On April 15th I was on my way to Corvallis, Montana for a Tough Enough To Wear Pink Celebrity Team Sorting. Corvallis is about a 6-6 ½ hour drive from Billings, so I decided to arrive a day before the contest. I stayed with Ashley Sherman, the Ravalli County Rodeo Queen, and her family. They were very hospitable and made me feel right at home!
Saturday April 16th was the day of the actual Team Sorting competition. We arrived at 8:00 am and got ready to present the colors for the Grand Entry. Peal Jeske was kind enough to let me use her horse “Josie”, a beautiful buckskin mare, who can now add being a “Queen’s Horse” to her resume! Ashley Sherman and Ashton Blubaugh, the Missoula Stampede Little Miss, helped with the Grand Entry and did an awesome job.
We then had a few hours to kill before the Celebrity Sorting started. Ashley and I drove down to Darby to see Mr. Jimmy Harrison, the hat man, to have him clean and shape my hat, since I don’t get over to Darby very often. Jimmy provides custom-made hats to all the Miss Rodeo Montana queens and I wanted to be sure my hat received the best care. We then headed back to the Team Sorting and I was able to watch for a few hours before the Celebrity portion began. I received some very helpful tips from Gill and Theresa Roberts. Their family enjoys Team Sorting almost every weekend and is very familiar with the sport!
Before the Celebrity Sorting the “celebrities” drew partners who were “pros” to help assist in the sorting. I drew an awesome partner, Franchelle, and together we brought $175.00 in the Calcutta! We took part in two rounds in the Celebrity Sorting. For those unfamiliar with this sport, contestants start with cows numbered from 0-10. When you cross the line, the announcer gives you a cow by number. You have 60 seconds to sort as many cows as you can into the other pen (in numerical order starting with your number). In the first round we were next to last to compete. The “0” cow was the one that kept getting away from everyone and giving a lot of the teams a “no time”. When I crossed the line they called out our cow number and you can guess what it was? Yep, it was #0!!! We got two cows in the first round. While it was not as many as I would have liked, not too bad for my first time sorting! For the second round contestants go in reverse order so this time Franchelle and I competed second. We stayed consistent and got two cows again. We were leading up until the last few teams and then finished fourth out of 22 teams. Well, it was not bad for a first- timer! I had an absolute blast at Tough Enough to Wear Pink Celebrity Team Sorting, and I want to go back next year and compete again!
The next morning I traveled back to Darby to meet with Keith Smith, the owner of Trapper Peak Winery, to discuss a possible sponsorship. Laura Bakker, my National Director, and I came up with an idea of presenting all my major sponsors with a nice trophy bottle of wine with my Miss Rodeo Montana logo on it as a personalized keepsake. Keith Smith was very generous and gave me a whole case of wine that I can use for my sponsors. Further advertising and sponsorship are in the works and I look forward to working with him this year!
Overall, it was a great weekend. I had a ton of fun getting out and doing something totally different and introducing Miss Rodeo Montana to a new group of people.
Next week, I’m off to Lewistown, Montana for a Tough Enough to Wear Pink parade, dinner, and auction!
Until next time,
Lorissa Harris
Miss Rodeo Montana 2011
No comments:
Post a Comment