The Oregon Queen — July 2021

July 11, 2021 Off By Lois Forester

I can say that rodeo is back in full swing and it is great to see! Over the last month I have traveled back and forth across the state to the Eastern Oregon Livestock Show, followed by the Crooked River Roundup and most recently spent the iconic Cowboy Christmas at the St. Paul Rodeo. Union, Oregon is home of the Eastern Oregon Livestock Show and Rodeo and boy what a fun time I had while I was there! I had never been to EOLS before and personally going to rodeos that I have never attended are my favorite as I get to experience new places! I attended the Queen's Lunch, three rodeo performances as well as a parade through downtown. My favorite part of my time in Union was the horse races that are held between rodeo events. I have never been to a rodeo that holds races during the rodeo before and it was great to see the crowd cheering on their favorite horses!

My next venture took me to Prineville, Oregon for the 75th Annual Crooked River Round-Up Reride. I was able to catch up with Miss Rodeo America, Jordan Tierney, who was graciously brought to the CRR by The Posie Shoppe in Prineville. We had a great time, kicking off the week with a cattle drive through town, though it was more of a cattle scramble through town. I will apologize again to the residents of downtown Prineville, as they probably spent the day after the cattle drive ridding their lawns of any cattle and horse hoof prints. Let's just say the cattle were not the most cooperative! Moving forward through the week, I attended each rodeo performance, was able to present the American Flag, participated in the parade, queens lunch, and even got a chance to sign autographs at The Posie Shoppe. My host home at the Loftesness was nothing short of a great time, as Alan and Judy (parents of 2006 MRO Trena Loftesness Anderson) are great hosts! I also was able to borrow a horse from the Sutherlin Family and spend time with Keirnan Sutherlin who is Little Miss Crooked River Round-Up and Emily Lauman, Miss Crooked River Round-up.

The following weekend brought on the iconic Cowboy Christmas! I spent my time in St. Paul where I was able to attend all six rodeo performances, a queen's lunch and parade. Molalla's own Mitch Coleman was kind enough to lend me his horses Amigo and Bueno for the week. I have officially decided that the horses Mitch owns are not only the best pickup horses, but serve as mighty fine queen horses as well. All year I looked forward to going to the St. Paul Rodeo and spending time with their Queen, Kearsten Friedrich. The St. Paul Rodeo Committee was more than welcoming and put on a great performance after having to cancel in 2020. I was also finally reunited with Ainsley and Morgan in St. Paul where we were able to snag a few photos of the trio back in action! The three of us also have a competition going to see who can get the most rodeo contestants to sign the underside of their chaps throughout the year. At St. Paul, I was able to get rodeo icons Tuff Cooper, Jermey Buhler, Shad Mayfield, Hunter Reaume and Cody Cabral to take a sharpie to my chaps. On to the next rodeo and more signatures!

I did not forget to mention the beautiful and talented contestants we have for Miss Rodeo Oregon this year! Avalon Irwin, Britney Norby, Katie Ralston and Keeara Harmon all deserve your support and encouragement as the pageant keeps getting closer and closer! Sending in the application is the first step and I want to congratulate these ladies on taking the plunge! Lastly, congrats to our 2022 titleholders who were crowned at the Tillamook County Rodeo. To Destiny Wecks and Carrie Woods, pin down your hats ladies, you are about to have a packed year full of adventures!

As I move through July, I am looking forward to attending the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, Cowboy Ball and a performance of the Pikes Peak Rodeo in Colorado Springs. Then I head off to the daddy of them all, Cheyenne Frontier Days! After that I will be back in Oregon for Chief Joseph Days and the Miss NPRA Pageant. See you at the next rodeo!

Sincerely,

Samantha Henricks, Miss Rodeo Oregon 2020

With the beginning of June brought the end of the school year and the beginning of summer rodeo season. I kicked the month off by heading over to the St.Paul Trail Ride and pancake breakfast where I was able to spend some time with the SPR Queen Kearsten, Sister’s Rodeo Queen, Mary and JMRO Morgan as well as take some pictures with some cute little cowboys and cowgirls. It was great to see the annual tradition back with so many people enjoying themselves.

The following weekend I made a trip up to Cle Elum, WA for my sweet sash sister, Miss Teen Rodeo Washington, Chloe’s coronation. She’s been waiting over a year for her celebration and I’m so glad I was able to make the trip. She had a beautiful celebration. Congratulations Chloe!

It was then time to get ready for the 2022 Jr./Teen Miss Rodeo Oregon pageant and Tillamook Rodeo. Wow! what a weekend. Speeches, mock TV interviews, horsemanship, modeling, parade, luncheon and rodeo performances all packed into two days. It was a blast to spend time with the contestants, and all of the visiting royalty. I’m so proud of all of the contestants; they put in so much work and preparation for the pageant. Leo and I were honored to set the pattern at the horsemanship portion of the pageant and I’m so proud of how he did. We had a blast doing our run-ins at the rodeo as well. Tillamook Rodeo was a great host for the pageant and I had an amazing time with a lot of new memories. I was also honored to award the first buckle for the Gatlins Sugar Jet Memorial Award, in honor of my amazing horse, Pete, to Kambri Nelson. Congratulations to the 2022 Miss Teen Rodeo Oregon, Destiny Wecks and 2022 Junior Miss Rodeo Oregon, Carrie Woods. You have an amazing year ahead of you and I can’t wait to see all that you accomplish.

After a couple days of rest, it was time to get ready for Cowboy Christmas, which is one of my favorite times of year. I’m so excited to have rodeo back in full swing, especially in my home town. The first night of Cowboy Christmas was spent in St. Paul, where I took part in the grand entry, carried a sponsor flag and rode in the barrel truck. Let me tell you what an awesome feeling it is to be in the St. Paul Rodeo Arena. As for the rest of Cowboy Christmas, I’ll tell you all about it in next month's newsletter.
Joyously,
Ainsley, Miss Teen Rodeo Oregon

Tillamook sure is the Biggest Little Show on the Coast!

We started the 2022 Jr/Teen Miss Rodeo Oregon Pageant off with interviews. In this portion of the pageant the girls were one on one interviewed with the judges where they asked them a variety of questions. Following that we had Mock TV Interviews where the girls got interviewed as if they had just won and how they would represent as their title. Our third event of the pageant was horsemanship. Horsemanship is judged off of the horse and riders connection of the riders ability to ride and handle their horse. They have 2 patterns, one being a pattern of their choice and the other being a set pattern. They also do a grand entry and serpentine. Our last thing for the night was grand entry then we were done for the night.

The next morning we woke up nice and early to do the June Dairy Parade through the town of Tillamook! It was a blast and Custer enjoyed it for being his third parade. Right after we got off our horses we quickly changed and we’re off to do the queens luncheon and speeches. I got to help walk two Miss Rodeo Oregon Sweethearts up to the stage and ask them questions! After that I introduced the Jr Miss Rodeo Oregon contestants along with asking them impromptu
questions. Speeches is a timed speech where the girls talk about a topic they were given. They are judged off of their speaking ability in front of a crowd.

Our last thing of the night was our final run-in along with Ainsley and I carrying the first sponsor flags of the night. During the performance we had the 2022 Jr/Teen Miss Rodeo Oregon coronation. Congratulations to 2022 Miss Teen Rodeo Oregon Destiny Wecks and 2022 Jr Miss Rodeo Oregon Carrie Woods!! I can’t wait to see where you two go!

Gratefully,

2021 JMRO Morgan

Destiny Wecks sets her boots by the door on the family ranch in Wallowa County. She is the 17-year-old daughter of Jeffrey and Vixen Wecks and has an older brother, Jalyn. She will be a senior at Enterprise High School this fall. Destiny's school involvement includes FFA and Natural Helpers. She participates in the 4-H horse program and FFA with her swine and beef. Destiny has been on a horse since before she was born. She enjoys training horses as well as riding her own horses for drill, 4-H, rodeo and pleasure. Her mount is a 10-year-old AQHA bay gelding by the name of Opie. Destiny's unique personality led her to finding passion while riding steers in rodeo. Destiny had the pleasure of representing Oregon in 2015 as Jr Miss Rodeo Oregon. She's proud to represent Oregon in 2020-2021 as High School Rodeo First Attendant and the Chief Joseph Days Honorary Queen. When not with her many animals, Destiny enjoys family time spent mushroom hunting, camping, and boating on Wallowa Lake. Congratulations, Destiny!!

Carrie Woods is the twelve-year-old daughter of Greg and Melissa Woods of Beaver and the granddaughter of Debbie Tupper of Tillamook. Carrie will be a seventh grader at Nestucca Valley Middle School in the fall. Carrie excels in academics and loves playing softball and volleyball. She enjoys riding her twelve-year-old Quarter Horse mare "Sue" and whether it is sorting cows, barrel racing, trail riding or just arena work, she loves it all. Carrie has also been a Tillamook County 4-H member for the last three years showing dairy cows, rabbits, and market goats. Carrie has always been around rodeo and was the 2019 Jr. Miss Tillamook Rodeo Queen. She loves to promote the western way of life everywhere she goes. Carrie looks forward to expanding her rodeo queen experiences. Congratulations, Carrie!