Jadi and I have been very busy the past couple weeks. On July 19th we attended the El Paso County Fair for the Queen's Luncheon and Grand Entry with Dana, Tracy, and my mom. Before the luncheon we were able to take a great picture of all the queens in front of a gigantic Budweiser horse drawn carriage - those horses were absolutely gorgeous! Dayna, the Fair Queen, was so nice and had some very nice things to say about the people that have helped her along a successful year. The Grand Entry was awesome and Jadi and I really stand out in our white chaps and serapes!

August finally got here and on August 7th and 8th Jadi and I attended the Douglas County Fair and Rodeo. We participated in the Grand Entry on Friday night. We were up early on Saturday traveling back to Douglas County for the parade, luncheon, queen's barrel race, and grand entry. The parade was HUGE. Chablis and Pepper (our horses) did awesome for how many people lined the streets. After the parade we headed to the luncheon with some fantastic food and a great presentation by Hannah Weins. The queens barrel race was a lot of fun and there was a little crowd there to cheer each of us on. After the race, we got ready for the grand entry and looked our very best. It was very cool to be announced at Douglas County, where I live, as the Elizabeth Stampede Queen. I felt very prestigious! After the grand entry I made my way to a turkey leg only for a moment, until we were back on the truck waving and helping set up the barrels for the barrel race. Finally after that I was able to finish my delectable greasy turkey leg and watch the rodeo!

The next morning, Jadi and I went to the CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) event held in Elizabeth at Casey Jones Park for the community and CASA members. It feels weird to dress up in all our "gear" and not have our horses around, but it was so nice to totally focus on the kids and not have to worry about where we had to be or what time it was. The kids were a ton of fun and were so enthusiastic about every little event at the park.  We wandered around and helped out wherever we could - also helping ourselves to our share of cotton candy and hayrides! It was great to be able to really represent the location and feel so comfortable. I really felt that the event was Elizabeth and I enjoyed the leadership it presented. The stick horse games and rodeo were a blast - and I would like to say that I won the stick horse rodeo in my age group, chaps and all! :) I love being at Elizabeth, and for not really being involved in Rodeo or having any real experience with Royalty before this year, I feel more at home at Elizabeth at the Casey Jones Arena than any other place I've been.

...Makenzie Molitor.Elizabeth Stampede Queen 2010

Cheyenne Frontier Days, The Daddy of them ALL!
July 17th & 18th, 2009

This was the first time I have attended the Cheyenne Frontier Days (CFD) and I was so excited! We didn't take the horses along this time but that did not stop us from heading out early Friday morning. Our weekend began with an awesome luncheon at a hotel in Cheyenne.

I was excited to see all my royalty friends - Miss Frontier was a great speaker. Jadi and I both had lucky raffle tickets and won cute little cowgirl hat ornaments! After the luncheon we headed to the museum in Cheyenne and this was way cool. There we handed out tons of autograph sheets and were able to browse the museum and learn a little history about Cheyenne. After the museum we headed to the many Vendors and browsed around. There were so many excited kids and nice people to talk to about the Elizabeth Stampede. After shopping, we headed to Outback Steakhouse and handed out over 15 autograph sheets to little kids while we waited to be seated. I only had 4 autograph sheets left, and five excited kids stood in front of me! It worked out okay since luckily two of the kids were related. We had a bunch of pictures taken of us and it made for a great but exhausting day!

Saturday we woke at 6:30 am to get ready for the parade in our Purple (yay Angelique!) outfits. Waiting for the parade to start, I dragged Jadi along as we chased down as many draft horses as we could to gawk at and kiss their noses. For the parade, we were in a green wagon with other royalty. The parade was packed with participants and spectators and it made for a very nice long parade. Afterward, we headed straight to the rodeo for the Grand Entry, where all the visiting royalty stood in a rather shaky wagon! It was a great time. After the Grand Entry, Jadi and I watched the rodeo and the continued to shop. CFD was a unique experience and I am so grateful to have some of the board members and committee members there to support us. This will definitely go down as a memorable experience.

-- May your passions lead you and your confidence keep you in the right direction

Makenzie Molitor
Elizabeth Stampede Queen 2009-2010

We had a great opportunity to be in a parade close to home at Elbert Days. The parade was a lot smaller than what Jadi and I are usually in, but it was very refreshing to have a more condensed crowd and less stressful event. After the parade we helped out with the Kid's Rodeo, and this was way fun! The kids loved the "bull" riding and got a kick out of wearing chaps and ringing the bell. Jadi and I were able to hand out many autograph sheets to the excited kids, and helping out with the Kids' rodeo was the highlight of my day! After that, we were able to learn how to put out a fire by the Elbert County Fire Department! This was a great opportunity to learn how to use a fire extinguisher for emergencies - a skill I think everyone needs to learn! Elbert Days was a lot of laid back fun and I enjoyed the experiences I gained from my time there.