March is ALWAYS an Adventure...

Hello Virginia!

This month has kept my feet moving! I got here to Virginia and I have not stopped running! I had my photo shoot with Val Cavalheri and even had my make-up done by Gabby, an amazing make-up artist! I felt like a movie star and the photo shoot was so much fun! I loved it and Charla was even able to be there before she left for Texas so it was great to have her in on the action!

I stayed in Washington D.C. with my dear friend Brian Adams and his Fiance, Stephanie. We go way back to my Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership days and it was great to see him and Stephanie again as well as get to see some of Washington D.C. I have been to the capitol a lot in the past, but its always nice to see it from a locals point of view and have them show me around.

I also was able to make it out to Lovettsville, Virginia to see the Spencer Family. I have known them for a very long time as well...their daughter, Tara was Miss Rodeo Colorado in 2006, when I was the National Little Britches Rodeo Queen and we traveled a lot together and she was a great mentor and big sister to me. They now have moved to Virginia because of Dave's job, and love it here. They still have their place in Colorado, but they have moved some of the horses out here to Virginia as well and it was great to get to see their new place! I also attribute my year as Miss Rodeo Virginia to them because Kathy, who was Charla's National Director and who started the program originally, was the one who gave Charla my name as someone to come out and help get the program going as well as to be a representative for Virginia!

A short....well, actually long train ride took me south Richmond, were I stayed with some long lost family for about a week and a half. Ron and Sandra Leighty were so wonderful to open their hearts and their home to me. Sandra's father was always a dear friend to our family and even dropped my parents off to the airport for their honeymoon, so we had lots to catch up on. Being in Richmond allowed me to get into contact with some great new sponsors as well as get some appearances set up.

Then I moved, for good, to Jarratt! I was so excited to finally get here. I am living with the Gill family and I am really getting familiarized with everything and meeting what seems like to be everyone in this small town!

I have kept busy with lots of school visits. Mrs. Thresea Lindberg, who is the Future Farmers of America teacher in Emporia had gracefully given me all of her classes for a week and I was able to teach an entire class on Rodeo as well as use my Stay Ahead of the H.E.R.D. (Health, Education, Responsibility and Dreams) Program. I worked really hard on my power point presentation, and I was really happy to get to use it! It was a lot of fun and I even had enough time to teach each kid how to throw a rope! We even had teachers from other classes stopping in to watch and learn. It was amazing to see how many natural ropers in the group there were!

I really love getting to go into schools like the Junior High in Emporia. Most of those kids had no clue what rodeo was, and to get to have to honor to be the first to tell them about it was awesome and very rewarding. Not only did we get to talk about just rodeo, but we also talked about agriculture and how to use it as a stepping stone to get into college. I was very impressed with Mrs. Lindberg's classes. She does a lot with the kids and it shows. They were a great audience!

I was also able to help a few of the kids after school in preparation for an upcoming competition. I can proudly say that the two girls I coached in speech went on to the competition and did very well, and little Cortney even won her division and is headed to Nationals!! Way to go girl!!

Mrs. Lindberg and I also attended the local Rurtan Club meeting where I was able to share the Miss Rodeo Virginia Program with them. We have been talking about putting together a horse show at their fairgrounds in the near future and I promised to help them. We are hoping to make it a fundraiser for them as well as for the Miss Rodeo Virginia Program.

So as March comes to a close and I look ahead into April, I can't help but get excited as I know that only more adventures are to come!

Thanks so much for letting me share with you! God Bless!

Anita Moorhead
Miss Rodeo Virginia 2010

John 3:16