By VERNON ROBISON
Moapa Valley Progress
The process begins this weekend for choosing the 2016 Miss Clark County Rodeo Royalty. By the end of that process, two talented young ladies will be selected to represent the Clark County Fair and Rodeo; both at home during the Fair, and far and wide at events throughout the coming year.
Applications for Rodeo Queen and Princess contestants are now available at ccfair.com. The deadline to apply is this Friday, February 12 at 5:00 p.m. Full eligibility requirements are listed on the website. But Queen candidates must be between the age of 17-22 years old. Princess candidates must be from ages 12-16.
This year’s competition has been focused and simplified somewhat to encourage a wider participation of contestants.
“We used to do a full pageant with fashion modeling and impromptu questioning and a performance element on stage,” said contest coordinator Mandee Davis. “But this year we decided to focus on just the elements and skills that the girls really need in life, and what they need to represent the Fair throughout the year.”
Clark County Fair General Manager Todd Robison said that competing in rodeo royalty pageants have often put a significant financial burden on families of the contestants. Often hundreds of dollars must be spent by parents just to outfit their girls to be able to compete in the contest, he said.
“We didn’t have any desire to require families to put out that kind of money just to compete,” Robison said. “After all, the purpose of the contest is for our organization to support kids in the community.”
At its heart, the contest is a college scholarship program, Robison said. An $8,000 scholarship is offered to each winner of the Miss Clark County Rodeo Queen Pageant. The scholarship is paid out in $1,000 installments each semester over four years of college. Recipients must enroll in a minimum of 12 credit hours of college and must maintain at least a 3.0 grade point average to receive the scholarship.
“It really is a great opportunity,” Robison said. “We wish more of the girls in the community would do it.”
This year’s contest consists of only two rounds.
The first is a general horsemanship competition. Each contestant is required to exhibit solid horsemanship abilities. Because so many of the duties of the Rodeo Royalty are carried out on horseback in the rodeo arena during the fair, an understanding of how to handle oneself on a horse is key.
“We need girls to have the skill set to represent us well,” said Robison. “So that includes a confidence and understanding around a horse.”
The horsemanship round of the contest will be held on Saturday, February 13 at the Logandale Fairgrounds arena. Each contestant should bring her own personal tack and other riding equipment. But horses will be provided to the girls that morning. Casual western attire is requested.
For the second round of the contest, a panel of judges will individually interview each contestant. This is not intended to be a fashion show, but rather an opportunity for the judges to be able to meet each contestant.
“In a 30-40 minute interview, the judges can learn about the personality and the general knowledge of each candidate,” Robison said. “They will just be looking for someone who can represent the Fair with dignity and who will do well for us. By the end of that process, we should have a clear cut winner.”
The interview process will take place at the North Shore Inn in Overton. Interviews will begin at 8:00 am on Saturday, February 27 and will continue through that morning until each contestant has been given an opportunity.
The winners will be notified in the days following the interview round.
In addition to a myriad of duties during the Fair, the Royalty winners will make several public appearances throughout the year to represent the Clark County Fair. These includes parades, fairs and other events.
“There are a half dozen events that we request them to attend to represent the Fair,” Robison said. “Those are scheduled well in advance and they are fun events that are part of their role as royalty.”
For more information about the Miss Clark County Queen and Princess Pageant, contact Mandee Davis at 702-286-9768 or Jennifer Marshall at 702-218-2225.
1 thought on “Rodeo Royalty Contest Starts This Weekend”
There was no process to this so called contest. Mandee Davis knew before hand who her picks were and it was very apparent right from the start. It’s very sad that all of the girls invested so much time, money and effort into something that was fixed from the beginning. Mandee Davis needs to live by her own rules. These girls are preached at that they need to be the highest of examples for the public when in fact Mandee was a complete snob and unapproachable. Except by the supposed “winners” of course. How can a girl be chosen as “Princess” that doesn’t even have a horse? And the winner of “Queen” who has seemed to have made a professional career out of being a “Queen”. Very sad that this is the kind of example that you all have set for these girls. Mandee Davis you should be ashamed of yourself. This whole “contest” was a complete joke! And for what it’s worth…I didn’t even have a daughter in the competition. I was a spectator from the outside looking in. If I could see what was going on what kind of message are you sending out to these girls? Yes!! You can buy your way in with a lot of sucking up. Very sad!! Once again!!…Mandee Davis, you should be ashamed of what you represent!!