Miss Teen Rodeo Oregon 2022 Destiny Wecks!
“True cowboys are the ones who aren’t afraid to get dirty.”- Lane Frost
Well that's one way to describe the rodeos this past month. No matter what side of the country I was on, I always greeted each rodeo with rain. Starting off the month of June, I was in Florida for the Silver Spurs Rodeo and attending the annual Teen Queen Week. Being surrounded with 13 other state rodeo queens my age was one of the best experiences of my reign so far! Being in Florida for the week we got to experience things like Wild Florida AirBoat Tours, GatorLand, Daytona Beach and Speedway, and their Miss Silver Spurs Rodeo queen pageant. On the last day of the trip I was able to hang out with Miss Teen Rodeo Minnesota, Summer, during the rodeo performance, do a grand entry for the rodeo and sign autographs. Coolest thing about meeting these girls is learning more about their home states and how their state and rodeos operate or look different then Oregon or nearby states.
After I got home from that long trip in the beautiful sunshine state, I didn't even make it all the way home but instead I turned right and headed an hour south to Union for my last 4h Eastern Oregon Livestock horse show. My best friends, Addie and Eva, were the superstars like they are and washed my horse Whisper and hauled her all the way to the show for me. For my last show, Whisper and I showed how to go out with style and a bang!
Intense rainfall led to a very deep and muddy arena for the show, so being the crazy horse people we are, the show moved into the grass parking lot. With trailers acting as the fence, we did our Showmanship, Western, English and Novice classes all in a very small area. I was excited to win the Senior Champion Showman then after the Grand Champion Showmanship class, I was shocked to also win the beautiful Overall Champion Showman buckle!
Getting to have a few days at home, I prepared for the 115th annual Eastern Oregon Livestock Show Rodeo and parade that weekend. After a short and sweet queen's coronation on Tuesday evening, I prepared my horse Opie for the rodeo's run-ins on Friday. We did one of the coolest and most looked forward to things for my year, a no hands track run! Opie and I also took home the second place award for rodeo royalty in the parade. After the grand entry and rodeo, sash sister mishap (little broken nose didn't stop that queen!) We headed to Sisters for the 3 rodeos and parade.
Trying to escape one muddy arena just led to me finding yet another muddy mess of a run in at the Sisters rodeo. But of course a little mud never stopped anyone, definitely not rodeo competitors either! Even JJ was having a great time in the mud with his mud angels and face dives. The parade was rainy but I learned that rain ponchos work great to keep my flowers dry before the parade. After both Saturday rodeos were over, the mud was too much and I decided to save my horse some uncomfortable hours home with mud in all places, and miss the last performance on Sunday. But I did stop in for the Buckaroo Breakfast that morning before heading home.
The 3rd week and weekend in June consisted of many hours in the saddle but not for queen laps or parades; this time, it was for the Drill Team! My hometown rodeo, Mountain High Broncs and Bulls, was held on the 18th, where I have been an active drill team member for 8 years. I crafted 2 drills for the team this year as well as mixed the music and wrote up the script for the announcer to use during the rodeo. Once again this rodeo was also in rain and mud but the energy was high and the mood was all full of good vibes. I had the best time with the other 5 girls on drill and interacting with the rodeo fans who filled the stands!
Time really seemed to fly when I came back to Tillamook for the Jr and Teen Pageant. Being back so soon was definitely an odd feeling but I was so overjoyed to see all the girls competing for the titles and positions they wanted. Doing interviews, speeches, modeling, impromptu questions, mock tv interviews, horsemanship and of course the parade and grand entry for the Tillamook County Rodeo really helped show these girls skills and talents at work. I was able to loan my horse Kyra for both the horsemanship patterns and parade to a junior contestant when her horse was being naughty and that really meant the world to me. My year's platform is to make a difference and leave a legacy, and that small gesture really made a difference for that rider to help boost her confidence and show the judges she wasn't going to give up.
After the pageant I loaded up all my trailers and horses and headed back to the valley for St Paul! Thanks to my great sponsor St Paul Rodeo, I was able to unhook my trailer at the grounds for a whole week while we stayed with friends in town. Thank you to the Drescher family for allowing us to stay with you! The first performance of the rodeo was also the last day of June. I had a great time with the queens and courts that attended the rodeo performance that evening where we celebrated the life of a firefighter, Austin Smith, whose life was lost in the line of duty this year. With a riderless horse and saddle covered in the flag, tears fell and hearts were heavy as they made their way around the arena.
This next month is going to be rodeo filled with planned rodeos of Eugene Pro Rodeo, Molalla Rodeo, Elgin Stampede, Columbia Country Fair and Rodeo, and my hometown rodeo of the Chief Joseph Days Rodeo. I'm excited to attend parades and meet new people and get to share my passion with them all!
“Most competitors never realize what their true potential is. Don't sell yourself short.”- Trevor Brazile
Miss Teen Rodeo Oregon- Destiny Wecks
