Projects
Queen
With four rodeos in Summit County between July and August, every summer-time soul in the mountains and valleys east of Park City is, at some point, just a stones throw away from finding out what all the horsing around is about. If you get the chance, I think you ought to catch one of the rodeos, maybe even two.
I recommend it because a rodeo is local civic pride mixed with cotton candy and fireworks. It’s a Saturday night of clowns, cowboys, and rodeo queens, all whirling at breakneck speed under the arena lights together.
If you do go you’ll see that the rodeo celebrates the toughness and determination that allows rural families to make it in the day-to-day risky business of ranching. The rodeo showcases some of the skillful work our neighbors do, and the mutual dependencies between them and the animals they keep, care for, and earn a part of their living by.
The best thing is that the rodeo kicks these earthy realities up into thunderously exciting entertainment. So, while the rodeo’s action is real, and a cowboy’s bones sometimes get broken, the rodeo is also a dusty, rhinestone covered canvas that we in the stands can safely thrill to and dream on. What could be more fun than that?
Not being one to ignore my own advice, I went to my first rodeo soon after arriving in Summit County. Of course, I expected to see cowboys and barrel racers. What I did not expect to see was young women starting the show by hurtling themselves on their galloping horses around the arena like lightening decked out for a dance.
‘Oh my gosh’, I thought, as the first queen flew in wearing chartreuse and pink, ‘someone’s gonna get killed.’ But none of the queens or anyone else did.
Nope. They simply rode all ablaze in their cowgirl bling, waving and smiling as warmly as July’s suppertime sun.
The rodeo queen’s opening ride is her dare devil way of pumping up the crowd. Her way of giving everyone a great big rodeo welcome.
Immediately I wanted to know just how a gal from Kamas or Coalville got to be queen of the rodeo?
As it turns out, there is more to any rodeo queen than her wild, welcoming ride.
Just who will be the queen of the rodeo is decided annually through a head-to-head competition. The show down is held at the local rodeo queen pageant. And pageant season begins in late spring in Summit County.
During the pageant, judges score the young women on their overall poise and confidence, on the competence of their public speaking, and the grace they display while modeling. The judges also score the gals on their knowledge of rodeo and their skill at horsemanship. A panel of impartial experts from outside the local area does the judging so that the pride their own community feels for these gals does not too greatly sway the out come.
I recommend you take in a pageant if you get the chance.
If you do, you’re bound to meet some very welcoming and generous people. You’ll meet whole families with generations of involvement in rodeo, and those with next to none, all who’ve come out to support their would-be queen. I was impressed by how the “old hands” shared support, encouragement, and lunch with families who were brand new to the royalty routine.
And you’ll see their daughters competing against, and yet supporting each other as they move through the day’s nerve fraying contest. Of course, the contestants are incredibly bright and outgoing; models of high achievement, poise, and good sportsmanship.
Nearly all the contestants I talked to said they competed because they loved rodeo and because they saw how preparing for queen competitions helped them succeed in the other areas of their lives.
When the pageant’s over, and you’re at your next rodeo, you’ll know the queen’s job takes more than rhinestones and a winning smile (though they didn’t hurt her along the way, either). And just like the other hands at the rodeo, a rodeo queen gets to the top of her game through her smarts, her grit and determination, and years of training, too.
