Drummond Pro Rodeo

            The Drummond Pro Rodeo started off with a good ‘ole hometown parade right down Main Street. And one thing that kept me smiling and laughing through the whole parade was my horse’s name, Booger. So I may have looked a little crazy as I was walking through the parade laughing to myself. When the parade was over, I found out just how much traffic we had held up, because I couldn’t get down and across the street. But I found the perfect solution to my dilemma, just act like you’re driving a car down the street. So I cautiously hopped into the traffic line and used arm signals so I wouldn’t get ran over. Thankfully, Booger was calm and very tall.

            When I finally made my way back down to the arena, I couldn’t help but ask how Booger had gotten his name. He got the name because he used to be a little skittish and act like a booger, so that was that. As it got to be show time, I was loaded up with Old Glory and ready to go. However, no one was around to carry the Montana flag. So the arena director, Butch, recruited one of the pickup men who wasn’t too keen on the idea. David’s horse was pretty green on the rodeo trail, so we tried to find someone else. And they found the perfect person who was most definitely experienced. Carrying the Montana Flag was Carolynn (Seay) Vietor, a former Miss Rodeo America from Texas. After grand entry was over, I was talking to Carolynn when she asked if I knew Audrey Sholty. I said of course I do! So I found out what a small world it really is.

            Until next time, I wish you all the best!

 

God Bless,

 

Jennifer Marshall

MTRM 2008

Livingston Roundup

WOW! What a rodeo! This was the first time I had been to the Livingston Roundup, and it was definitely a great show.

            On the way up, my mom and I had planned about an hour of extra time for the unknown. Little did we know, an hour wouldn’t be enough. We ran into three different areas of road construction that put us behind by about 2 hours! I was getting a little nervous about being able to make the parade that afternoon when Erika Blough, one of the queen contestants, called and asked when I was planning on getting there. And when I told her where I was, she just paused for a second and then asked if I would like her to get my horse ready. I would have liked to tell her not to worry about it, but I didn’t have a minute to spare. Another dilemma I had was that I was still in a regular button up and blue jean wranglers… not what I was planning on wearing in the parade. But since I didn’t have one minute of spare time, I decided the best option would be to change in the car. Putting on tight wranglers is hard enough when you’re in a standing position, let alone in a tiny crowded car. Nonetheless, I crawled into my makeshift changing room, also known as covering my self up with a blanket, and threw on my jeans and long sleeve. Thankfully, there was close to no traffic, and my mom remembered to bring a very large blanket.

When we finally found where the parade started, Erika’s dad Kent was waiting with my horse for the weekend, Chester. When I finally caught up to the rest of the rodeo queens, I was SO relieved that I had made it in time! The funny thing was that all of us queens were all wearing different colors of the hobby horse sequin blouse. It seemed that we all got the same memo that morning! The parade went well and I couldn’t believe how many people were out to watch.

That evening at the rodeo was TETWP night which is always fun, and is a great way to support the fight against breast cancer. When the rodeo started, the stands were packed and I found out that my horse Chester had some GO! I had a blast riding him, and he cleared cows without any help from me. After the rodeo was finished, they had a HUGE fireworks show that shook the ground. And that wasn’t even the biggest of them all. They were saving the biggest fireworks for the 4^th.

After sleeping in, I went and checked out the local western shops as usual and then headed over to the farmer’s market. They had everything you could ever want and then some. My mom and I took advantage of the beautiful weather and spent a good 2 hours just walking around looking at all the booths. The rodeo that evening was just as great as the night before with a packed house and tough competition. I even watched world champion barrel racer, Brittany Pozzi-Pharr run.

The final night of action packed rodeo was a special treat for me because of a very exceptional young man attending. The horse I was riding, Chester, used to see quite a bit of rodeo action as a bull-dogging horse. But that adventure came to an end when his owner and rider, Cory, was in a horrible car accident. The accident caused severe brain damage and therefore limited his mobility, speech, and brain functions, so Cory could no longer ride. What I didn’t know until that day was that his sister was Erika Blough and their whole family, including Cory, would be at the rodeo that evening. The moment I won’t ever forget is the smile he smiled when he saw his horse back in the arena. I don’t think I have ever been so proud to carry Old Glory. It was the perfect night of rodeo on the 4^th of July.

Right after the first event, it was time for the coronation of the new Miss Livingston Roundup. I rode out in a brand new dodge pickup and then each of the contestants came in and made a buzz lap and parked in the center. As they announced the awards, I started to get nervous for all of the girls. And when they announced the 2008-2009 Miss Livingston Roundup, it was Erika Blough! A huge congrats goes to Erika, she did very well and she’s going to have a fun-filled year! I’ll hopefully be able to see her every once in a while, since she’s starting college in Missoula!

After the rodeo got over, I went to meet Cory and the rest of the family and even signed an autograph for him. Then I sat back and watched the fireworks show.

Until next time, I wish you all the best!

 

God Bless,

 

Jennifer Marshall

MTRM 2008

Mission Mountain Pro Rodeo ~ Polson

            As I drove past the Flathead Lake on the way through Polson, I couldn’t help but think how nice it would be to jump in before going to the rodeo… It was a hot weekend, but not unbearable, so I decided to save that for the next afternoon.

It was once again my honor to ride with some of the best pickup men around; RT, Kurt, and Kenny who pick up for JS Rodeo quite often. I also got to ride one of RT Hendrickson’s horses, but for the life of me, I can’t remember the horse’s name! I know he’s named after his previous owner, but that’s about it. For the night “sorrel” was all mine, since he had a healing injury. But don’t let that fool you. He still had a ton of go in him and was a blast to ride. The best part about the majority pickup horses is that they could care less about most things such as flags, loud noises, or just about any thing else. Someone else I was especially glad to see was Kurt’s daughter Mardee. We carried flags together a couple of times before at different rodeos, and she’s always fun to hang around. After the rodeo, my mom and I headed out to grab a bite to eat. The one thing I found out about Polson is that they don’t have too many restaurants open around the time that the rodeo gets out. It was a good thing that I packed a few snacks!

The next morning, my mom and I took off to do some shopping as usual. After that, we decided that a nice long soak in the sun on the beach sounded like a good idea. So we packed the cooler and threw on our bathing suits and headed to the park. We killed a couple of hours just relaxing and talking. Then it was off to the rodeo where I was glad to see Shantell Frame (Miss Rodeo Southeastern Mt.) Also visiting was her adorable younger sister Skyler. We had a fun time talking and telling stories after not seeing each other for quite a while. After we had finished our arena duties, we headed off to the grand stands to mingle and sign autographs. Then I headed to my home away from home for the weekend at the comfortable Port Polson Inn.

Until next time, I wish you all the best!

 

God Bless,

 

Jennifer Marshall

MTRM 2008

JS Rodeo Summer Solstice ~ Vaughn

            This is one rodeo that comes to mind when I think of HOT WEATHER! It may not have been the warmest weather I have ridden in this year, but the dirt seemed to stick to everything and I couldn’t get enough water. It was great to see the Thompson family for the first time since the pageant in January. And I couldn’t wait to hop onto another one of their awesome horses. For the first night I rode the old man, Sarge. He is one of those horses that thinks he can run super fast and puts his heart and soul into it… but in reality he just a sweet old horse. Thank you to the Thompsons for bringing Sarge and Holly to ride.

            I was happy to see all of the other visiting royalty and fellow flag carriers which included Jennika O’Neil (Little Miss Big Sky Pro Rodeo), Kirsten Svennungen (Miss Big Sky Pro Rodeo), and Audrey Sholty (Miss Rodeo Montana). Also riding was Bailey Thompson and Libby Gurnett who I hadn’t seen in what seemed like forever! We did have a chance to catch up when my mom and I headed up to the Thompson’s ranch to go for a relaxing ride. We had a blast running around their pastures and even herded the other horses up.

            The second night of rodeo I rode a sweetheart of a horse named Holly who I had a ton of fun on. But I must have been having too much fun to realize that my jeans were a bit looser than when I first entered the arena. After the first lap around for a queen buzz I realized that my belt buckle had come undone! It was a little bit embarrassing but I didn’t have much time to think about it before I had to run back into the arena. But I was glad that it didn’t come off or come up and hit me!

Until next time, I wish you all the best!

 

God Bless,

 

Jennifer Marshall

MTRM 2008

Belt Rodeo

            I was so glad to see O’Neil Family again when my mom and I finally arrived in Belt. It was also great to see the BEST Teen Advisor/ Bling Professional ever, Linda Rest and your 2007 MTRM, Lorissa Harris. And when we all got together, we had way too much fun! Thank you so much to the O’Neil Family who put all of us up at their house and fed us too! So after a little bit of fun and relaxation, we were off to the rodeo.

For the first night, I rode the cutest horse I’ve ever seen named Stubby. Thank you to the Sivertsen family for bringing him and Pistol for the parade. And even though Stubby had short legs he still had a LOT of go in him! After a flying lap around the arena for a queen buzz, we came back in for grand entry and he thought we were going to go right back out… So I had to do a little extra circle to get him stopped and in the right spot. After that I had a good time pushing cows with Jennika O’Neil, your Little Miss Big Sky Pro Rodeo and Lesli Furniss, your Miss Rodeo Western Mt.

Bright and early the next morning, the whole house was awake and full of hairspray as we all got ready for a delicious pancake breakfast at the fire station. Then we were all off to the parade. Night two of the rodeo went very well, and I had fun riding one of Dave and Cathy Weiferich’s horses named DJ. (I believe that is short for Duane Jr.) One thing that made the night extra special was that I got the opportunity to carry Old Glory into the arena for grand entry, and I even got a picture in the local paper!

Until next time, I wish you all the best!

 

God Bless,

 

Jennifer Marshall

MTRM 2008

MHSRA Rodeo Queen Pageant ~ Missoula

            The Montana High School Rodeo Queen Pageant was fun and brought back some nervous memories from the state pageant in January. For the first night I was there, we had an orientation/question and answer time. I even got the chance to do a little modeling with the girls after that. And I couldn’t wait to hear them do their speeches and watch the modeling the next day.

All of the girls were outstanding in every way and looked great too! One of them even had to model and recite her speech in her working rodeo clothes because she had an event to run in right after she finished! She still did great though and did even better in the modeling.

 I didn’t get to know who won until a few days after when I read the paper. Congratulations to our new queen, Carley Sikes! She is going to represent Montana very well! I hope I will be seeing her in the near future at some rodeos.

Until next time, I wish you all the best!

 

God Bless,

 

Jennifer Marshall

MTRM 2008

 

Arlee Rodeo

This rodeo was very special to me because I had the chance to share it with my grandparents who live out of state. It also gave me the chance to sit down and share everything about my favorite sport!

It was pretty nice to only have to drive an hour and a half to get to a rodeo, since most of them are over 4 hours away! Another change for me was getting to ride one of my own horses. Unfortunately, about an hour into the trip I realized that I had forgotten a very essential item to any rodeo queens’ wardrobe… my buckle! Let’s just say I was REALLY glad to see one of my very good friends at the rodeo, especially when I saw they were wearing a big silver belt buckle! So after I ran off with my friends buckle, I headed back to the arena gate for grand entry. However, when I got to the one and only entrance to the arena, the gate was padlocked and no one was around to open it… So I immediately started to make a lap around the arena, trying to find another way in. And about 5 minutes before the rodeo started, Lynn (Audrey’s mom) saw me running past the gate and quickly waved me over. As I walked up to the gate I was going to ask where the key to it was when she opened the gate up. Little did I know that the lock wasn’t closed! So for the first run in the arena, I ended up not wearing my chaps because I didn’t have time to put them on! Nevertheless, the rodeo went very well after that and I still had a ton of fun.

The next night went A LOT smoother than the first. I remembered my buckle and got to wear my chaps for grand entry! Another great thing was riding up with Scott and Hannah Burlingham, who always make me laugh! We both rode in our home-town Memorial Day parade earlier that morning and raced up to Arlee after that. Hannah attended as Miss Rodeo Western MT Princess, and helped with grand entry and pushing cows.

Even though my first rodeo of the year as MRTM 2008 started off a little rough, the rodeo was a ton of fun and I can’t wait to go back next year! Until next time, I wish you all the best!

 

God Bless,

 

Jennifer Marshall

MTRM 2008

FFA State Convention

            This was probably one of the slowest drives I have been on all year. Mostly because there isn’t much in the way of radio stations, I forgot my CD’s, and my cell phone was dead… So needless to say it was a very quiet drive! Thank you so much to Toby and Sarah Capp who let me stay with them while I was in Bozeman.

            When I finally got there, I was really happy to see Jourdan, Lorissa, and Audrey. We all sat in on the opening of the State Convention, but I had no idea that MRA ’07 Ashley Andrews would also be speaking that night. It was great listening to stories of her year. One thing I learned about while I was there was the “power clap.” I was never in 4-H or FFA so I thought it was a cute idea. Instead of 10-20 seconds of applause, they would just do one clap in unison which made things move a lot quicker.

            The next morning, Audrey and I were off set up the MRM booth. We talked to many different girls about competing for the Miss Teen and Miss Rodeo Montana titles. It was a lot of fun to be able to share all the things that I have done as MTRM, and the numerous opportunities you get and things you learn. We also walked around and got to see everyone else that had set up a booth and visit with them. Audrey also had a surprise for me in her truck… She had all of my autograph sheets! Scott Breum did a fabulous job on my pictures and I can’t wait to work with him again!

            On the last day of my trip in Bozeman Sarah Capp was gracious enough to drive around town and help me find sponsors for my fundraiser. She knew some great places to go to such as Yellowstone Gateway Sports and Frank Long and Company. They both donated items to my fundraiser and I can’t say thank you enough!

Until next time, I wish you all the best!

 

God Bless,

 

Jennifer Marshall

MTRM 2008

MRM Coronation Ball

           This was my chance to see first hand how a fundraiser should really go! So my mom and I took some mental notes and enjoyed a fun evening.

            The evening started with a silent auction and some tasty treats provided by the Hilton Garden Inn. Then there was a live auction with so many great items I couldn’t keep track of them all. My mom decided she wanted to get in on it all, so she bid on a “Six Pack and a Symphony.” When she bid on it, she thought it was just a six pack and tickets to see the symphony for two. But I couldn’t believe what we had won when my mom went to claim her prize. It turns out that this was tickets to six nights of top country performers at the State Fair in Great Falls and the symphony. And we actually won it for just $30! I was pretty happy to find that out!

During the event I got to meet so many new people and also visit with some old friends. And everyone I talked to was VERY impressed with what a great job Audrey and her family did putting the whole thing together. I know they worked very hard, and it definitely paid off! Now I know a little bit more about what it takes to put on a GREAT fundraiser celebration!

Until next time, I wish you all the best!

 

God Bless,

 

Jennifer Marshall

MTRM 2008

Great Rockies Sport Show ~ Kalispell

           This trip was one of the most interesting and painful I’ve been on as MTRM 2008. What made it painful was an event that happened the night before I left for Kalispell with Audrey.

My mom and I were going to listen to a band at our local Eagles Club when I smashed my thumb really hard in my car door. After that I almost wanted to just sit in the car and nurse my throbbing thumb, but we came all the way in to town to see this band so I headed on inside. As soon as I sat down I ordered a glass of ice water, but not to drink. Instead when the waitress set it down on the table, I slid it over and stuck my thumb in it. I did get a couple of funny looks for doing this but at that point I didn’t really mind.

The next morning when Audrey and I finally got on the road, my thumb looked pretty bad. It had swollen up past the knuckle. But I still had a ton of fun learning more about the different furs and even brushing up on trapping regulations. Even more fun was getting to help the kids make messy ink prints of different animal track molds. It was also great to sit and talk with Fran and Jim.

After a full day of stamping and signing autographs, my thumb was looking even worse. And after I showed Audrey and Fran, they insisted that we visit the hospital to get it looked at. Little did we know that we would have to make four trips back and forth from the Hospital in Whitefish to a clinic in Colombia Falls. So after a good couple of hours and about 100 extra miles on Audrey brand new Avalanche I found out that I had fractured my thumb and had to get the pressure released.

All in all, the trip was fun as always and I got the chance to meet some friends of Audrey’s who were gracious enough to let us stay with them. Thank you so much to the Wirtala Family for the great conversation and tasty food! And the next morning more than made up for a smashed finger.

Audrey invited me to spend the day skiing with her on the Whitefish Ski Mountain. We had a blast and even wore our buckles for a quick picture before we hit the hill. Afterwards, my legs felt like noodles! But it was all worth it.

Until next time, I wish you all the best!

 

God Bless,

 

Jennifer Marshall

MTRM 2008