July 2022
Miss Rodeo America E-News
sponsored by RAM
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A Photo Journey with...
Hailey Frederiksen
MISS RODEO AMERICA 2022
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It was a dream come true getting to ride my own AQHA horse,
Elvis Presley, for my fly-by at the Greeley Stampede!
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It was so great getting to see my Miss Rodeo Colorado family!
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Loved getting the chance to rodeo with the Honeycutt family once again at the Alamosa Round Up!
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“The Biggest Little City in the World,” Reno, Nevada! |
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What a blast we all had during the fashion show at the
Miss Teen and Miss Rodeo Nebraska Pageant.
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Shop now and save 20% with Code MRA20
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The American Quarter Horse Association is pleased to announce that Karl Stressman (front & center), was been selected to assume the Executive Vice-President leadership role. Stressman took the reins as the leader of the largest equine breed registry in the world on May 16, 2022. Karl was a judge at the Miss Rodeo America Pageant in December 2021. |
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Congratulations to
Miss Rodeo Oklahoma 2018,
Taylor Spears & Tyler McAdams
on their April 30, 2022 wedding!
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Congratulations to
Miss Rodeo Nebraska 2012
Sierra Petersen & Jon Bolkema
on their April 2, 2022 wedding!
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Congratulations to
Miss Rodeo Nevada 2008,
Anna Bavor & Bryan Smith
on their April 30, 2022 wedding!
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Congratulations to Amy Jo (Hubbard) Reifsdorfer (Miss Rodeo Wyoming 2004), and husband, Nate Reifsdorfer. They welcomed baby boy, Jaetee McRae on April 22, 2022
5lb, 8oz and 18 3/4"
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Congratulations to Cara Spirazza (Miss Rodeo Florida 2019) and PRCA Saddle Bronc Rider, Chase Brooks. They welcomed baby girl, Charlie Jo on June 3, 2022.
6lb, 7oz and 20 1/2"
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Congratulations to Shelby (Chapman) Adam (Miss Rodeo Iowa 2016), and husband, Nate Adam. They welcomed baby boy, Clyde Daniel on March 25, 2022. 8lb, 7oz and 21" |
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Congratulations to Martina (Wardle) Larsen (Miss Rodeo Utah 2010) and husband, Mooni Larsen. They welcomed baby girl, Fay on April 1, 2022.
7lb, 13oz and 19 3/4”
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Congratulations to Makenzie (Maughn) Hart (Miss Rodeo Utah 2013), and husband, Cory Hart. They welcomed baby girl, Blake on April 22, 2022.
6lb, 2oz and 19"
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Congratulations to Mikayla (Sich) Schwedhelm (Miss Rodeo South Dakota 2016) and husband, Nick Schwedhelm. They welcomed baby girl, Chancey Lee on May 5, 2022.
7lb, 13oz and 19 3/4”
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Congratulations to Chris Andrea (Wade) Price (Miss Rodeo Utah 2009), and husband, Casey Price. They welcomed baby girl, Caizlee Paige on January 5, 2022.
4lb, 1oz and 17"
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Shop now and save 20% with Code MRA20 |
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Miss Rodeo America, Inc. announces a new partnership with
Created in 2020, Of The West is a job platform solely dedicated to positions and employees in the agriculture and western industries. From farm, ranch, and equine jobs to careers in western sports, ag business, and everything in between, Of The West was built to change the way people find jobs and hire employees in the agriculture and western industries.
Read full press release here:
https://www.missrodeoamerica.com/p/organization/press-releases
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Find a Job or Post a Job here: |
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Alumni
Where Are They Now?
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Morgan Wallace
Miss Rodeo Wyoming 2018
If you watched the inaugural season of the Cowboy Channel’s series Rodeo Queens, you saw Morgan Wallace, Miss Rodeo Wyoming 2018, and her fellow state contestants competing for the title of Miss Rodeo America 2019. One memorable sequence involved Morgan and her roommate Miss Rodeo Wisconsin 2018, Amanda Chmielewski, bravely deconstructing the appearance of a rodeo queen by removing their hats and crowns, removing hair extensions, eye lashes and makeup, showing the red marks left on the foreheads from wearing their western hats all day. The end-of-day routine reveal in their hotel room segued into their morning routine during the pageant, shot in the “diary cam” format. In the episode, we see the roomies help each other face the early morning wake-up call and take on the next day. The purpose of the series, produced by Jeff Medders, is to showcase the challenging and fabulous week that is the Miss Rodeo America Pageant. Morgan represented the Cowboy State very well, finishing among the Top Ten Finalists. Originally from Laramie, WY, Morgan now resides in Stephenville, TX, where she is a Digital Advertising/Social Media Specialist for the Professional Bull Riders organization as well as the Social Media Director for Miss Rodeo America, Inc. Specifically, she programs all of the organization’s social media channels, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, plus, she is involved in providing content plans for their national sponsors. A graduate of the University of Wyoming with a Bachelors of Science degree in Communication, Morgan relocated to the “Cowboy Capital of the World”, Stephenville, TX, where she received her Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Tarleton State University. Morgan credits her experience as Miss Rodeo Wyoming, for landing the job with the PBR and MRAI. “When I applied to work for the PBR, I hadn’t even graduated college yet,” said Wallace. “I was told afterwards that having ‘Miss Rodeo Wyoming’ on my resume was what allowed them to overlook my lack of degree. After I served as Miss Rodeo Wyoming, I knew that I wanted to use my business skills to leave a lasting impression on western sports. I really love that my job allows me to stay connected to the western industry.” Morgan continues to be directly involved with the Miss Rodeo America Pageant by energizing the social media aspect of the organization. In 2021 she launched an online series about each state’s crown origin story, featuring a beauty shot of each crown with an explanation of each crown’s design and history. In 2022, the series focuses on state chaps. She has worked with Miss Rodeo America 2020-21, Jordan Tierney, and Miss Rodeo America 2022, Hailey Frederiksen, on producing sponsor promos, travelogue videos and a variety of tutorial style videos, including how to style a beautiful and unique braid to tips on cooking beef dishes. On serving as Miss Rodeo Wyoming, Morgan reminisces fondly about the travel experiences and the friendships made during her reign. “Traveling with my best friends to rodeos all over the country was a dream come true,” said Wallace. “I will never forget hosting all of my friends at Cheyenne Frontier Days and getting to run down the track at the Daddy of ‘Em All.” Having her time at the Miss Rodeo America Pageant documented by The Cowboy Channel was a first-time occurrence for her and all of her fellow contestants that helped raise the awareness level of the hard work and emotion that is invested in the program. “The Miss Rodeo America program changed my life – there is simply no other way to put it,” said Wallace. “I gained confidence, skills and a passion for rodeo like I had never had before. Competing in the pageant took a lot of hard work and wasn’t easy, but I was glad to be able to lean on my friends through that time.”
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DeAnne Fontenot Royer
MISS RODEO LOUISIANA 1991
DeAnne Fontenot Royer–could not be mistaken for anything other than a true Louisiana gal with a name like Fontenot, a French surname very common in the Pelican state alternately spelled Fonteneault or Fonteneau, closer to the French word Fontane or Fontaine, meaning “spring” or “fountain.” This fountain of youth and beauty hailed from Lake Charles, LA, when she served as Miss Rodeo Louisiana 1991.Today, she is a resident of DeRidder, LA. DeAnne is a cowgirl in more ways than one. She attended McNeese State University in Lake Charles, ironically and appropriately known by two mascot names as the “Cowboys and Cowgirls.” She and PRCA Gold Card Saddle Bronc rider Bryan Wright, have three children together – Emily, Jack and Will, who all burn-up the rodeo circuit just like their parents did back in the day. They also became grandparents two years ago with the birth of Payson. Today, DeAnne works as a medical coding specialist, and she is celebrating 14 years of marriage to Joe Royer. All of her kids are involved in the sport of rodeo from professional level down to youth level. The Royers spend a lot of time on the rodeo trail supporting the children and running the family ranch back home. “Right now, my goal is to get my younger two through college”, says Royer. “Other than following them to rodeos, we run the family ranch with about 200 head of momma cows, so we spend a great amount of time making sure that runs smoothly.“We want to be able to leave it to our children and their children.” Reflecting back on her time at the Miss Rodeo America Pageant, DeAnne recalls some of the memories of her preparation and specific moments of that week.
“The speech writing, the mock interviews, the horsemanship lessons, and representing my state at different rodeos,” says Royer. “I remember us all being very bad dancers while practicing the opening number at MRA in Vegas, but we laughed and made the best of it. “So many of those experiences are with me every day." Like many former state titleholders, DeAnne is still involved in rodeo queening as a judge and coach. When she crosses paths with young cowgirls who aspire to serve as a rodeo queen, she takes every opportunity to explain the benefits of serving as a state titleholder and being a participant in the Miss Rodeo America Pageant. “The things you gain are life altering--the experience, the confidence, the poise, the interaction, the education, and most importantly, life-long relationships and friendships that are priceless,” says Royer. “Some 30 years later those relationships still mean so much to me.”
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Johna Klug Niedfelt
MISS RODEO NEBRASKA 1984
Solid, dependable, dedicated, detail-oriented and smart are just a few appropriate terms to describe Miss Rodeo Nebraska 1984, Johna Klug Niedfelt. What could be more solid than a young woman who has served as a bank examiner for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), for 36 years? Such is the case with Niedfelt, who began her journey in the 1985 Miss Rodeo America Pageant, the last year it was held in Oklahoma City, OK, at the Myriad, in December 1984. Her accomplishments at the MRA Pageant include earning the Horsemanship Award that year, and later, was one of four state titleholders selected to model Miss Rodeo America Western Shirts, made by Miss Rodeo America Manufacturing, at the January 1985 WESA market in Denver. Photos of the queens were later utilized in advertising for the company’s 1985 sales season. She was the second Klug cowgirl to carry the Miss Rodeo Nebraska title to the national pageant. Her mother Lolly Cameron Klug served as the 1957 Miss Rodeo Nebraska and competed at the Miss Rodeo America Pageant later that year. And both Niedfelt and her mom have remained very active in the Miss Rodeo America Pageant and the Miss Rodeo Nebraska Pageant ever since their competition days. For many years, mom Lolly and mom’s bestie, Dallas Hunt George, Miss Rodeo Nebraska 1955/1956 and MRA 1956, could be found managing the MRA store and pageant program sales during the national pageant. They can still be found lending a hand every year in Las Vegas. And Niedfelt recently completed a seven-year service on the MRA Executive Board, during which time she was instrumental in advancing the bookkeeping and investment operation for MRA Inc. In 1992, Niedfelt spear headed the launch of the Miss Rodeo Nebraska Association and served as its first president. She has since served a second term as President of the MRN Association.
Originally from Maxwell, NE, Niedfelt now resides in Grand Island, NE, and has one 24-year-old son, Grant, who is a college graduate currently working as a large animal veterinary technician. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture, with an emphasis in Agriculture Economics, which she earned from the University of Nebraska Lincoln. She is a Senior Risk Management Examiner with designation as a Certified Fraud Examiner. With her job, Niedfelt has had the opportunity to travel across the country working on bank examinations and banking related projects. “I typically work in locally owned, community banks,” says Niedfelt. “Most of the people I get to work with are hard-working, congenial folks, which makes my job enjoyable.” When asked how serving as Miss Rodeo Nebraska and competing in the MRA Pageant helped prepare her for a successful career, the answer was simple. “I have found the skills I developed and improved while Miss Rodeo Nebraska have served me well professionally,” says Niedfelt. “Because I learned how to comfortably speak in public and express myself in group settings, I have been able to work on some high-profile projects for FDIC, including teaching entry-level courses to examiner staff, recruiting personnel for nationwide placement and making presentations to large groups of bank directors and managers.” Niedfelt has some fun recollections of her experience at the MRA Pageant, including meeting a very young Reba McEntire in the locker room backstage at the Myriad prior to a performance of “Beauty and the Beast,” which was an event incorporating the Nestea High School Rodeo challenge and the MRA Pageant. Reba McEntire sang the national anthem at the Beauty and the Beast event. “The pageant shuttled the contestants to event venues using a European-style double decker bus,” remembers Niedfelt. “Like little country kids, most of us hustled on so we could ride in the upper deck.” Niedfelt’s next goal is retirement, followed by lots of fun. Her bucket list is long and varied, but no doubt she will continue to serve the Miss Rodeo Nebraska Association and the Miss Rodeo America Pageant as long as she is able. With perspective in the rear view, her advice to young cowgirls considering serving as a rodeo queen is to go for it. “Take yourself seriously, give the competition every effort you have, and enjoy the experience, “says Niedfelt.
“You cannot see everything you get to take away from a state-level competition – things like confidence, self-awareness, interview and speaking skills that will stay with you for the rest of your life.”
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Gone but not forgotten . . . |
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Linda (Kilgore) Nunn
Miss Rodeo Wyoming 1967
Linda Sue Nunn passed away unexpectedly at the age of 74 on December 2, 2021 in Mesquite, Nevada. Linda was born on November 15, 1947, in Laramie, Wyoming to parents Helen Kilgore (Wolfe) and Ken Kilgore. She was married to John R. Nunn on September 28, 1968, in Laramie, Wyoming.
Linda lived the majority of her life in the Laramie area, recently spending her winters with her husband in Mesquite, Nevada. Linda was educated at Laramie High School and the University of Wyoming. She also attained a Certification from Dance Masters of America as a dance instructor of ballet, tap and jazz.
During high school, Linda was active in 4H projects ranging from leather craft to livestock showing and horsemanship. She enjoyed fly fishing with her father, racing horses, sewing, cooking, home decorating and competing in rodeo events. In her later years she developed a passion for throwing and glazing clay pottery and watching her grandsons compete in rodeo, shooting competitions, and other sporting events.
Linda was Miss Laramie Jubilee Queen in 1967 and reigned as Miss Rodeo Wyoming 1968. In the spring of 1967, she competed in the Miss Rodeo America contest in Las Vegas, Nevada where she placed 3rd in horsemanship.
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RECOGNITION CORNER
For information on how to book Miss Rodeo America at your next rodeo or event, **click here**
Congratulations to Piper Humphreys, Nyla Bristow, & Jerry Luckett,
they are our April, May & June Members of the Month winners!
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Pageant-schedule and room reservation information is now available at:
https://www.missrodeoamerica.com/p/pageant/pageantschedule
Tickets will be on sale late summer.
Need to contact the MRA office?
719-313-9063
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