MRMI Horsemanship Clinic/ Little Belt Cowboys Rodeo

I was home just long enough to sleep in my own bed for the night, re-pack, and hit the road again.  My mom and I headed for the Belt Rodeo and the Miss Rodeo Montana Horsemanship Clinic.  This is an event that my mom established and is now put on by the MRM board.  It is truly a great program for current rodeo queens and girls who are up and coming in the pageant world.  There many fabulous clinicians that helped with various and aspects of horsemanship and responsibilities of being a title holder.  My mother Linda Rest, my national director Laura Bakker, former Miss Rodeo Montana Bobbi Levine, former Miss Rodeo Washington Jody Rempel, and former Miss Rodeo Montana Tammy Pate were the great clinicians that helped make this clinic such a success.

The clinic involved riding different horses, watching and studying tapes of Miss Rodeo America pageants and learning how to read cattle.  Then we were off the rodeo! Thank you to Laura Bakker for letting me ride her pride and joy Cecil (a beautiful flea bitten gray horse) that definitely has a whole other speed in the arena!  I carried the American flag during the National Anthem, carried event flag, victory laps, and help clean the arena. They sure kept us busy and I loved every minute of it! Dave and Cathy Wieferich of Brookman Rodeo Company also do a fabulous job putting on various rodeos across the state and I love working with them.

This year they also had JJ Harrison as the clown act, a truly amazing performer.  He involves Miss Rodeo Montana his act… He tries to convince the crowd that he didn’t get a fair chance at the Miss Rodeo Montana Pageant, while wearing a blow up fat suit with a pink bikini and a plastic crown on his cowboy hat.  As part of the act, he convinces me to dismount and let him do a”Queen Buzz” riding my horse. It was hilarious and the crowd absolutely loved it!

After a few days off, I’m off to Chinook/Augusta/Missoula all in one weekend!

NEBRASKAland Days!!!

Before year’s end, I will definitely be a pro at packing and living out of my suitcase! I got home Sunday night from Vaughn to catch a few hours of sleep, re-pack, and then head out to Nebraska! My flight left at 6 am and arrived by noon.  Upon arrival, we literally hit the ground running!  I was fortunate to have an AWESOME host family, Dan and Pam Wright, who made my stay in North Platte so very special. Nebraskan host families have a fun tradition of displaying giant red and white signs in their yards that say “Home of Miss Rodeo Montana”  … a great tradition and made me feel like a celebrity!

While in Nebraska, we were honored to take part in their 2012 Miss Rodeo Nebraska Pageant.  There were three amazing young ladies competing for this coveted title.  We had an opportunity to model our western elegance dresses, our chap outfits and to talk about our home states.  It was also fun to be on the other side of the competition and enjoy being a spectator at a pageant. We signed tons and tons of autographs and got to ride in the Buffalo Bill Rodeo!  The crowning ceremony for the new Miss Rodeo Nebraska 2012 was held in the arena during a break in the rodeo and BIG congratulations to Sierra Peterson for winning the title.   A big thank you goes out to Becky Grimm (Miss Rodeo Nebraska 2011) and her mother Pattie Grimm for driving Miss Rodeo Idaho Tricia Crump and I all the way back to Denver to catch our flights home!

Montana High School Finals/ Summer Solstice Rodeo- Vaughn

June 8^th was the start of the Montana High School Rodeo Finals and pageant.  Our close family friends Anne and Mariah Rhys- Sikora have been putting on the pageant for the last several years and do a tremendous job! There were three awesome high school queen contestants this year.  Amy Hager, Miss Teen Rodeo Montana,  and I took part in the orientation and horsemanship portions of the pageant activities. Horsemanship is one of the most vital portions of competing and serving as a rodeo queen and we were happy to take part in this pageant!  Some very influential judges were present at this year’s Montana High School Rodeo Queen pageant; including Sara Wilkins Capp, former Miss Rodeo Montana, Robin Nansel and former Miss Rodeo Oregon, and the Miss Rodeo Montana 2010 Jourdon Han. These ladies all know firsthand the responsibilities involved and what it takes to be a rodeo queen and we appreciate all they did!  The pageant wrapped up that Saturday and Miss Jeana Wagner of Whitehall came away with the title!!  Jeana will also receive a $1,000 college scholarship from the Montana Pro Rodeo Hall & Wall of Fame.   Congratulations to her and all the girls who competed!

I was then off to the Summer Solstice in Vaughn the 11-12th.  This was my first rodeo of the summer and to be honest, I was a little nervous! Mr. John Smith of JS Rodeo Company puts on this rodeo and it was truly a great kick off rodeo.  Saturday morning I took part in Farmer’s Market with the Big Sky Rodeo committee, signed autographs and took pictures with little kids.  What a great way to spend the morning in Great Falls promoting the Big Sky Pro Rodeo the 2-6 in August.

The rodeo was a lot of fun and thanks goodness for Sue Thompson for providing me a horse.  As usual, she is a total lifesaver!  I’ll take this opportunity to thank Briana Caldwell and Jennika O’Neil for helping carry sponsor flags.   I appreciate all their hard work and look forward to working with them more in the future.  

Following the early performance on Sunday, it was back home to Billings to get ready to hop on a plane the very next morning for Nebraska!

Special Olympics State Games

On May 12, I traveled to Bozeman for the Special Olympic State Games, to help with the Equestrian Games portion and I absolutely loved it!  We started at 8:00 am with the Parade of Athletes and a Grand Entry.  There were so many athletes participating in the equestrian events, that the trail classes were held in the outdoor arena and the English and Western classes were held in the indoor arena. It was great to be back at the Special Olympics as I had also helped at the Winter Games in Whitefish.  Some of the athletes remembered me from the Whitefish games and it was good to see them again! After the classes were finished, I assisted with the Awards Ceremony and helped with presentations along with three Montana Highway Patrol officers.

Later in the evening there was a carnival for all of the athletes who competed in the state games.  A meet and greet booth had been set up for Amy Hager, Miss Teen Rodeo Montana, and I so we could meet folks and sign autographs and be available for photo ops.   It was a wonderful weekend, a great event to be a part of, and such an honor to spend time with all of the amazing athletes!

Miss Rodeo Tennessee Pageant/ Franklin Rodeo

May 17, I was off to Franklin, Tennessee to attend the 2011 Miss Rodeo Tennessee pageant and three nights of the Franklin rodeo.   I was one of six state rodeo queens who made the trip to see Miss Rodeo Tennessee 2010 Breezy Smith hand down her title. Upon arriving that night, we enjoyed dinner with Greg Hensley the “Boot Man”, an awesome man who provides beautiful Dan Post Boots to rodeo queens!  The next day was my 22^nd birthday and so we topped off the evening with cherry cobbler and a memorable rendition of “Happy Birthday”.  It was great!

Spending my 22^nd birthday with other rodeo queens and in the beautiful state of Tennessee was a real treat. We started the day with a tour of the world famous Country Music Hall of Fame in downtown Nashville. It was great to learn the rich history that has evolved over the years in country music. Later that day we toured the Carter House representing a lot of Civil War history.  The tour guide made the wonderful stories come alive with his knowledge and passion for history.

The next day we took part in a very fun southern tradition of “High Tea” at an old plantation.  We wore dresses (no cowboy hats) and wore fancy “Kentucky Derby” hats.  We enjoyed our tea, scones, cucumber sandwiches, and delicious desserts.  It was a special day and we all gained a deeper appreciation for this true southern tradition!

And of course, the main purpose of our trip was to attend three nights of rodeo! The Franklin Rodeo was a fantastic rodeo.  One of our Montana stock contractors, Sparky Dreesen of Big Circle Rodeo Company, provided the rodeo stock and it was great to see a fellow Montanan!  Miss Ty Fitzgerald was crowned the new Miss Rodeo Tennessee. She did an awesome job and I look forward to seeing more of her this year.  She will do a fabulous job representing her state of Tennessee and Professional Rodeo!

Helena Middle School/ Women's Run

On Thursday May 5th, I worked an 8 hour shift at my job, and then headed to Bozeman where I spent the night before continuing on to Helena for a huge event called “Rodeo Day” for the 6 graders at  Helena Middle School. I arrived at the school around 8 am and of all the kiddie rodeos I have attended, by far this was the biggest I have ever seen. Mrs. Janet Erickson, one of the 6th grade teachers, organizes this event.  She is also a very well know barrel racer/trainer, a former Miss Rodeo Montana, and the mother of Montana PRCA Cowboy Ty Erickson.. Not surprisingly, she was great to work with and her passion for children really made this event so spectacular.

The morning started with a very talented 6th grader singing the National Anthem and another playing the fiddle.  Two other 6th graders then showed off their “Jitterbug” skills. Mr. Jason Harris an inspirational cowboy  and I acted as MC’s for this event, describing the various rodeo events, and their rules and regulations.  It has become a tradition that the current Miss Rodeo Montana rides the “bull” which is a barrel attached to stretched ropes on each end, on which people bounce back and forth. I didn’t realize how high the bull would actually go in the air!  Needless to say, I didn’t make it for the full 8 seconds and my dismount wasn’t very graceful, much to the delight of the students!

The 6th graders then got to rotate to eight different event stations so they could participate in all of the different events of rodeo and a few other special stations.  My station was an autograph signing station where I signed over 100 autographs.  Jade my “helper”, a sophomore from Helena High School, helped me keep the kids in line while they waited.  She put large piece of white paper on the table for the kids to sign and write me a note on while they waited in line, which was a very special and thoughtful thing for her to do.  I enjoyed attending such a fun event for the 6th graders of Helena Middle School and special thanks go to Mrs. Janet Erickson for all the hard work she puts into this annual event!

After a night of rest it was on to Billings for their 30th Annual Women’s Run.  This event raises money for various women’s groups in Billings.  I was invited to participate with the Montana Beef Council’s team.  Even though I am from Billings, this was my first time taking part in this event and all I can say is WOW!   A record-breaking 8,500 women participated in this event, either running or walking in the 2 or 5-mile race.  I did the 2 mile race with the members of the Montana Beef Council.  Although we didn’t race, we walked and talked while getting to know each other. It was really great to see that many women come out to support a great cause and I was honored to be a part of it. Just as a note of interest, there was a 99-year-old woman who checked off one more item on her “bucket list”, having completed the two mile portion.

Next, I’m off to Bozeman to attend the Montana State Special Olympics.  This should be a wonderful experience and one which I am really looking forward to!
Until next time,
Lorissa Harris

Tough Enough to Wear Pink- Central Montana

On April 30th I was off to Lewistown for a Tough Enough to Wear Pink dinner, auction, and fashion show fundraiser. Since I was only going to be gone overnight, my Corgi “Quigly” came along for a little company since I tend to travel alone most of the time.   A note of interest – Lewistown is the exact geographical center of Montana … very deserving of the Central Montana designation!

This was the first year for the “Tough Enough to Wear Pink” event, and it holds special meaning for me since I work on the Inpatient Cancer Care Floor at the Billings Clinic. The dinner and auction was held at the Pine Meadow’s Golf Course and everything was covered or decorated in Pink! The evening started with a fabulous prime rib dinner followed by three strong cancer survivors who recounted their courageous stories fighting cancer. Then the fashion show started! I was the first one out on the runway, dressed in my Tough Enough to Wear Pink outfit. Jimmy Harrison “the Hat Man” was kind enough to let me borrow one of the new pink hats he handcrafted which was a huge hit! This first outfit included my pink chaps, which rounded out the “pink” look.  I was the last model on the show, and wore a pink Wrangler shirt, given to me by the Ladies of Central Montana with their logo embroidered on it.
     
Overall, it was a great evening and I met a lot of wonderful people.  I look forward to working with various Tough Enough to Wear Pink groups around the state in their efforts to raise money for Cancer Awareness.   Soon, I am off to Helena to take part in “Rodeo Day”, a fun and learning experience about rodeo for Helena Middle School 6th graders.

Until next time,
Lorissa Harris
Miss Rodeo Montana 2011