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Miss Rodeo Canada Princess on the road again

After a few weeks at home in Williams Lake Miss Rodeo Canada Princess Kirsten Braumandl is back on the road again.
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Cariboo GM owner Brian Garland (left) with Miss Rodeo Canada Princess Kirsten Braumandl and Cariboo GM Williams Lake sales manager Lorne Doerkson

After a few weeks at home in Williams Lake Miss Rodeo Canada Princess Kirsten Braumandl is back on the road again.

She rolled out of Williams Lake last week in a brand new baby blue Chevrolet Equinox headed back to  Alberta, which is home-base for the many events coming up this spring, summer and fall with Miss Rodeo Canada Kezia Morrison.

The Equinox is from Cariboo GM in Williams Lake, which helped with a donation to sponsor the purchase. The light blue vehicle has Kezia’s and Kirsten’s names and titles on the sides along with the Miss Rodeo Canada logo.

One of Kirsten’s final engagements in the lakecity before heading back to Alberta was to attend the Cariboo Cattlemen’s Beef Bonanza last Thursday, May 12  at Beeotcheese Bistro & Bakery where she helped out with the draw prizes and thanked the community and all of her sponsors for their support, including Cariboo GM.

The Cattlemen’s dinner fundraiser is supporting the Pregnancy Outreach Centre this year.

Kirsten and Kezia regularly keep rodeo fans up to date on their activities through reports on their Miss Rodeo Canada website.

They started April in Edmonton with the Canadian National College Finals Rodeo. 

“We were there for the final day so we helped out with the buckle presentations for each of the events,” Kirsten says.

After the college finals Kezia travelled to Pocatello, Idaho for the Wrangler Million Dollar Silver Tour Rodeo and Kirsten came to Williams Lake to prepare for the Williams Lake Indoor Rodeo, April 15-17.

Prior to the rodeo, Kirsten welcomed participants and did some bowling at the Bowl For Kids Sake fundraiser for Big Brothers and Big Sisters.

When Kezia arrived in the lakecity after a 19-hour drive up from Idaho, the duo participated in a welcome reception at Carmen’s Restaurant, spent time coaching and talking about their work with the 2011 Stampede Queen contestants, visited the Senior’s Village, presented ribbons at the lakecity’s annual bull show and sale, sold tickets at the Lion’s Club Mother’s Day breakfast, and gave presentations on the sport of rodeo at 150 Mile House and Cataline elementary schools with the reigning Williams Lake Stampede royalty and members of the high school rodeo club. 

During their public appearances Kezia and Kirsten can be found autographing pictures of themselves for fans, carrying the Canadian flag in rodeo grand entries, presenting trophies, selling tickets and making draws, giving presentations about the sport of rodeo, and generally visiting with people and lending a helping hand at rodeos and charity fundraisers they are invited to attend.

While in the lakecity they also participated in a photo shoot with Craig Smith and conducted interviews with various media outlets including the Tribune.

“It’s fabulous,” Kezia told the Tribune of her adventures so far as Miss Rodeo Canada. “Controlled chaos is how I would describe it. This is a job we signed up for and we are very lucky to be able to do what we love day in and day out.”

While their schedule is busy, Kezia says it is a fairly fluid schedule in which there is room for organizations to invite them to various events and functions. 

People can issue invitations through their www.missrodeocanada.ca website. Kezia says there is a new sanctioned professional rodeo this year in St. Tite, Quebec, which they are hoping to attend, along with rodeos around western Canada and the U.S.

The backdrop for Kirsten’s Shaw Cable interview was the Museum of the Cariboo Chilcotin and a picture of her grandmother,  Bernice (Prior) MacDonald, who was the first Williams Lake Stampede Queen.

Kezi and Kirsten carried the Canadian flag in the Williams Lake Indoor Rodeo grand entries and participated in the ceremonies for this year’s B.C. Cowboy Hall of Fame inductees at the rodeo and at the Museum of the Cariboo Chilcotin luncheon. 

“I would like to thank the Williams Lake Indoor Rodeo Association for welcoming Kezia and I into their rodeo with open arms,” Kirsten says. “Kezia and I were the first Canadian Rodeo Royalty duo to have ever attended the rodeo, which we thought was great.”

Kirsten’s horsemanship mentor Doug White was among the hall of fame’s local inductees who include Gordon Woods, Bruce Watt, Bill Downie, and the Wright Family.

After the indoor rodeo Kezia headed back to Alberta and Kirsten stayed in Williams Lake where she attended the regional high school rodeo finals in the Stampede Grounds.

She also attended the Stampede Queen contest speech finals April 20 at City Hall, where she was given the opportunity to talk about her year so far as Miss Rodeo Canada Princess 2011. 

“It was quite surreal for me to think back two years ago that I was in that very position the 2011 contestants were in that night,” Kirsten says. “All three of them (contestants) did an amazing job and I wish them the best of luck in the competition.”

Upcoming events in Alberta for Kirsten and Kezia include the Rowan House Hope and Healing event in Ponoka May 14, CFCW Listener Appreciation Concert on May 18 and Grande Prairie Stompede rodeo May 23-29. 

In bidding farewell to Williams Lake for now, Kirsten said she would be back in Williams Lake for at least part of the Williams Lake Stampede on the July long weekend. 

Kirsten says her dream of being Miss Rodeo Canada Princess 2011 would not be possible without the volunteers, board members, and sponsors of the Miss Rodeo Canada organization. She includes a very long list thank-yous to her sponsors in her website report.