Recap on March!

Wow, this is way past due!

    I've got to say that the month of March has been one of the busiest, but most exciting! On the 1st, I had the amazing opportunity to fly down south for the Ft. Pierce rodeo in Florida. It was a special invitation for only Teen titleholders. I was joined by Miss Teen Rodeo Illinois, Mikhayla DeMott, Miss Teen Rodeo Missouri, Lorna Dreyer, Miss Teen Rodeo Idaho, Hunter Rackham, as well as Miss Teen Rodeo Kansas, Erin Harvey and Miss Teen Rodeo Texas, Grace Crews. We all flew in Thursday night and met up with Miss Teen Rodeo Florida Dariann Smith. A HUGE thank you goes out to Tom and Sandy Steinruck, our gracious "parents" for the weekend, as well as their daughter Kelly, Miss Teen Rodeo Florida 2011, who organized this whole event for all of us. Once we were all picked up from the Orlando airport we headed to Rainforest Cafe to enjoy dinner and get to know each other. That night we stayed in a very nice hotel in Orlando so we could get up and head to Disney World in the morning. Oh and by the way, the beginning of March is the time to go! Perfect weather, small crowds and short lines for rides. Around 1 o'clock that afternoon we loaded up and left for Ft. Pierce to get ready for the Friday night performance. By the time we made it home, we had about 40 minutes to get curlers in, and out of our hair, get changed, get our "queen makeup" on and get to the rodeo grounds, let me tell you, that was the quickest I think I've ever gotten ready in my life! We made it just in time though and we met up with Tom who brought the horses to the fairgrounds. It's a good thing rodeo queens know how to saddle and bridle horses because at this point we had about 15 minutes until grand entry. Get on, go, and hope your horse knows a least a little bit! It was hectic to say the least but it turned out to be a great night of carrying sponsor flags, doing queens runs, and signing autographs at the end of the rodeo. Lucky for us, the Ft. Pierce county fair was going on at this time too so we all had the opportunity to ride a camel named Tanner! It was so much fun and we joked that we should carry flags on him during the Saturday night performance. Once we got the "kid-again" out of our system we headed to our host familys' home. Mike and Mimi Brown provided their house which had rooms to hold all 7 of us, it was so nice to all be together and they were next door neighbors to Tom and Sandy. When Saturday morning rolled around, we enjoyed a fruit and pastry breakfast (with real Florida orange juice!) on the patio of the Steinruck's home. Following, we had the chance to catch a few waves on horseback, we rode in the Atlantic Ocean! It was a blast to relax and have a good time with the girls, and then race to see who had the fastest horse. :) The beach was the only thing on our agenda for the day so we all laid out and soaked up the sun. Following that we headed back to the house to be reunited with our hot curlers and colored jeans, it was time to get queened up again. Once we were all set we left to go to Cowboy's Steakhouse to meet and greet with the public and promote the rodeo that night. They also treated us to a free steak dinner which was delicious! Things were a little more relaxed as the Saturday night performance was under way. When our job was done for the night and the last autograph had been signed, our younger side came out again as we enjoyed the fairs food and rides. Grace and I decided to tackle the big blow-up slide together. We didn't want this night to end because the next day meant we had to leave, but we still had a couple tricks to try out before we decided to climb in bed. :) Sunday morning I left with Erin's family as they took me in as their own for the day. We had the same flight back to Kansas City so I spent all day with them in the airport where they taught me how to play pitch. I can definitely say beginners luck gave me a leg up in this card game ha ha!

    I returned home at around 1 o'clock Monday morning, then headed to school for only a few hours because I had to come home and queen up again. I had the opportunity to meet the top people in the National High School and Junior High Rodeo Associations. A banquet was held at the Jacobson Building on the Iowa State Fairgrounds to discuss holding the National Junior High School Rodeo Finals in  Des Moines during the 2014 and 2015 years. It gave me the perfect chance to promote our state and our appreciation for rodeo.

  Just a few days later on March 9th, Miss Rodeo Iowa, Rachel Burton and I packed up and headed East to Burlington, Iowa for the annual Snowbull event. We were introduced and also sold raffle tickets as a fundraiser for the Extreme Bull Riding Tour and the Double S Bull Company. As the night came to a close, we went to rest up for our adventure that lay ahead the next day. Thank you to the MetcalfSnowbull performance because Rachel and I were both due for a nap! Once we were rested up, we took a short trip back to Burlington where I met up with my family, it was great seeing them there! I also had the chance to "model" as part of the entertainers act. Shawn "Boom Boom" Thompson was there and during his act he decided to try out photography.. On rodeo queens, I had a lot of fun helping him out!

  The 15th of March, I had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel across the country. I joined 22 students from my French class, as we flew to Paris, France. This experience was a difficult one and it made me appreciate home. Each student had their own French family that we stayed with for 10 days. My family had done some research on me and found out that I rode horses and was also Miss Teen Rodeo Iowa, however, the sport of rodeo doesn't exist in France. Describing rodeo by using the few French words that I knew came out to be an extremely difficult task, but I got the job done! Once our 10 days were over I was very happy to see my family, friends and my horse Cooper again! We flew back on my birthday, the 24th, and coming home was the best present I could've ever asked for.
 
    For the last few days of March I was a part of the annual Iowa Horse Fair. I left school early Friday afternoon to head down to the Iowa State Fairgrounds and hang out with Rachel, as well as our third sidekick Emma Bair, Miss Jr. Rodeo Iowa. We spent our time at the Miss Rodeo Iowa booth signing autographs and informing the pubic about our organization. Saturday morning Rachel and I had more on our schedule as we helped with a Scavenger Hunt in the morning, then a Stick Horse Race following that. For the afternoon, Miss Rodeo Lenox, Alexandra Eischeid, joined Rachel, Emma and I as we spoke about ourselves, the Miss Rodeo Iowa organization, pageant, and also shared what being a rodeo queen is all about. Hopefully we inspired some girls to run for the title of Miss Jr., Miss Teen, or Miss Rodeo Iowa 2013! We spent Sunday morning at the booth again, and then Rachel and I had the opportunity to judge the appearance portion of the Iowa Horse Fair Cowgirl Queen Contest. There were some great contestants in both the Junior and Senior divisions this year! Great job to everyone who competed!

  As I said, March was an eventful month but I can't express how grateful I am for it. This year has already been so much fun and I'm loving every minute of it!

Until next time,
Jenna :)
 
   

Out With the Old, In With the New!

Hello Again!
My title became truely official on January 28th, at the Redfield Legion Hall, but not before Rachel Burton, Miss Rodeo Iowa gained her title. On January 14th, my family and I headed over to Harlan, Iowa for Rachel's coronation. During this event, there was a great catered meal, hundreds of live and silent auction items to bid on and also a wonderful ceremony to welcome Rachel as Miss Rodeo Iowa 2012. I was joined by other rodeo royalty including Kara Christensen, Miss Dallas County Fair Rodeo, Lacy Jensen, Miss Leon Rodeo Princess, Alexandra Eischeid, Miss Rodeo Lenox, Maggie Thomas, Miss Rodeo Woodbine, Emma Bair, Miss Jr. Rodeo Iowa, and Miss Teen Rodeo Iowa 2011, Charity Howk. Rachels night drew in a large crowd and I know she really appreciated it!
Two weeks later, it was my turn! I've got to say, seeing Rachel's coronation really helped me get some last minute ideas! Around 150 of my friends and family came out to support me at my coronation. There were many who had not been around horses or rodeo ever in their life time so it was a great chance for me to spread the word about our fantastic western heritage! A huge thanks to all of my committee members who helped serve food, organize auction baskets, decorate the Legion Hall, and make sure my night went smoothly. Just like Rachel's coronation, I had a meal which consisted of various soups, veggie's, and desserts. Also, I held the annual Mr. Teen Rodeo Iowa pageant and let me tell you, it was the highlight of the night! There were four contestants in the pageant, Rich Rodgers, Preston Owens, Spencer Meyer, and my brother, Jeff Kool. All of them have a great sense of humor so they definately strutted their stuff during the modleing portion of the pageant! Thank you also to my visiting royalty, Kara Christensen, Alexandra Eicheid, Charity Howk, Emma Bair and Rachel Burton. These girls helped me out by selling 50/50 raffle tickets, where half of the money raised would go to the ticket winner, and the other half back to me. The winner for the night was Bill Rhiner, who donated his half of the money back to me, thank you Bill! Towards the end of my coronation, the live auction got rolling with Shane Boston as the auctioneer. Once the last auction item had been sold, and the silent auction came to a close, I was able to breathe a sigh of relief. My night had gone great and I had raised the funds I needed for my year of traveling. Thank you to everyone who helped me out that night!

Until next time, God Bless!
Jenna

Lets go to Vegas!

On November 6th, I traveled East bound with Hannah Hilsabeck, Miss Teen Rodeo 2010. We gathered near Miss Rodeo Iowa 2011, Heidi Gansen's hometown to help send her off to the Miss Rodeo America pageant in Las Vegas, Nevada. During her send off, we were lucky enough to see all of the beautiful outfits Heidi would be wearing during the Miss Rodeo America pageant. In addition, Heidi also gave a practice run of the speech she would perform during her time in Las Vegas. Several of Heidi's friends and family were in attendance, and were able to bid on some great silent auction items. We all gave Heidi our luck as she headed off for the pageant in December. Although Heidi did not come home from the pageant with the title of Miss Rodeo America 2012, she still did an outstanding job! She has represented our great state, as well as the way of life we all have come to love, very well. Congrats Heidi for an awesome year and thank you for all of your hard work!

God Bless,
Jenna

Let's Get Started!

I can't believe its finally here, I am no longer a "lady-in-waiting"!
It all started off on Thursday, September 8th as I checked in to the pageant, and then saddled up for the first performance of the PRCA Tri-State Rodeo in Fort Madison. As a Miss Teen Rodeo Iowa contestant, I was introduced before the rodeo officailly started, did a queen's run, and then came back a few minutes later to join the ever so crazy grand entry. Once I survived the exciting (300+ people in the arena at one time) grand entry, I hit the crowd to compete with Rachel Burton, the Miss Rodeo Iowa contestant, for the People's Choice award. We each had made a bucket prior to the pageant to collect money from the crowd for the Miss Rodeo Iowa Scholarship Fund and whoever collected the most money at the end of the pageant won the award. Rachel and I left the rodeo grounds that night at around  9 P.M. to head beack to the hotel for dance practice. During the fashion show portion of the pageant, all the conestants, along with the reigning titleholders (Heidi Gansen, Miss Rodeo Iowa 2011 and Charity Howk, Miss Teen Rodeo Iowa 2011) perform a choregraphed dance. Which, if you can imagine taking roping, riding, country girls and teaching them to dance.. it can be an interesting time! Luckily the next day wasn't too busy. Friday was the day of horsemanship. In this category, we performed a reigning pattern which consisted of several figure 8's, sliding stops and also rollbacks. Once we had completed the pattern, we were to ride over to the judges and dismount where we would be put to the test on our knowledge of horses. Each contestant was asked a variety of questions, mainly pertaining to equine, or the equine industry. Following, we mounted up again and we were judged on our "queen's wave" as well as our ability to carry a flag. That part is always my favorite! When the evening came, it was full of excitement once again as we played a part in the second performance of the Tri-State Rodeo. We were introduced, rode in the wild grand entry, and then hit the stands to collect money and finish off our Peoples Choice competition. Following the rodeo, we headed back to our hotel to practice our dance that we were to perform the next day. When morning came, (and let me tell you, it came early!) we all put curlers in our hair and got ready to head out to the rodeo grounds, grab our horses, and then run into town to saddle up for the parade. This took place on Saturday, September 10th, the day of the fashion show and coronation, but also the day that the Cyclones faced the Hawkeyes in their annual football game.. Not to mention the score of that game with the Clones coming out on top :) haha! The nerves came out when the fashion show began. We started off by giving speeches that we had prepared prior to coming to Ft. Madison which were either about Iowa, or Western Heritage. Mine ended up regarding the boots of a PRCA cowboy and the many places he had traveled, which brought him to professional rodeo. Following, Rachel Burton and I went head to head in a rodeo term trivia game. We were given a term that is associated with rodeo, and whoever "buzzed in" first, got a shot at defining the term. Next, we all scurried to change our outfits and get ready for the contestant dance which ended up to be a blast to perform! We weren't going to let the light mood and easy-going atmosphere end though as Rachel and I came back to model our "fun" outfits to the song  Giddy On Up by Laura Bell Bundy. This was by far my favorite part of the pageant becuase we each got to wear comfortable and fun outfitts and show a little personality in our modeling. Once we all had a laugh, the pageant became more serious and elogant as we modeled our western style, leather dresses. Cross your fingers and say a prayer because it's coronation time! Finally, the moment we had all been waiting for arrived, and we got crowned. Rachel Burton, Miss Rodeo Iowa, myself, Miss Teen Rodeo Iowa, and last but not least Emma Bair, the first ever Miss Jr. Rodeo Iowa. The pageant had been a blast, but there was still more excitement to lay ahead! We headed to the rodeo grounds for the fnal performance and saddle up as Iowa's new rodeo royalty! We each got announced, and took part in the grand entry however instead of hitting the stands, we chased out cattle and ran sponsor flags for the various events that evening. The Tri-State rodeo had come to an end, but Rachel, Emma and I were all smiles and back at it Sunday morning as we helped out at the community breakfast that was served. We filled coffee cups, threw plates away, and had a great time socializing and getting to know the community members of Ft. Madison. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I can't wait to see how the rest of the year will unfold!

God Bless,
Jenna