Liberty Bowl Rodeo Was A Ball-

Liberty Bowl Rodeo Was A Ball-
 
On the morning of December 28th, I headed toward Memphis, TN in the Payton Chevrolet Avalanche with the company of my mother. We arrived in Germantown at the Shelby Showplace Arena just in time to watch the slack performance.  Shortly after the slack was complete, several of the rodeo personnel and contestants loaded up and headed to eat lunch at Chili's.  The conversations focused on the excitement of the quick approaching IFR 42.  After filling my belly with good food, Mom and I headed to the hotel to get ready for the rodeo performance.  The performance started off at 7:00 with a patriotic opening that I had the honor of carrying the American Flag in.  I was decked out in my Sherry Smith Designs red, white, and blue shirt with my James Smith Saddlery red, white, and blue perpetual chaps.  I also had on my custom Corral red, white, and blue boots.  As I left the arena with the American Flag, I made a quick turn around in the alley way to enter back in the arena and lead the grand entry.  As the rodeo performance moved right along, I made a lap after each event with the Ford flag who was a major sponsor.  Intermission rolled around and all the kids ages 7-11 piled around the alley way for the boot race.  Their incentive?  A $100 gift card to Academy Sports. I led them inside the arena, lined them up, and listened as the parents grumbled when we asked them all to take one shoe off and ruin their socks.  They made it to the other end of the arena as I piled all the shoes into one large pile.  The countdown went off and the stampede was on.  A young girl won the race and walked away with the prize presented by the Autozone Liberty Bowl Queen.  The rodeo continued on till the last bull rider gave it his all.  I made my way to the front of the building and took a post ready to sign autographs.  A line formed to my side with kids of all ages.  I met several cute kids, always my favorite part of being Miss Rodeo USA.  I said my farewells and told everyone I'd see them at IFR.  Mom and I made our way back to the hotel, and then headed home Thursday morning making stops along the way and enjoying the ride.  As soon as I made it home and got unloaded, I started to load everything up again.  The IFR will be here before we know it along with the end of my reign as Miss Rodeo USA.  I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and has a very Happy New Year!