The Oregon Queen July/August Newsletter

August 9, 2018 Off By Lois Forester

On the Road with Jessi Cornforth, Miss Rodeo Oregon!

Chief Joseph Days, Joseph Oregon

With less than 10 days at home in June and July, you could say I have been busy! June kicked off with the Eastern Oregon Livestock Show and Rodeo in Union. While I was only there for 24 hours, I still managed to participate in two performances, a parade, luncheon, and then the mother of the queen found a pig and lamb for me to try showing! After a five hour all night drive back home, we loaded up for the Grand Floral Parade in Portland. I was so thankful to have an awesome support group that not only helped me the day of the parade, but the evenings beforehand while I was out of town. Together we brought home first place for the State or Regional Queen category. Celebrating however was short lived because we jetted over the mountain to Sisters Rodeo the very same day. I had a few days off and then flew to Reno Rodeo. The queen is one of my good friends from RODEO HOUSTON, and together we all had a blast. Next I went to Mountain Home, Idaho to participate in the Daniel Dopps 3D Memorial Rodeo. This was a special weekend for me because my grandma has lived in Mountain Home since 1970 and my grandpa was the mayor for 12 years. Finally we rounded out June with the Crooked River Roundup, a personal favorite of mine. I had the pleasure of staying with the Loftesness Family, and they treated Dually and me with great hospitality.

July was a whirlwind of a month! We kicked off Cowboy Christmas with the Rascal Rodeo in Molalla, and from there completed at least one performance at the Molalla Buckeroo, St. Paul Rodeo, and the Eugene Pro Rodeo. One of my sponsors, the St. Paul Rodeo, was my base camp all week, and I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with their committee and volunteers. With one hour at home to pack, I headed to Estes Park, Colorado after the last St. Paul performance. In Colorado I enjoyed the “Rodeo with Altitude”, the Rooftop Rodeo. After one day at home to hit the Miss Rodeo Oregon Pre-Pageant Orientation, I took off on a two week road trip to hit the Snake River Stampede, Cheyenne Frontier Days, and Chief Joseph Days. Participating in the Pink on the Dirt Fashion Show in Idaho and running my “fly by” in Cheyenne will be two of the greatest highlights of my year. August is now upon us, and rodeo season still is not slowing down. If you see me along the rodeo trail, please say “Hi”!

Jessi Cornforth, 2018 Miss Rodeo Oregon

Daniel Dopps 3D Memorial Rodeo in Mountain Home

St. Paul Rodeo!

Pink on the Dirt Fashion Show at the Snake River Stampede

At the Snake River Stampede

Reno Rodeo!

Eugene Pro Rodeo

Eastern Oregon Livestock Show, Union

Cheyenne Frontier Days, Cheyenne Wyoming

Crooked River Roundup

Winner of the State or Regional Queen Category at the Rose Parade!

Team Jessi at the Rose Parade in Portland.

Miss Teen Rodeo Oregon Addy Crouch!

At Tillamook County Rodeo

Trail ride at St. Paul

June was a whirlwind month! I kicked off the month in St. Paul for the NWYRA rodeo and the St. Paul trail ride. The weather was perfect. I enjoyed spending time with the Sanchez sisters (the NWYRA queen and princess). I was so happy that my sister, Brooklyn, was able to join me for the fun three hour trail ride. Next, I headed to the Biggest Little Show in the World, the Sisters Rodeo. This rodeo is extra special to me as my sister was the 2014 Sisters Rodeo queen. It was so fun to do run ins at all four performances. The highlight of the weekend was running into World Champion and Oregon cowboy, Steven Peebles. I took a small break from rodeos to head to Moses Lake, WA to compete with my high school drill team at Regionals. There was some tough competition and we ended up placing 4th. Next, I headed to the Biggest Little Show on the Coast, the Tillamook Rodeo. This is always such a great rodeo. I carried flags, pushed cows, attended a queens luncheon and rode Sunny D in the June Dairy Days where we won a 4th place trophy. I also had the chance to check out the new and improved Tillamook Cheese Factory as it was their opening weekend. Finally, I ended the month of June in Prineville at the Crooked River Roundup. I attended their amazing queen’s luncheon and the Saturday night performance. Thank you to the Heintz family for always letting me borrow their sweet mare, Lena, when I am in Central Oregon. July was definitely my busiest month of the year. I attended 13 rodeo performances and four parades...and somehow managed to squeeze in my 4-H Horse Fair and an open horse show in between. I started the month off with a bang at the Rascal Rodeo held in Molalla. This is a special needs rodeo I look forward to every year. Later that day, I rode in the Molalla Kiddie Parade (placing 1st) and ended the day with the first of four evening performances that I attended at the Molalla Buckeroo. This rodeo is extra special to me because it’s my hometown rodeo. I was able to push cows a couple nights and participated in the donkey races twice (almost winning it one night). On the 4th of July, I made a quick trip to St Paul to ride in their parade, attend their Queen’s luncheon and ride in grand entry at the afternoon performance. I also attended a couple of their evening performances later that week. The St Paul Rodeo is always a good time. I ended Cowboy Christmas in Vancouver. I have never attended the Vancouver Rodeo before and it was a lot of fun. The stands were jam packed! I went straight from the Vancouver Rodeo to the Clackamas Co Fairgrounds to start three days of 4-H Horse Fair. I had a one day break before heading to Philomath to attend the Philomath Frolic and Rodeo and our Junior and Miss Teen Rodeo Oregon Pageant. It was a hot, but fun-filled three days of parades, rodeo arena runs, donkey races (we won’t talk about that), horsemanship, interviews, and speeches and luncheons. I also debuted my Suicide Prevention Awareness shirt that weekend. Congrats to the 2019 titleholders, Rowdy and Meredith! I finished off the month of July at the Santiam Canyon Stampede in Sublimity for both of their performances. They were so kind and made me feel so welcomed. Pushing cows with their queen, Hailey, was so much fun. I also managed to squeeze in one more parade that weekend, the Hubbard Hop Festival Parade where I took home the grand prize for youth equestrian. I look forward to giving my horse some well deserved time off as I head to Montana the first week of August to attend the Big Sky Pro Rodeo and Montana State Fair with Miss Teen Rodeo Montana, Keely Drummond. Keely and I have a lot in common. My platform this year is to promote Suicide Prevention Awareness. Keely has been helping to promote a mental health and suicide prevention app called #letstalk. I hope to learn more about this app and help spread a little more awareness while in Montana. But don’t worry, I’ll be back in plenty of time to attend one of my all-time favorite rodeos, the Canby Rodeo, the host rodeo to our Miss Pageant. I am really looking forward to the contestant pajama party and the fashion show. Good luck to all the ladies competing! Until next month - Addy Crouch 2018 Miss Teen Rodeo Oregon

With the Sanchez sisters at the Northwest Youth Rodeo Association in St Paul. Jazmin is on the left. Brooklyn is on the right.

Steven Peebles at the Sisters Rodeo!

Crooked River Roundup Queen’s luncheon in Prineville.

June Dairy Days Parade, Tillamook

Jerseys at the Tillamook Dairy Farm

Queens who placed at the June Dairy Days Parade getting our trophies at the Tillamook Rodeo Queen’s luncheon.

Santiam Canyon Stampede Queen Hailey and Addy pushing cows at Hailey's rodeo.

Addy and Jessi on the longhorns at the Molalla rodeo!

Jessi and Addy with a participant at Rascal Rodeo!

Bethany Rowe, 2018 Miss Teen Rodeo Oregon!

What a busy week and although I was tired, Cowboy Christmas did not disappoint! To start the week we headed to the Crooked River Roundup where my 7-year-old Ethel and I got to enjoy two full days of events! I think her favorite part was pushing cows with Queen Riann as she is a full blood cutting horse! Then it was off to Molalla, Sunday and Monday! Molalla was action packed from teaching roping at the Rascal Rodeo to absolutely dominating the donkey race with Brooklyn Scheer and Baylee Crawford!

Bethany Rowe and Ethel running it at Yoncalla on the 4th of July

Tillamook County Rodeo Queen Brooklyn Scheer and Miss Teen Rodeo Oregon Bethany Rowe snapped a picture with Miss Rodeo Oregon sweetheart Paisley Gibson and Brooklyn’s nephew at the Molalla Buckeroo!

Next up was Yoncalla in the afternoon of the 3rd and Eugene in the evening, then
back to Yoncalla the 4th for the parade and rodeo and once again we were on the road to Eugene! The second day of Yoncalla, Ethel pulled a shoe and was out of commission and not able to run in at Eugene. With some quick work by my coordinator Angie and the rest of my rodeo family, I had a horse lined up for Eugene by the time I had everything loaded up in the trailer! After running in and pushing cows on my borrowed horse Ditto, we hustled home that night to take care of Ethel and didn’t get back on the road until Friday. Although that put a dent in our travels, Dad and I were excited to be home for a minute and Ethel couldn’t wait to see her pasture pals! Friday, we loaded up Tuffie and went to my final performance of the Eugene Pro and I even got to push Trevor Brazil’s calf back! The next morning we headed to Lapine for the queens luncheon and rodeo! It is an understatement to say I missed my Central Oregon friends! The whole week was filled with horses, roping, rodeo and most of all friends and I wouldn’t change this experience for the world!

EPR Queen Amira Johnson, Little Miss EPR Sophia Bauer, NYRA princess Brooklyn Sanchez, NYRA Queen Jazmin Sanchez, and Miss Teen Rodeo Oregon Bethany Rowe all help Junior Miss Rodeo Oregon Lauren Gibson put on her chaps before the Eugene Pro Rodeo.

Bethany and Jessi Cornforth!

Miss NPRA, Jefferson County Court, Oregon Trail Appaloosa Princess, Lapine Rodeo Queen, Miss Teen Rodeo Oregon, Spray Rodeo Queen, past Lapine Rodeo Queen, the Rimrock Riders Court, and little Miss NPRA at the Lapine Rodeo Luncheon.

Bethany Rowe and Ashlyn Johnson, the Lapine Rodeo Queen, wait to push cows at the Lapine Rodeo.

MTRO Bethany Rowe teaches a Rascal Rodeo participant how to rope at the Rascal Rodeo held in Molalla!

MTRO Bethany Rowe and Down Syndrome Day participant Abby had a fun time on the carousel with Abby’s horse, Majesty!

What a month! July has been my favorite time so far! My dad and I have been so busy traveling all over the state this month so it was nice to end it at our county fair! The week was chock full of events from attending the ribbon cutting ceremony, meeting Ashley McBryde, helping out our local pageant (which my dad head judged for), to finally bringing my platform and goals to life; I had the very best week you could ever imagine! The Rascal Rodeo was a blast! The kids got to compete in five events- saddle bronc, bull riding, roping, barrel racing and they even got to practice their hot laps! From there we took to the midway and rode so many rides that Junior Miss Rodeo Oregon Lauren Gibson, Sisters Rodeo Queen Hailey Konze, and Miss Eugene Pro Rodeo Amira Johnson's heads were spinning! After rides we met some horses and had a relaxing barbecue before rodeo time! I am so thankful to all of my visiting royalty, as well as volunteers, Mattie Maggard-NPRA Barrel Racer, Bailey Wallack- NYRA barrel racer and breakaway roper, Justin Houston- PRCA Bull Rider, Brayden Schmitt- NPRA Team Roper, and Harley Houston-NYRA Barrel Racer! I also want to thank our corporate sponsors, the Coos County Fair Board, HEMR Industrial, Miss Rodeo Oregon Inc, and Freedom Graphics for helping me make this goal come to life! What an adventure this has been!

JMRO Lauren Gibson and MTRO Bethany Rowe hanging out at the Super Slide!

MTRO Bethany Rowe poses with all of those in attendance at her Rascal Rodeo, including visiting royalty and some of her volunteers!

MTRO Bethany Rowe snapped a picture with the Miss Coos County girls as well as Kaila Tripp, Miss Pacific Shores, at the Coos County opening ceremonies

2019 CCF&R Jr. Princess Bella Cagley, Miss EPR Amira Johnson, 2018 CCF&R Queen Abbey Dieu, MTRO Bethany Rowe, JMRO Lauren Gibson, Little Miss EPR Sophia, Sisters Rodeo Queen Hailey Konze and the 2019 CCF&R Queen Haley Snelgrove stopped for a picture with Bethany’s cousin Ensley Morris!

Bethany and PRCA bull rider Justin Houston teach Carson to ride the barrel bull!

Lauren Gibson, 2018 Junior Miss Rodeo Oregon!

It has been so much fun promoting the sport of rodeo and sharing my love for rodeo with youth and people of all ages this summer!

Lauren and Ashley Nash at Eugene Pro Rodeo!

This has been the BEST cowboy Christmas ever! I loved representing my hometown rodeo, Eugene Pro Rodeo! In the past I was their 2016 and 2017 Junior Queen; but this year as Jr Miss Rodeo Oregon has opened up new and exciting doors for me! This Rodeo is near and dear to my heart as they have helped me get where I am today. I love the feeling of riding in the arena with my friends,family and local community there to support me.

I could not have imagined attending so many wonderful rodeos in such a short, fun filled amount of time! I am happy to be able to tell you about a few of my experiences!

The Crooked River Roundup is one of my favorites because they treat each and every queen so special. The queens luncheon is so memorable with so much great food and good conversations! It was extra special to have one of our sponsors and friends attend all of the events with us, Matt and Amy Hogan of Rolling H Ranch. Also our friend Denis Fast, chairman of the HIgh Desert Stampede, and his wife Lisa spent time with us during the rodeo and I am sure they are loving watching the queen lifestyle up close as they have spent three fun rodeos with us so far!

Molalla Buckeroo was our next rodeo of the week. It was an experience that we will never forget. It was great to sign autographs and do run ins with Jessi, Bethany, and Addy!

St. Paul was an experience that is unforgettable. It is such a big rodeo with amazing talent. We have great rodeo friends that we have met on the rodeo road and we were able to hang out with and do a lot of horse riding together!

To end the amazing week we attended the La Pine Rodeo. My horse Babe has been in that arena so many times with my grandma. It was so special to have my grandpa attend and watch me push cattle, my very favorite thing to do!

The Philomath Frolic and Rodeo was special, and it was fun for me to cheer on the 2019 contestants for Junior and Teen Miss Rodeo Oregon. I am so proud of all the contestants for reaching toward their goals of a title!

Lauren with judges Bob Roy and Diana Wirth!

Lauren and Addy at the donkey races in Philomath!

Santiam Canyon was so much fun. I loved pushing cattle and being in the saddle almost the whole rodeo! The rodeo board was so hospitable, and it is on our list of favorite rodeos to attend.

I was able to help put on my hometown rodeo of the Coburg Kids Rodeo in mid-July. My brother and sister were able to participate, and my brother won a medal! I saw many of my local sponsors and was able to help promote the local businesses who sponsor me!

The latest rodeo was the Coos County Fair and Rodeo. It was such a wonderful experience working with the kids and bringing awareness to Down Syndrome Riding the rides with the kids was such a blast!

I could not have imagined attending so many wonderful rodeos in such a short, fun filled amount of time! Thank you to all of my family, friends and sponsors!

Lauren Gibson, 2018 Junior Miss Rodeo Oregon

Guaranty RV Super Center--one of Lauren's wonderful sponsors!

Queen's Luncheon in Prineville with the Parade Grand Marshal!

At the Crooked River Roundup with the Canby Court

In St. Paul

2019 Junior Miss and Miss Teen Rodeo Oregon Pageant!

Miss Rodeo Oregon Jessi Cornforth thanking Tanya Marie Utberg. With her is Baylee Crawford, Rowdy Israel, Jazmin Sanchez, Penelope Swan, Kiley Leinbach, Little Miss NPRA, MTRO Bethany Rowe, MTRO Addy Crouch, JMRO Lauren Gibson, Zoe Brooks, Destiny Wecks, Meredith Moore, Keira Leinbach

The very first Junior Miss and Miss Teen Rodeo Oregon Pageant was held in 2004 and countless girls since then have dreamed of the title being theirs. For every year since, Tanya Marie Utberg (Miss Rodeo Oregon 1996) has been its director; it is a tribute to her vision and dedication that the pageant continues to thrive. This year's pageant was held in conjunction with the Philomath Frolic and Rodeo from July 12-14, 2018.

Contestants and Titleholders at the Philomath Rodeo Pancake Breakfast!

The Sweetheart Pageant was held in conjunction and three young girls--Natalie Zollinger, Gracyn Bond, and Paisley Gibson reigned As Miss Rodeo Oregon Sweetheart for the day!