Adventures of Miss Rodeo Kansas: Take Two

It has been a few months since I have updated you all on what I have been up to. After a few weeks at home from Florida and Arizona, I found myself making my way to Oklahoma City to meet up with Miss Rodeo Oklahoma, Lauren Heaton. From there, we drove the rest of the way to Dallas, TX for the Miss Rodeo America Pageant Seminar. It was such a blessing to be able to attend this clinic early in the year to be able to make a plan as I prepare for the Miss Rodeo America Pageant in December. I highly recommend this clinic to ANY level of rodeo queen that is 17+. It was an extremely beneficial week; from being able to attend the Dallas Market Center fashion shows and getting great ideas for my wardrobe, to lectures from extremely high qualified clinicians such as past Miss Rodeo Americas and judges, World Champion cowboy Stran Smith, a horsemanship clinic with the world famous Chris Cox and many more. Thank you to the Miss Rodeo America Organization for putting together such an awesome clinic.

After the clinic I made my way back down to Oklahoma City, this time for the Ram National Circuit Finals! It was the first time the RNCFR was held at the Lazy E Arena in Guthrie, so that was special to be a part of. The Oklahoma Board was so kind and provided us girls with so many fun activities and an endless supply of cookies! One of the activities that we participated in was the Shootout held at the OKC Gun Club. We were divided into teams (two cowboys and two cowgirls) and shot trap to see which team was the best. I ended up shooting 17 out of 20 clays at four different stations…my daddy sure was proud! I was excited to cheer the Prairie Circuit onto victory with fellow Circuit States of Nebraska and Oklahoma. Thank you the Melissa Heaton and the entire Oklahoma Board for having us in OKC and to Bronc Rumford for providing the horses for us to ride.

The rest of April brought a few photo-shoots that I am really excited about. For the first one, I worked with the team from the Outdoor Trails Network: The Revolution with Jim and Trav. This group puts out a hunting guide every fall and I was asked to be on the cover! Keep an eye out for The Revolution’s official “Girls with Guns” hunting guide this fall. The second photo-shoot was with the talented Doyle and Sarah Saddler. We made our way South of Oakley, KS to “Monument Rock”. I have shared a few of the awesome shots we took on my Facebook page for you all to check out!

It seemed like April had just started when it was replaced with an even busier May! The first weekend of May took me south once again for Guymon Pioneer Days in Guymon, OK. This rodeo was a blast with many of my fellow state queens and beautiful weather! Seven of the state queens were fortunate enough to have Ken and Sherri Stonesipher as our host family. They, however, thought it would be better for them to take their trailer to the rodeo grounds and let us have the house to ourselves for the weekend. Probably not a bad move on their part! J  A BIG thank you to Becky Robinson for organizing the trip and to Carr Pro Rodeo for providing the beautiful Palomino horses for us to ride during the rodeo! Guymon was definitely a trip to remember!

The next trip I took was one I had been looking forward to since January. During my official Coronation and Fundraiser back at the beginning of the year, my sister and I put together “A Cowgirl Birthday Party” basket that was auctioned off with a promised appearance from me as Miss Rodeo Kansas. One of my many nieces was so excited about the item that she begged and begged for her parents to bid on it. They, however, were not too sure on the whole deal, so she went to plan B, my father. He, being a sucker for his granddaughters, bought the item for her. She was so excited about her upcoming birthday party that she slept with the basket for the next few nights! So needless to say, I was excited to travel to Kearney, NE to spend her 6th birthday with her and her friends.

Abbyville, KS was next on the map! I had heard so many wonderful stories about Abbyville from past girls, but it was 10x better than I could have imagined! I was thrilled to have a few of the state queens (Il, AR, ND, SD, and OK) in my home state for a change and enjoyed spending some time with them. We all stayed at the beautiful Oasis Ranch and Retreat Center in Abbyville and I recommend it to any family wanting to get away from the stresses of life and have a fun weekend! Bronc and Kate Rumford were a blast to work with and always made sure we had our fill of homemade pie!  This trip was a perfect end to my school year and start to a memorable summer!

My next weekend was a busy one full of big milestones for some great rodeos. First, I made my way to one of my favorite rodeos in Greensburg, KS for the 50th Anniversary of the Triangle Rodeo Club’s KPRA Rodeo. Greensburg was leveled by a tornado a few years ago and it has been a true eye opening experience to watch that town rebuild into what it is today. I watched some great girls compete for the queen and princess titles and even had a little rodeo of my own on my queens run during the Friday night performance. Even though “Bones” was feeling a bit broncy, I still thank Mike Greenleaf for the ride. After the parade on Saturday morning I hit the road running and made my way to Wallace, KS for the 60th Fort Wallace KPRA Rodeo. I was honored to be a part of this small town’s “60 Years of Thrills and Spills” event and thank them for their hospitality. I send a sincere congratulation to these rodeo committees for reaching these special milestones. Here’s to 50 and 60 more years of the greatest show on dirt!

My most recent trip was to Garden City, KS for the Beef Empire Days Rodeo. I was fortunate enough to be able to represent Beef Empire Days as their queen in 2012 and had a great time returning to my Garden City family. The BED Rodeo Committee and Pageant Committee lost a dear member, John Garcia “Wild Mex”, this past year and I was asked to present a plaque to his family during the luncheon of the pageant. John was a dear friend of mine and I was blessed to know him for the short time that I did and I was honored to share that special moment with his family. Thank you to Wally Garcia and Sharon Wormington for another fun weekend of rodeo and congratulations to your new BED Queen, Hannah Neuenschwander and Princess, Kassie Pechenec! You girls will have an amazing year. The rodeo brought in the best of the best and we were even blessed to have rain on both Friday and Saturday nights of the rodeo! Nothing like a few tornado warnings and downpours to get the crowd excited!

And that’s a wrap...for now! I am now preparing for my big summer run and am looking forward to all of the awesome opportunities coming my way. I cannot begin to grasp that this year is half way over. Thank you to all of my sponsors including: The Dodge City Round-Up, Kansas Fur Harvesters, Crop Production Services, Reed Equine Dentistry and so many more for your support in making this all possible. Follow me on Facebook to stay up to date and see all of my pictures from my trips.

Be blessed and have a wonderful Summer!
~ Katera

Be sure to like Katera's Facebook Page to see more photos of her exciting adventures as Miss Rodeo Kansas 2014.