Jan

Tuesday July 26th – Day after the Miss Rodeo Utah Coronation

Coronation night (July 25th, 2011) was crazy full of laughs, tears, and tons of pictures. I didn’t leave the Ogden Pioneer Days arena cabin until about 1:30 a.m.

I have always wondered what happens to the new Miss Rodeo Utah on the day after coronation. Somehow, I envisioned a day of washing clothes and repacking for the trip to Cheyenne – and also somewhere in there a long nap after such a stressful pageant week. Boy was I wrong! For me, contract signing came quick and early the next morning. I heard several times, “Now that you have won, be prepared to hit the ground running.” They weren’t kidding. The day after coronation was quite a blur. At 8 o’clock in the morning, I met with Nicole and Suzie for my official contract signing at the Marriott Hotel. I listened to all the rules and what was to be expected of me for the next year. As I look at the pictures my mom took from contract signing, I am a little embarrassed at how tired and a shocked I still looked!!

After contract signing, I quickly had a professional photo taken to have autograph sheets made up before leaving for Cheyenne Frontier days on Wednesday. Bob Bell and the folks at Riverprint were amazing to work with (they are also Ogden Pioneer Days sponsors.) I called and asked what kind of begging I would need to do to have autograph sheets printed by the end of that afternoon. Bob laughed and said, “Not a problem, come see me at 4:00 this afternoon.” I was thrilled that with such short notice, I would have autographs to bring to Cheyenne with me. Thank you RiverPrint (and I would continue to thank them again many times over for additional services in the next few months!)

Also that morning, I conducted an interview with JaNae Francis from “The Standard Examiner” newspaper. From there I went with Craig Bielik to my first official appearance as Miss Rodeo Utah. We went to a noon Rotary Club meeting in Brigham City. I ate lunch with the club members and then got up and spoke about my experience at the pageant, preparing for Miss Rodeo America, and also what my duties would entail for the next year as Miss Rodeo Utah. The Rotary members were very interested in what I had to say and asked all kinds of good questions concerning my schooling and future goals, but also about rodeo and animal welfare. Any time you get to be out with Craig you know you’re in for a good time and lots of laughs.

Next stop was “Larry H. Miller – Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep” in Riverdale. During the pageant week Larry H. Miller was gracious to let the pageant use four vans to hall all the contestants around in. I was honored to be able to deliver those vans back to their dealership and thank them personally. Troy, the General Manager, was there to greet and congratulate me. He was also prepared to sign the MRU truck over to me to use during my reign. For the next hour we worked on signing papers and working out insurance. Everyone at Larry H. Miller was more than nice and so great to work with.

Next my mom, Sarin, and I went back to our hotel room to start packing and organizing a little bit. We needed to do laundry and separate the things that needed to come with me to Cheyenne and the things that needed to go home. We were blessed to have our family friend Richard come with us to the pageant and help with the horse, and then he was also there to bring my horse, trailer, and pageant wardrobe back to my home in Southern Utah afterwards. This was not an easy process. We totally ran out of time to do laundry, but at least most of my stuff would be heading home.

During the late afternoon, we picked up the new Miss Rodeo Utah trailer (compliments of Utah Trailer Source) and brought it over to Wright Signs and Graphics to have my name put on it.

To complete the day, I was treated to dinner at the Prairie Schooner that evening. That was a such wonderful way to end a busy day. Prairie Schooner is another great sponsor of Ogden Pioneer Days and their food is absolutely to die for. I was able to spend time rehashing some of the pageant details with family and friends who I hadn’t been able to talk to during the pageant week, and also talking to them about what was going to happen next now that I was officially Miss Rodeo Utah. Little did I know that there was really so little that I knew – and my journey as Miss Rodeo Utah was going to be so much more than I could have even imagined!

The one thing that I was totally in awe of was all of the incredible sponsors that Miss Rodeo Utah has – and I was just at the tip of the iceberg in meeting them. On that one day, I met the folks from Larry H. Miller Dodge, Wright Signs and Graphics, RiverPrint, the Prairie Schooner and of course the Marriott Hotel. Not only are they all so giving in their sponsorship of MRU, but they are also extremely, extremely nice and giving in their support of me personally.