Benefit for Columbia Basin kids - seeing familiar faces

Katie Garfield, a Quincy cowgirl, earned the 2010 Miss Rodeo Washington crown and is having her coronation dinner at Big Bend’s ATEC building with a social hour at 6 p.m. and dinner at 7 p.m.

Being a country kid from the Columbia Basin has its advantages.

Some people remember you from high school, others remember you from summer parts runs for your dad, and still others remember you for the year you showed your market animal like a champ at the Grant County Fair.

I grew up cheering the Chiefs on the fields, diamonds, mats, and courts. I grew up driving to town for parts. And I grew up showing livestock in 4-H shows every third week of August.

Now, years after my last steer show and last day wearing a letterman’s jacket, I still get nods from people I knew back then. It’s good to be somewhere where people at least have a vague remembrance of who you are, or were.

On Saturday, a Columbia Basin kid will be looking to see people she knows for a much bigger reason than a parts run.

Katie Garfield, a Quincy cowgirl, earned the 2010 Miss Rodeo Washington crown and is having her coronation dinner at Big Bend’s ATEC building with a social hour at 6 p.m. and dinner at 7 p.m. Ticket sales for the dinner will be the primary fundraiser for Katie this year and those funds will be put to good use helping her travel across the country representing not just the state, but the Columbia Basin, as well as providing her with a wardrobe and covering other expenses.

According to its Web site, Miss Rodeo Washington is, “a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to promoting youth by providing scholarship awards and the opportunity to represent the western way of life, the sport of professional rodeo, and the State of Washington.”

Tickets are $30 each and cover a filet mignon dinner. They can be purchased by contacting Katie Garfield via e-mail at missrodeowashington2010@hotmail.com or by stopping by Rathbone Sales in Moses Lake or the CHS Bean Plant in Othello. Along with dinner, attendees will be able to participate in live and silent auctions and a social hour before dinner.

Moses Lake, and the rest of the Columbia Basin, have grown by leaps and bounds since I was a kid, but one of the things I like best about the area is that we are still in touch with our small-town, agricultural roots. We are still a tight-knit community of farmers, ranchers, and the businesses that support them, even when times are tough. That sense of community is what has always made me proud to be a farmer’s daughter.

If you haven’t gotten your tickets for the coronation, please do. Grab this opportunity to support the first Columbia Basin cowgirl in over 30 years to earn the Miss Rodeo Washington crown.

Pam Robel is the paginator for the Columbia Basin Herald. She is also a proud member of one of the many agricultural families in the Columbia Basin and an avid lover and supporter of rodeo and the western way of life.