Time to saddle
up
for Miss Days
of the Old West
Independence Day
rodeo
royalty in Hailey
Nine
accomplished young ladies will try to put together the right package of
glamour and riding ability for the judges in the 2001 edition of the
Miss Days of the Old West contest.
Sponsored
by the Sawtooth Rangers Riding Club, the annual contest is held in
conjunction with the Days of the Old West rodeo in Hailey.
Two
women, Cheryl Pyne and Allyson Swan, will vie for the Senior Queen
title.
The Teen
Queen category features four contestants—Morgan Anselmi, Jaclyn Bruhn,
Kari Gooding and Lynnsey Roberts.
Three
will face off for Junior Queen—Jentry Perkins, Hayley Hinojosa and
Kali Jo Hess.
The 2001
Miss Days of the Old West and her court will be crowned during the
Fourth of July rodeo performance on Wednesday, July 4.
Contest
coordinator for the eighth consecutive year is Michelle Bobbitt of
Bellevue.
Leading
up to the coronation of the Old West royalty are events and contests
designed to introduce the young women to the Wood River Valley—and
determine the most worthy of the candidates. The schedule:
Judges
will interview each candidate individually in the personal interview
test. There will be modeling, and each girl will give a short speech on
"Old West vs. New West," then answer impromptu questions.
For the
first time, there will be speech prizes given for all three categories.
First
rodeo at 7 p.m. Congeniality voting tonight.
Second
rodeo at 7 p.m.
At the
coronation, the overall high-point winner will receive a saddle from the
Sawtooth Rangers Riding Club, complete with a matching breast collar
from Wood River Equine Hospital.
Each
winner in the Queen, Teen Queen and Junior Queen contests will be
awarded an engraved silver belt buckle donated by Sawtooth Auto Sales
plus many other prizes.
Reigning Royalty
2000 Hailey
Senior Queen
Jana
Wilding, 18, is the daughter of Frank and Jeannette Wilding of Idaho
Falls. She is a 2000 high honors graduate of West Jefferson High School
in Terreton.
Last
July, Jana swept to the Hailey Senior Queen title, winning Miss
Photogenics as well as poise and personality and horsemanship in the
Senior Queen category. She was the freestyle horsemanship winner, too.
Jana
enjoys every aspect of being a cowgirl—from working cattle and riding
the range, to the thrill of participating in rodeo. She was awarded the
title of Miss Teen Rodeo Idaho for 2001 at the Gooding Fair and Rodeo
last August.
An honor
student, she is currently attending Idaho State University in Pocatello
with a physical education major and double minor in health and dance.
Recently, she was chosen as a Bengal Dancer for 2001 and awarded a
$1,500 scholarship as a member.
As Miss
Teen Rodeo Idaho, Jana traveled to Colorado, Texas and Arizona and
throughout the Gem State making appearances and attending rodeos.
An active
advocate of rodeo, Jana is a member of the Idaho Horse Council, the
Friends of Rodeo and the Idaho Riding Association.
While in
high school Jana taught dance and gymnastics for five years. And she has
been active in community service throughout her reign as Miss Teen Rodeo
Idaho.
She is a
wish grantor for the Make a Wish Foundation, a volunteer for Equestrian
Special Olympics, a counselor for Idaho Drug-Free Youth Summit, and a
counselor for Idaho Leadership Forum for Teenagers with Disabilities.
2000 Hailey Teen
Queen
Tara
Ann Rushton is the 17-year-old daughter of Boyd and Barbara Rushton
of Bellevue. Tara has just returned from state high school rodeo where
she qualified to compete in barrel racing.
She is
the reigning Fifth District High School rodeo queen. Last year Tara was
second runner-up at the Idaho State High School Rodeo Finals in
Pocatello.
In
becoming the 2000 Hailey Teen Queen, Tara won Teen Queen Miss
Photogenics, poise and personality and horsemanship. She enjoyed her
reign. "It has been spectacular," Tara said.
Tara has
just completed her junior year at Hailey’s Wood River High School,
where she competed in basketball, track and high school rodeo. She is
the team captain for basketball.
Good,
quality time with her family is important to Tara, who loves to go
hunting, fishing and camping. She enjoys going on long horse rides and
floating the river.
Tara
would like to wish everybody a Happy Fourth.
2000 Hailey
Junior Queen
Kortnee
Hurless is the 13-year-old daughter of Mike and Shelley Hurless of
Bellevue. Last year’s Miss Days of the Old West was her first contest.
An honor
roll student at Hailey’s Wood River Middle School, she runs barrels
and poles in rodeo. Kortnee’s hobbies include basketball, skiing,
reading and working with her horse Orville. She uses Orville in 4-H,
too.
She won
Junior Queen horsemanship in last year’s contest.
Senior Queen
candidates
Allyson
Swan is the 18-year-old daughter of the late George Swan and Becky
Swan, of Twin Falls.
A 2001
Twin Falls High School graduate, Allyson was a member of the National
Honor Society, a varsity cheerleader and the president of her rodeo
team.
She
competed in high school rodeo for four years. In two of those years,
Allyson was Miss Idaho State High School rodeo queen. Then, she was
first attendant two years running at the National High School Rodeo.
"Ali,"
as most friends and family call her, plans on attending Weber State
University in Ogden, Utah this fall majoring in Lifestyle Management.
She will also compete on the WSU rodeo team in the spring.
Cheryl
Marie Pyne is the 20-year-old daughter of Maurice and Merla Pyne of
Hailey. At last year’s Hailey rodeo, she was first runner-up in the
Senior Queen contest.
Born and
raised in the Wood River Valley, Cheryl graduated from Wood River High
School in 1999. She played alto saxophone in school bands throughout her
school career.
She was
an active participant in high school rodeo for three years, competing in
barrel racing and pole bending. Cheryl won the Jim West Memorial Award
for perseverance in her senior year of high school rodeo.
Cheryl
took part in Champions Rodeo Camp for four years and won the queen title
of the camp in 1999. She was a contestant in Miss Teen Rodeo Idaho 2000.
This past
year, Cheryl attended Airline Academy in Daytona Beach, Fla. maintaining
a 3.5 GPA. She’ll graduate this fall, with hopes of becoming an
stewardess. Currently she is employed at Blaine County Title.
She loves
to spend time with family and friends. Helping young people with the
sport of rodeo is another of her enthusiasms. Cheryl’s hobbies include
riding horses, traveling to see the sights and camping.
Teen Queen
contestants
Morgan
Anselmi, 14, just graduated from the eighth grade at Shelley Junior
High School with a 4.0 GPA. She lives with her grandparents Tom and
Leslie Williamson in Idaho Falls.
She is a
member of the school choir, Renaissance Club and National Junior Honor
Society. Morgan enjoys water and snow skiing, fishing, singing and
dancing.
Recently,
Morgan won the National English and Math Merit Awards.
Jaclyn
Bruhn is the 16-year-old daughter of Monte and Anna Bruhn of Filer.
She will
be a junior at Filer High School, where she participates in volleyball,
basketball, track and rodeo. Her rodeo events include team roping,
breakaway roping, barrels and goat tying.
By
finishing as first attendant in the Sixth District High School Rodeo
finals, Jaclyn qualified for last week’s Idaho State High School Rodeo
championships staged in Pocatello.
She has
competed in numerous queen contests. Among Jaclyn’s titles are Buhl
Junior Rodeo Queen in 1997, Lincoln County Princess in 1999, Twin Falls
Western Days Teen Queen in 2000 and fourth attendant at Miss Teen Rodeo
Idaho in 2000.
Kari
Gooding is the 15-year-old daughter of Liz Gooding. Kari believes
"what is good for the inside of a man is the outside of a
horse."
She is a
freshman honor roll student at Fruitland High School where she
participates in volleyball, basketball and drill team. Kari is also
involved in Horse 4-H and Horse Bowl.
Riding
horses since the age of two, Kari now rides a three-year-old AQHA filly.
She has held numerous rodeo queen titles through the years.
Lynnsey
Roberts is the 15-year-old daughter of Randy Roberts of Bellevue.
She will be a sophomore at Hailey’s Wood River High School.
Lynnsey
first started riding at age two on her black pony "Tiny." When
she was six, Lynnsey and Smokey entered their first rodeo.
At 12,
Lynnsey entered her first horse show and successfully competed in
English and Western. She is active in high school rodeo in barrels.
Junior Queen
contestants
Jentry
Perkins of Hailey is the 12-year-old daughter of Shelley and Keith
Booker and Kip Perkins. She will be a seventh-grade student at Wood
River Middle School this fall.
Jentry
began riding her Appaloosa gelding "Pete" when she was two.
"Pete" retired this past year, so Jentry is now riding her new
five-year-old gelding "Breeze."
In May,
Jentry had the opportunity to represent Blaine County as its princess in
the Miss Junior Rodeo Idaho pageant. She placed first runner-up in the
state contest.
Jentry, a
member of the Sawtooth Rangers Riding Club, would like to extend a
special thanks to her coach, John Uhrig, and also invite everyone to the
Days of the Old West rodeo!
Hayley
Hinojosa, 11, lives in Bellevue on a ranch with her parents Mike and
Cindy Hinojosa. She will be attending sixth grade at Wood River Middle
School this fall.
This is
Hayley’s second year as a Hailey contestant. She was third runner-up
in the 2000 event.
Her
hobbies include horseback riding, motocross and soccer. Recently, Hayley
completed The Pat Wyse Horsemanship Clinic at The Lucky 13 Arena.
She will
be riding her Appaloosa horse Annie in the Hailey arena.
Kali
Jo Hess is the daughter of Michael and Sheree Hess of American
Falls.
She will
be an eighth-grade student at William Thomas Middle School, where she is
actively involved in basketball, volleyball, soccer, track and honor
society.
Kali’s
other interests include 4-H (horse, beef and swine), piano, snowboarding
and of course queen contests.