The Oregon Queen — All the News from February 2025!

March 12, 2025 Off By Lois Forester

2025 Miss Rodeo Oregon Mary Olney!

Dear Oregon Rodeo Family,

I want to share some of my most recent adventures with you!

In February, I had the privilege of attending the Silver Spurs Rodeo in Kissimmee, Florida. During my time there, I participated in several school and sponsor visits, which allowed me to engage with local communities and further promote the sport of rodeo. It was an enriching experience, and I am grateful for the warm reception and the opportunity to represent Oregon.

I also had the honor of attending the coronations of Katie and Fallyn. Both events were inspiring, and it was truly special to witness their dedication to the rodeo community and the roles they will play in the coming year.

I'm looking forward to my coronation fundraiser and I am extremely grateful for the support from those contributing to this event and buying tickets.

In March I will also be in Houston, where I will be working with the Cervi Pivot team during the second week of the Houston Rodeo. This is a fantastic opportunity, and I look forward to representing Oregon while being involved in the many activities and events that the Houston Rodeo offers.

Additionally, I am pleased to report that I have secured a few new sponsors for the year. These partnerships will provide invaluable support throughout my reign and further enhance my ability to represent Miss Rodeo Oregon at various events and appearances.

Lastly, I have been collaborating with Kayla to design a couple of shirts and a skirt. We are making great progress, and I am eager to showcase these pieces as part of my wardrobe this year.

Thank you for your continued support. I look forward to sharing more updates with you as the year progresses!!

Warm regards,

Mary M. Olney

Miss Rodeo Oregon 2025

2025 Miss Rodeo Oregon Queen Clinic!

The schedule for April 11-13 is in place, 2024 Miss Rodeo America Emma Cameron is coming, and the Clinic will be starting in a few short weeks! Notice that we have a separate Sweetheart clinic on Saturday afternoon. We also have classes for parents on Saturday afternoon on clothing embellishments, designing autograph sheets, painting boots, hat care, and more.

On Friday afternoon, we are trying something very new. We will host a pop-up fashion event with vendors from 2 to 8 pm. Here's who has signed up so far: Rockin' J Designs; Fencepost & Co.; Jordan McCarthy (saddle stands); Wild Kiger Western; 8 Seconds Strong; Feathers & Arrows; Fire Leather Co.; Ray Lewis of elevenprojectsllc; Essential Bodywear; Santa Fe Western Leather. It promises to be an exciting addition to our clinic!

Mollee Gray will be there on Saturday and will shape and/or clean hats!

A special Horsemanship session will be offered for state or regional queens on Friday from 12:30 to 2:30 with Emma. She was the Horsemanship winner and is a highly skilled teacher. We have a few half hour sessions for anyone to consult with Emma privately. Each of these opportunities is an added cost of $100 to clinic admission.

2025 Miss Teen Rodeo Oregon Katie Kilcullen!

Hello rodeo fans! February was a busy month as Miss Teen Rodeo Oregon.

I started the month of February with a bang! I competed in my first OHSET (Oregon High School Equestrian Team) meet. My horse and I, who strictly have ridden western, actually competed in an English class for the first time! We absolutely loved it and placed third!

On Saturday, February second, I completed my events at my OHSET meet for the day and made my way to Corvallis, Oregon to attend the Benton County Fair & Rodeo Queen Coronation. I am so happy that I was able to attend. It was a beautiful night filled with dear friends and great entertainment. They had a LIVE band there which I thought was so cool and unique. Morgan Young was crowned the 2025 Benton County Fair & Rodeo Queen. I had the pleasure of watching Morgan compete for this title so it was such an amazing experience to watch her be crowned. She is one of the coolest and sweetest people I know. We have become fast friends and I cannot wait to travel the rodeo circuit this year with her. Naomi Bailey, the 2024 BCF&R queen, passed down her crown that night. However, she quickly replaced it with another. She won the title of the 2025 Clackamas County & Canby Rodeo Queen. To know Naomi is to love her, she is going to be an amazing representative for this amazing rodeo!

Next, it was finally time for MY coronation on February eighth! The night could not have had a better turn out. We were expecting to have around 150 people attending, but we actually had 200 or more! I was surrounded by so much love and support. It was truly mind altering to have a venue packet with people who care so much about me. I am extremely grateful and blessed to have such an outstanding support system. There were around 20 visiting royalty, of which some traveled six hours to attend! You may recognize the name Payton Hayda and Makaila Tolman; they both competed for this title with me in August! Both of these lovely ladies came to my coronation and were so happy for me. That is what true friendship is like and I am so incredibly blessed to have them in my life. That is one thing I love about being a rodeo queen, you make lifelong friends that are worth their weight in gold.

We had over 75 silent auction items and eight fantastic live auction items. Our dessert dash was a huge success and so was our rodeo king competition! The crowd loved this event and it made the whole night! For my speech I decided to introduce my platform for the year, “Beauty from Ashes”. In January's newsletter I wrote about it and I encourage you to go read it if you have not yet!

To finish the evening off I had an incredible surprise presented to me. My dear friend Rick Olsen came to the front and shared the kindest words to me. He spoke about our fun experiences at the Spray Rodeo last year and even reminded me that I bought my FIRST saddle from him. Rick is a Eugene firefighter. He and Lane Professional Fire Fighters graced me with an enormous amount of generosity, a check for $1,000. I could not believe it. My jaw slammed to the floor and tears of joy came streaming from my eyes. I do not know how to express how grateful I am for their generosity. They are an amazing group of individuals who give so much to our community by keeping us safe. Thank you so incredibly much Lane Professional Fire Fighters for your generosity and service.

The following weekend I visited Pendleton, Oregon for the very first time for our Junior Miss Rodeo Oregon Fallyn Plume’s coronation! The event was a grand success and truly touching. Fallyn is such an amazing young lady; she is going to do GREAT things. I enjoyed every minute of my visit from enjoying the historic Slickfork Saloon in Hamley's Western Store, seeing the iconic roundup arena with the wooden chutes, and enjoying brunch at the oldest restaurant in Oregon, the Rainbow Cafe!

To conclude the month of February, I attended the Eugene Pro Rodeo court's coronation. It was a wonderful night! As a resident of Eugene, this rodeo is my home-town rodeo, so this court is extremely special to me! It’s going to be a great year.

Glory be to God,

2025 Miss Teen Rodeo Oregon Katie Kilcullen

2025 Junior Miss Rodeo Oregon Fallyn Plume!

It's so hard to believe it's already March! Which makes me think of how fast this fun year is going to fly by.

For me, February was all about coronations! I attended my first coronation ever by traveling to Springfield, Oregon to support Miss Teen Rodeo Oregon, Katie Kilcullen. I was so amazed by all the support and amazing auction items she had available. Then I turned around the next day and won a basketball championship in The Dalles, Oregon. Overall, it was a great weekend!

The best part of February was my coronation at Hamley's Slickfork Saloon on February 15th. It turned out amazing with great music, auction items, and so many memorable moments that I will never forget. It was everything I could have hoped it would be. There are so many people to thank for their support. I'd like to start by thanking the Miss Rodeo Oregon Board. They really helped my mom pull all the pieces together for this event. This was the first time we ever planned a coronation, so they gave us all the tools we needed. Several of my family members helped find auction items and came and helped on the day of the event. I'd like to give a special thanks to Kaeleen Mcguire and Cole Sazue. They were so thoughtful for having a caricature made of me in my Jr Miss Rodeo Oregon chaps from a photo that was taken of me in August. Not only was it really cool to have these stickers made, but I was able to use it in all the materials used at my coronation.

Last but not least, I was asked to be a special guest at the Two Cultures, One Community powwow held in my hometown of Pendleton. I was introduced at the event and had the opportunity to share a few words about myself and how the meaning of this event really spoke to me. The idea came from bridging the rodeo culture of Pendleton and the Native culture of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and bringing the communities together for a special and honorable event. I feel like this is what I carry in my role as Junior Miss Rodeo Oregon, bridging my Native identity and love of rodeo together.

This was such a fun month to kick things off and I imagine every month there will be so many more experiences!