Vaughn Rodeo

Vaughn Rodeo

How many of you have been to Vaughn Montana? Well for those of you who haven’t you should really consider visiting it once in awhile! I had the great experience of visiting Vaughn Montana and attending their fantastic rodeo! I had such a great time at my first of several rodeos.

My family and I arrived in our newly detailed truck and horse trailer around 3 o’clock on Friday afternoon and after meeting my very nice rodeo contact Andrea I tacked up my horse, who is a little chubby by the way, and got ready for the rodeo. I would be carrying flags with three other girls and I got the privilege to carry the great PRCA flag. I carried flags with three girls, Mac, Bailey, and Mardi. They were all so nice and did a great job with the flags!

Every night after carrying flags I would go back and sit in the barrel truck and parade around the rodeo arena throwing t-shirts and hats to the crowd. It was a blast and I really think the crowd enjoyed it also! Every rodeo has a clown act and I got the privilege to attend two rodeos in a row with the great clown Mr. Brian Potter. He did such a great job at the Vaughn Rodeo and made me laugh every time his mouth opened. I can’t wait to see him and his pony, Hershey, at many more rodeos. It was also really great to see the national director from the Miss Rodeo Montana board, Jody Rempel. I got the chance to model some of her jewelry and let me tell you she makes some fantastic stuff!!

All in all it was a great rodeo and I was very thankful for being able to attend. Congratulations to the Vaughn Rodeo Committee and to everyone else who helped, you all out on a GREAT rodeo!! Thanks for reading! Happy Trails!

God Bless,
Sam

~ My Chaps ~

Just a quick posting here!! My chaps finally arrived! It is very exciting! Here's what they look like!

My Gala Celebration and Fundraiser

Please Click Photo Gallery to view more photos from my event.

My gala celebration and fundraiser was held April 18th at the Missoula Fairgrounds, and wow what a great evening it was! The day started off with a lot of anxiousness, not to mention lack of sleep. We had stayed up the previous night finishing up the little details. My mom was probably the most anxious for my event. She had done so much to prepare for the night. In fact she would sometimes refer to it as planning a small wedding! As it edged closer to the start, I too got a little nervous. What if nobody came? What if we don't have enough food? These questions were soon answered as soon as the doors opened!

The party got underway immediately. There was roughly 160+ people attending. This included adults and children. The evening started off with opening ceremonies and the National Anthem sung by Tawnie Kerr, a freshman in my class. Paula and Mark from Eagle 93 were the Emcees for my event and they did a fabulous job. Caffe Firenze catered my event and the food was so delicious! The auctioneer for the night was Alan Meyers. My silent auction was a very widespread selection. Ranging from a Jackelope Mounted Head :), to beautiful hand paintings. My live auction consisted of 13 items. One being a trip to Holland Lake Lodge and another being two Australian Shepard Puppies. With the support of everyone who showed up all of my items went really well. I want to give a HUGE thanks to everyone who attended and supported me. The whole event consisted of lots of fun, but there was one part of the evening that was a BLAST! My parents and I had decided early on that if enough kids showed up we would have a Calcutta and auction off the kids and have a kiddie rodeo. Well there were more kids then we had expected, so it was a perfect opportunity. We had 21 kids in the rodeo! It was so much fun! It was a great idea and I really think the kids had fun. They each got to run a timed barrel pattern and everyone got a raffle ticket for a prize. For anyone who is having a family oriented fundraiser, that is a great, fun way to raise money!! All in all it was a great event and I can't even to begin to describe how thankful I am for everyone's support and kindness! It was incredible to see everyone attend! Thank you so much again and I will see you at the rodeos!!

Happy Trails,

Sam

March Update

Hello Friends,
Wow! Time really does fly when you’re having fun! I can hardly believe that it has been almost two whole months since the pageant in Great Falls. These two months of being Miss Teen Rodeo Montana have been so much fun. So far I’ve been to two rodeos and five civic events. I can’t wait to see what new exciting things I’ll witness as my year continues.

My first event was the Winter Fair, held in Lewistown Montana. Lesli and I held a kiddie rodeo and then toured the booths of the winter fair. Oh, did I forget to mention the kiddie rodeo consisted of sixty-eight kids? I was so impressed with the enthusiasm of the kids, especially since the weather that day was at a high of four degrees!

The second rodeo I attended was the NRA Finals, in Billings Montana. I had so much fun. I saw three concerts, including Trailer Choir, Sawyer Brown, and Josh Gracin. The rodeo was fantastic also. Lesli and I carried flags during the rodeo and signed autographs afterwards.

During my year as Miss Teen I plan to accomplish two things. The first goal being to reach out to younger kids. This means making visits to grade schools and also 4H groups. My second goal is to bring awareness of people with disabilities at rodeos. At the pageant in January a man named Staff Sergeant Bennett gave a motivational speech to all the contestants, but one thing he said really stood out. Staff Sergeant Bennett had been injured in Iraq and he said that he loved going to rodeos but now it was more difficult to get in after his injury. This caught my attention and I will now be bringing awareness to the people and facilities of rodeo about better arrangements for people with disabilities.

I recently attended Miss Rodeo Montana’s coronation fundraiser event. I want to give a big congratulation to Lesli and her family and friends on all of their hard work. It was a great event and I had so much fun and I know everyone else there did too. It was really great to see all the support that was being given. Thank you very much to everyone who came and supported Lesli. I will be having my own gala celebration event coming up April 18th. It will be a live and silent auction to help support me with my year. I invite everyone to come out for it.
These two months of my reign have been phenomenal and I know that it is only the beginning. Thank you to everyone who helped me get where I am today. I hope to see you all at the next rodeo!
God Bless,
Samantha Manley
Miss Teen Rodeo Montana 2009

Northern Rodeo Association Finals and Elysian School Visit

Please Click on Photo Gallery for more fun Pictures.

Hello again!!! Out of all the fun events I've been to this year, the NRA, Northern Rodeo Association, tops it off. Lesli and I met a lot of new people and had a blast carrying flags each night at the rodeo. Oh, and of course watching three amazing concerts!! Trailer Choir, Sawyer Brown, and Josh Gracin all put on awesome concerts. The NRA was held February 19th-21st.

My family and I left at 11:30 from my school and headed straight for Billings. It would be a tight schedule, but if we got there by 5 I could make the production meeting and be able to ride at that night's rodeo. Perfect timing! We arrived at 4:45. I was already dressed and ready ride. I was ushered to the "Green Doored Room", where the production meeting was held, by one of the other queen's mother. While I sat and listened to how the show would work, my parents tacked up my horse. Gotta love mom and dad!! :) The production meeting got over so I headed out to warm up my horse, Hank. Now Hank is usually a very laid back horse, but while in the production meeting Ty had mentioned a few nerve racking topics! Such as a fog machine or a spotlight!! These things Hank had never witnessed before, but he never did let me down! Hank handled everything like a champ and I had a GREAT first night.

It was now Friday and after getting my beauty sleep I headed to Elysian School to put on a kiddie rodeo with Lesli and a few other rodeo gals... and guy. We met up there with Elizabeth Roberts, Missoula Stampede Jr. Little Miss, Jamie, a flag bearer for the rodeo, and finally Scott Cameron, the rodeo clown. We demonstrated two rodeo events, Barrels and Saddle Bronc Riding. The kids had a great time and so did I. They were so fun to be around and asked tons of good questions. After having fun at the kiddie rodeo, we sat down and had a fabulous lunch with the kids. I sat with the 2nd graders. They were so nice and made me laugh a lot!! When lunch got over we signed autographs... and other objects! I signed my first shoe, backpack, and even a girl's jeans!!! It was so much fun and the kids were very polite!

We now headed for the MATE Show, Montana Agri - Trade Exposition. There Elizabeth, Lesli, and I hung out at the Nutra-Lix booth as well as the SOCO booth. Both being the main sponsors of the NRA. There we signed autographs, talked with people, and passed out notebooks. But sadly we didn't have much time there because Lesli and I had to get over to 105.9 The Bar, a local radio station. At the radio station we met up with Jack Seymour who interviewed us. It was tons of fun and Jack even said that he would try to get Lesli and I to introduce Josh Gracin!!! I was so excited after that interview! We said our thanks to Jack, signed him an autograph, got a free shirt :), and drove back to our hotels. I got ready for the rodeo and then went back over to the Metra Park to tack up my lovely pony Hank. Now Hank really isn't a pony, he's just very VERY small, and was very VERY furry at the time. After attending another production meeting, we went in for the rodeo. It was expected to be a bigger rodeo that night and it was!! After carrying flags, Elizabeth and Callie Roberts, Lesli, Scott, and I headed up to the autograph booth, it was a huge hit!! Thank you to Karen Yost who set up our school visit as well as the autograph booth. Sawyer Brown performed that night and I stayed for a little, but was very tired after my long, fun day. So we drove back to the hotel and put my hat up for the night... literally.

Saturday was the last day of the NRA. I woke up and met Linda, the teen advisor, for breakfast. We went to a little, but very popular cafe in Billings. We waited for a little while , but it was all worth the wait!! The food was delicious! Now I was stuffed, but Linda and I headed to Lou Tauberts for sponsor visits. We met up with Lesli and then next drove to Al's Bootery. From there I got with Lesli and we went to City Brew and had coffee with Linda and her husband. It was very nice and the coffee was really good!! I'm pretty sure Lesli is now addicted to City Brew :). After being treated like royalty we headed back over to the Metra for the Mate Show. Again we were at the Nutra-Lix booth as well as SOCO. I thought it would be just like the day before but I thought wrong... We had an interesting visitor that day at the Nutra-Lix booth. A lady stopped by with her pet bunny! His name was Rocky and was treated like a king!! Lesli and I both signed autographs for him and then we chatted about his life. It was a very interesting experience, but one that was filled with fun. It came time again to saddle up our horses and head over for that night's show. This night's performance was a little different. They had carved NRA into the dirt of the arena and filled it with gasoline!!! When it was time to start the rodeo flames blasted up spelling out NRA!! It was very cool. After the rodeo we went back to the autograh booth. As usual there were a lot of fans!!

Just then I heard them introduce Josh Gracin!!! It was a bummer that Lesli and I couldn't do it but the fact that we were watching Josh Gracin was exciting enough!!! Being royalty we had passes to go down on the arena floor an watch up close. We were so close to Josh Gracin! I had a blast and I'm so glad I stayed for that night's concert! Now it was even later than usual so I was exhausted! I drove back to the hotel and fell fast asleep.

The NRA was such a good time. If you haven't been there I would highly suggest it!! It was great seeing Lesli again as well as all the visiting royalty. I can't wait for the next rodeo I attend!!! Thanks for listening, well I guess reading!! Hope to see you all around!!

Dream Big,

Sam

Norther Rockies Sports Show

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Hello everyone!! I'm back again to tell you of another great weekend. This past weekend Lesli and I traveled to Great Falls Montana for the Northern Rockies Sports Show. Once again my mom and I packed up the car full of goodies and headed out... at 6:00 in the morning!! It was a little rough, but it all payed off in the end.

I arrived in Great Falls around 10:00 and walked into the Montana Expo Park wearing my warm and cozy fur. I met up with Jim at the Montana Fur Trappers booth. There wasn't too much going on, so my mom and I headed off to look at the other interesting booths. One of my favorites was an Australian Fur Tour Guide Booth. It had many furs,but the most interesting one was an Australian Possum! I learnedthe difference between the American Possum and the Austrailian Possum, surprisingly there were some huge differences. Jim was very kind and gave me a tons of informative information on fur types and fur trapping. The day went on and Lesli and I sold some items at the booth and signed some autographs, and then it happened...

A man came into the booth and asked Jim to evaluate his three bobcat pelts that he had trapped two weeks earlier. Jim agreed so the man went back to his vehicle and brought them in. After Jim had evaluated the furs the man mentioned he was allergic to cats and that when he was around these furs he had an allergic reaction. Now, if you don't know me I'm very allergic to cats, so once these words came out of his mouth I got very nervous. Just as I thought it happened! About 10 or 15 minutes after the man left my right eye started to swell and turn bright red. Panicked about my appearence Lesli and I went to the restroom to attempt to fix the problem. After getting some Skittles and a Pepsi, the swelling went down and the redness went away. It was one scary moment!! But hey look on the brightside, at least I know I'm allergic to bobcat!!

After the long but very fun day, Lesli and I packed up our stuff and headed out to the Circle of Wagons Hall of Fame in Helena... Yes just another day in the life of a rodeo queen! :) Read more about the Circle of Wagons Hall of Fame in the Circle of Wagons blog. Well that's all for now folks.

Happy Trails!!!

Sam

Stick Horse Rodeo and Winter Fair - Lewistown

Stick Horse Rodeo and Montana Winter Fair - View Photo Album from Stick Horse Rodeo

It was my first official event! My mom and I left for Lewistown Montana, a 5 hour 6 minute drive, at around 3 pm. We turned on the tunes, got some good old road candy and hit the road.

We arrived in Lewistown around 9 o’clock. Kate Ruland had kindly offered her house for us to stay in, but unfortunately due to my cat allergies we weren’t able to do that. Luckily the Yogo Inn had a room available and we crashed there for the night.

I woke up the next morning and started the process of getting ready. We arrived at the Fairgrounds at about 10:15, right on time! The arena was already filled with tons of kids running around on their stick ponies. Now this arena was heated, but did I mention the high for that day was about 4 degrees!!! It wasn’t the warmest environment I’ve ever been in, but let me tell you it was all worth it!! The Stick Horse Rodeo was a blast! These kids, all 68 of them, really got into it! They started by crowning the Prince and Princess of the rodeo, and that was followed by a grand entry. Lesli and I lead the grand entry and also demonstrated how to do each event, even though these kids were already pro’s!! The rodeo consisted of Barrel Racing, Steer Roping, and my officially new favorite kiddie rodeo event, Bull Dogging! In bull dogging the kids ride their horses up to a bale of straw, jump off of their horses and push over the straw bale. It was so much fun to watch!

After the Kiddie Rodeo ended Mary Knerr, our hostess for the day, treated Lesli and me to a great lunch at the 4 Aces in Lewistown. My hands were basically icicles now, so any place warm sounded amazing! The food was great and I warmed up really fast. Followed by lunch we headed back over to the Fair Grounds to take a tour of the booths. There were so many interesting booths, I couldn’t believe it. After touring the booths we went to draw for the lucky person who would get a handmade quilt. Lesli quickly entered her name 5 times before the drawing, the quilt looked like a perfect traveling buddy!! The last thing on our list to do was help with the “Death by Chocolate” auction. Those cakes and other chocolate treats looked sooooo good!!

I had such a great time! It was so much fun to have Lesli there and it was an all around good time. I can’t wait to go back to Lewistown, it was such a fun town, I just hope it’s a little warmer next time I go!!!

God Bless

Sam

2009 Pageant

The Pageant 2009 – View Photo Album from the Pageant

WOW!! What an exciting week! From the written horsemanship test to the fantastic style show, the week of the pageant was filled with tons of fun!

I arrived at the Hampton Inn around 3:00 pm and immediately started the process of getting ready, check in was at 5. After all the primping and curling of the hair, I went downstairs for check in. Everyone was super nice and we all got to know each other really fast. There were three queen contestants, Shantell Frame, Lesli Furniss, and Elise Anderson. Also there were four teen contestants, Amy Hager, Lauren Brunsvold, Jesse Eades, and myself. After getting to know each other a little it was time for room assignments! I was in a room of three people… let’s just say it was a bit crowded! In my room it was Shantell, Amy, and me. We had such a blast and had some pretty interesting jokes. All in all we had a great time.

After we got settled into our rooms it was time to take the dreaded horsemanship test. This test consisted of questions involving PRCA, parts of the horse, and just all around stuff a good rodeo queen should know! The written horsemanship test was an hour exactly, so as soon as we were finished we went to our first rehearsal.

Thursday was the day of our first of three impromptu questions, horsemanship, horsemanship interviews, PRCA mixer, and lastly the Pajamarama Party!! Thursday was also the day we went to Hoglunds, a western store in Great Falls, to pick out our outfits for the style show. The outfits were all gorgeous and it was a blast modeling them. We ended the day with Pajamarama. It was so much fun! Visiting royalty from around Montana came, so I got to know tons more rodeo queens!

Friday included Personal Interviews, The Speech Luncheon, and finally the rodeo. Personal Interviews were so much fun. All of the judges were funny and nice, so it made talking to them very easy! The speech luncheon was fantastic. We had Barbeque sandwiches for lunch. Don’t get me wrong they were delicious, but eating barbeque in elegant dresses not so easy!!

Saturday was one of my favorite days. In the morning we were introduced at the Rodeo Committee Meeting and after that we transferred all of our clothes to the Heritage Inn for the Style Show… that was quite a process!!! The Style Show was so fun. We modeled all of the clothes from Hoglunds and then our western elegance outfits. After all of the craziness of changing settled down, we headed straight for the Kiddie Rodeo. I helped out in the steer roping, and let’s just say I’m not too great of a roper! I managed though and it was a lot of fun seeing those kids run around the barrels and rope the steers.

Finally Sunday came around. We were all extremely nervous for coronation and for the final impromptu coronation question. After waiting for what seemed like 8 hours the winners were finally announced. Lesli and I were escorted to a nearby room where we signed contracts and all that fun stuff, and soon after that went back up to our rooms to change for the rodeo.

Jennifer and I left early for the rodeo and stopped to get a bite to eat at Arby’s… YUM! Jennifer is so supportive and nice, she was really helpful and I’m so thankful that she was there with me. At the rodeo I borrowed one of Gary Rempel’s pick up horses, Felix. He was huge!! I got to do a queen buzz and then hand out awards at the end of the rodeo. I had such a great time! After the long, tiring week my family and I packed up and headed out back to Florence. I couldn’t have had a better time and can’t wait for next year’s pageant!! :)

Happy Trails,

Sam

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