Viva Las Vegas

Viva Las Vegas!
 
Thanks to one of our many great Miss Rodeo USA sponsors- Angie Burton with Chicken Coop Couture, who also happens to be in charge of the flag carriers at the WNFR, I have had the amazing honor of spending the past week in Vegas. I arrived on Tuesday November 29th, and I have been going nonstop since then.  We have practices every day to make sure that our routines are spot on as well as riding to just get our horses out of their stalls and their muscles stretched.  I was assigned good ole Sunny boy who is a Veteran of the WNFR.  I have enjoyed getting to know each of the other 20 girls who are participating as well and feel that I will make friendships here that will last forever.  For those of you watching at home, I am one of the four pivots during the contestant introductions, 18th in the sponsor line up, and in the fourth pair in the closing ceremony.  During all of this I carry the WPRA flag which is white with red fringe and blue writing-so be watching for me!  I even got to chat with country music star-Craig Morgan-during an interview about the inside life of a flag girl on our first day of practice.  GAC is airing all the performances held here in Vegas at the Thomas and Mack, and they will also be showing the segment on us flag girls as well.  Over the past week, I have experienced a little of the Vegas life by treating myself to a meal at the Hard Rock Cafe, visiting the M&M and the Coke store, drove around town looking at the sights, shopped at Country Christmas, and even had fellowship with fellow christians.  I attended Elevation Sunday with the 2010 Miss Rodeo USA, Dakota Missildine, at the KA Theatre at the MGM Grand.  It was a heart moving service with music by Susie Dobbs as well as Clay Walker who gave me goose bumps with his version of "Amazing Grace" and his new song "Jesus was a Country Boy".  The contestants also took part-Jake Barnes led the opening prayer and Stran Smith gave the closing prayer.  The remarkable story of Ryan Gray was followed by the featured speaker, Dr. James C. Dobson.  This past year was a hard year for the PRCA family as they lost many loved ones. However, uniting together is what keeps the rodeo family strong.  PRCA or IPRA- we are all children of God which makes us brothers and sisters-we need to be willing to give each a smile, hug, handshake, or whatever it may be to help each other through the good and bad.  The service ended with a motivational video for the contestants. They have 6 more performances to go, so they need all the motivation that they can get.  I am looking forward to one more week in Vegas as the 2011 PRCA World Champions get closer to being crowned.  But remember as they get closer to being crowned, so do the 2011 IPRA World Champions with IFR 42 right around the corner.  Remember to look for me on GAC with the WPRA flag as we have 4 performances down with 6 more to go!

Comments

[Cheyenne L Hefley]

Hello, I've been following your blog and really am fond of it since I've started to find an interest in running for local rodeo queen positions. However, after hearing about the flag girls at the NFR I began searching for more information of how to become one. Unfortunately, there seems to be a major lack of information and I was wondering if you knew how I could obtain an application or even whom I could just get in touch with. I'm a huge fan of rodeo in general and horses are quite a passion for me that I definitely would like to pursue more opportunities involving both my loves. Thank you!