The Oregon Queen — September 2019

September 12, 2019 Off By Lois Forester

It feels like the month of August flew by; however, my schedule is starting to slow down. I started the month with a visit to the Union, Oregon Site of EDP Renewables who is a large sponsor of mine. I got to sight see and learn a little more in depth on what their site provides. Taking pictures at a wind farm proved to be slightly difficult due to none other than the wind. I also made a quick stop to La Grande to record a radio ad on behalf of Eastern Oregon University. I am so honored to be selected as the student this year that they chose for their advertisement, and it will be played during the Pendleton Round Up week.

After that, I made another stop to the studio of Shana Bailey Photography to have my headshots taken for the Miss Rodeo America pageant! She is so incredibly talented and it made it very hard to choose just one! Thank you Shana, for sponsoring this shoot for me; your support means so much!

I then packed up and hit the road to Canby, Oregon for the Clackamas County Fair and Canby Rodeo as well as the 2020 Miss Rodeo Oregon pageant. It was such a great opportunity to be able to participate during the pageant events to get feedback for my preparations for Miss Rodeo America, and being involved in the Canby Rodeo is such a treat. They are so incredibly hospitable and we can’t thank them enough for allowing us to have our pageant with them. Another big thank you to the Goughnour family for letting me use their horse Pete for the rodeo and horsemanship section of the pageant, as well as Amber Riesterer for the use of Cinco for Miss Rodeo Alaska, Johnna Drew, who also ended up being my draw horse. While I was there, I also met with designer Ariana Head of Oregon City, Oregon who will be making several of my Miss Rodeo America outfits! Congratulations to Samatha Henricks of Grants Pass, Oregon, our 2020 Miss Rodeo Oregon!

The following weekend Sam and I attended the Wapato Showdown Car Show in Gaston, Oregon where we judged several cars and handed out trophies to the winners. I was able to attend last year as lady-in-waiting and had so much fun. I was so excited to return this year, and the fun I had again this year definitely did not disappoint.

After that, I headed for home where I completed and submitted my Miss Rodeo America application and am officially a contestant for Miss Rodeo America 2020!

Cheerfully,
Taylor Ann Skramstad
Miss Rodeo Oregon 2019

August was definitely a month for the books! I had the privilege of attending Rowdy’s hometown rodeo in John Day, where I got to do my fly-by in the grand entry, carry the Prisoner Of War flag, push cattle, and even pushed myself to the limit in the cowhide race! I then went to Canby for their rodeo and the Miss Rodeo Oregon pageant, which was a whole lot of fun. I ended the month at my hometown rodeo in Walla Walla, Washington where I rode in the grand entry and showed my pig “Lilo” at the county fair. August was a great month and I am excited for what September brings!

Wow! Here we are in August already!

I started August off with traveling to the Deschutes County NPRA Rodeo Friday night performance and then got up early to drive to John Day to make it to the Cinnabar Mountain Playday Kids Rodeo series weekend of events, to represent as Junior Miss Rodeo Oregon along with competing in several events. The Grant County NPRA Rodeo was next on the event list the following weekend. Even though the weather turned out to be a bit wet, with thunder, lightning and a bunch of rain, we made the best of it and enjoyed my hometown rodeo. Miss Teen Rodeo Meredith Moore also joined in on the muddy performance Friday and Saturday. On Sunday was the Grant County Junior Rodeo, in which I represented as Junior Miss Rodeo Oregon, along with competing in a few events. The Grant County Fair officially started on that Wednesday and I was sure to be there, volunteering to run the main entrance gate into the fair, visiting with the community and welcoming everyone to the fair! I enjoyed signing some autographs and visiting one of my sponsor booths, Bar WB Western Wear, where I also got to see and visit with another great sponsor Charleen Morris of The Morris Ranch. I could not have traveled and done this job this year without all of my amazing sponsors, so I feel that it is always important to take the time to visit with them every chance I can get. They helped me pick out a new pair of black boots (since I wore holes through the bottoms of the black boots I had) for the next event, Miss Rodeo Oregon Pageant and Canby Rodeo, that we left to attend later that day.

Making it to our hotel at 3:33am, we got a couple hours of sleep and were ready to go for pageant orientation at 8am, kicking off the pageant and the PRCA Canby Rodeo! Several events were attended throughout the pageant and rodeo that included getting to go to the Boot Barn in Troutdale to pick out an outfit for the fashion show! The Boot Barn was very generous and let us have full run of the store to pick out and try on anything that we liked. Finding the perfect western trend outfit to model at the fashion show was a great experience.

I attended the pajama party in my unicorn onesie and light-up unicorn headband, having a really fun time! I was able to borrow a horse and participate in the horsemanship portion of the pageant, along with getting to take a ride on the Canby Ferry across the water, visit the Swan Island Dahlia Farm, ride in the barrel truck at the rodeo and be a part of the crowning of the 2020 Miss Rodeo Oregon Samantha Henricks. A little fun fact--Samantha Henricks was the 2017 Miss NPRA and I was the 2017 Li'l Miss NPRA, so it was fun to see her now be crowned 2020 Miss Rodeo Oregon as I have very much enjoyed my time as the Junior Miss Rodeo Oregon!

Next up was back to the last weekend of the Cinnabar Mountain Playday Kids Rodeo series in John Day. I was only able to attend the Saturday performance because we were back on the road to Salem to attend the Oregon State Fair, where Miss Teen Rodeo Oregon Meredith Moore and I took over the Agricultural Stage answering questions and talking about our year so far as state representatives for Miss Rodeo Oregon, Inc. Enjoying the fair activities was fun as I had never been to the Oregon State Fair before. We signed some autographs and had some fun before we headed back home, so that I could start school on that Monday August 26th. School, volleyball and rodeo are on the event list for September!