashion Show!

Pocatello, Idaho: DNCFR

I arrived in the beautiful Gem State ready for a great rodeo, and I was not disappointed. I attended last year’s Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo (DNCFR) and thoroughly enjoyed attending and promoting the championship event. This year’s 24th edition of the DNCFR was no different!

The sixteen visiting state and circuit queens, the DNCFR court, and I spent our mornings at schools, nursing homes, radio stations, and community businesses promoting the rodeo. In addition to our visits around the cities of Pocatello and Chubbuck, I was honored to meet the mayor, speak at the local Rotary Club meeting, emcee the DNCFR queen coronation, and serve as a guest on Steve Kenyon’s Pro Rodeo Live radio/webcast during the nightly rodeo. It was a fun-filled, exciting week!

Thank you to Jackson’s Convenience Stores sponsoring my visit to Pocatello and to Carma Madsen and the DNCFR committee for their gracious hospitality.