Registration open for rodeo queen camp
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 9 years, 6 months AGO
Rodeo Queen University 2015 participants get ready to ride. Registration is open for the 2016 camp.
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | May 21, 2016 6:00 AM
WATERVILLE — Registration is open for a Christian-based camp for girls who want to learn about rodeo and being a rodeo queen.
Rodeo Queen University is scheduled for June 23-26 at the NCW District Fairgrounds in Waterville. Founder Jamie Rauch, Moses Lake, said the camp is open to girls and young women age 8-24. This will be the camp’s fifth year.
Rauch said she has been involved in rodeo and rodeo activities most of her life. “I’m a third-generation cowgirl.” She was Miss Moses Lake Roundup program director for the rodeo from 2002 to 2005, she said.
Rodeo Queen University grew out of trends she saw as she attended rodeos and rodeo queen competitions, she said, trends that troubled her. “It was all about glitz and glamor. It wasn’t about character.” Rodeo Queen University is designed to encourage girls, help them develop those character traits, teach them how to be leaders, she said. Her goal is to “mentor, educate, inspire, equip young women,” with skills that they can use their whole lives, she added. “Faith-based life skills.”
Any girl can attend, Rauch said, whether or not she has previous interest in rodeo. “No experience required.” She cited the experience of a girl at the 2015 camp who’d never been on a horse. The girl not only stayed on her pony, she stayed on while the horse trotted and broke into a lope – and sent pictures to her family.
Instructors include the 2016 Miss Rodeo America Katherine Merck, chosen by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, and the 2016 Miss Rodeo USA Harmony Latham, chosen by the International Professional Rodeo Association. Rodeo Queen University will be the first time the queens from both organizations teach at the same camp, Rauch said.
Other instructors include 2016 Miss Rodeo USA first runner-up Paige Jerrett and 2013 Miss Rodeo Oregon Nicole Schrock.
Girls learn about public speaking, poise and presentation, they practice interviews and take an etiquette class. They learn basic equitation skills and some horse and rodeo knowledge. There’s chapel each evening and a service on Sunday. There’s also a mock pageant Sunday afternoon, where the girls show what they have learned.
Parents and girls can learn more about the program at www.rodeoqueenuniversity.com, or by contacting Rauch, [email protected].
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].
ARTICLES BY CHERYL SCHWEIZER
Moses Lake School District, teachers union reach tentative agreement
MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Education Association announced late Friday night that the union has reached a tentative agreement with the Moses Lake School District. Classes will resume Monday, according to a press release from the MLEA.
Priest Rapids Dam oil spill still in cleanup stage
MATTAWA — People downstream of Priest Rapids Dam are being asked to look for evidence of oil on the waters of the Columbia River following a spill of mineral oil at the dam Wednesday. Department of Ecology officials are asking boaters to stay off the river between Priest Rapids and Pasco while crews work to clean up the oil, according to a PUD press release. Absorbent booms were put in the water to collect the oil downstream of the dam and are still there, said Christine Pratt, public information officer with the Grant County PUD, in the PUD press release. The booms will stay there until the Department of Ecology allows their removal.
Royal SD voters to decide on educational programs and operations levy in February
ROYAL CITY — Royal School District voters will be asked to accept or reject a two-year educational programs and operations levy request in a special election Feb. 10. If it’s approved, it would replace the district’s existing levy approved by voters in 2024. Royal Superintendent Roger Trail said the levy rate would remain unchanged.