Well I guess we jinxed the weather rodeo fans, as winter has really hit us hard near the end of this month!
The beginning of February had me further south, as I attended the Balzac Groundhog day event. Balzac Billy told us we were in for six more weeks of winter! As difficult as it was for all of us to believe, because our winter has been mild so far, I hate to admit that I myself was wrong as we received lots of snow and colder temperatures. With a quick trip to one of our amazing sponsors, Smithbilt, I was gifted with a stunning crisp white hat. I am a firm believer that a white hat is a rodeo queen's best friend. I then traveled back to my old stomping grounds of Sundre for the Trappers Banquet. I had so much fun with my fellow Canadian queens selling tickets for some great prizes and interacting with our rural community.
Edmonton brought on an amazing day as I had the privilege of hopping on the radio with AJ at our longest sponsor of 840 CFCW! We had so much fun taking a tour of the station, playing our favorite songs, and spinning the wheel to predict the score of the Edmonton Oilers Game against the Las Vegas Golden Knights. (We were of course, completely off the mark!) I then walked over to our Platinum sponsor, Lammles. The fabulous staff there helped me pick out a comfortable new pair of Dan Post riding boots for Florida! I found it hard to pick as they have a wonderful selection to choose from!
My trip to Florida came up so fast as I was so excited to hop on a plane for warmer weather and to connect with my sash sisters in the states. I was hosted by the most incredible family, the Kempfers, who made me feel so at home and truly added to my rodeo family. Some events that filled our week consisted of school visits, air boating rides, a hog hunt, dipping our toes in the ocean at the beach and making some new furry friends at the pet adoption event. The Silver Spurs Rodeo in Kissimmee was action packed and I was filled with pride to have a fly by each night representing Canadian rodeo down in the sunshine state. I was thrilled to watch our Canadian athletes walk away with some pretty impressive paychecks at the end of the week!
As the month wrapped up, I am continually blessed with the generosity of our sponsors. I was mailed an exciting package from Wrangler that I cannot wait to share with you all. I am so grateful for this journey, and I am excited for our rodeo season to kick off in Rimbey in just a few weeks!
With my whole heart,
Miss Rodeo Canada 2024
Kaylee Shantz
