Miss Rodeo America

We moved back to Fort Worth from Oklahoma City in 1975.  Howard had been city manager there, and after a very terrifying police strike, he decided life was too short, and it was time to find something over than city government to work in.  Howard got the word out that we wanted to move back to Fort Worth, and Jerry Brownlee, a man that Howard had worked with twice before called and offered him a job as Vice President of Justin Industries.  Jerry was the CEO. They were a conglomerate that had not only Justin Boots, but Acme Bricks, a Ceramic Cooling Tower Company and a publishing company.  Howard arrived in the Spring, and Brenda, Mike and I stayed in Oklahoma till school was out and Brenda had graduated from high school.  Debbie had stayed in Texas as she was going to college there.

Howard had worked for the company about six months, when John Justin asked him to take over the boot company, and Howard became president of Justin
Boots.  The week I arrived back in Fort Worth, they had measured me for boots, but it wasn’t till Howard became President that they arrived.  It took them only one day to make them, and they miss measured the calf of my leg, and they had to be remade.

One day, Howard came home, and said, “Myrtle, how would you like to judge Miss Rodeo America Contest?  We are a major underwriter of the contest, and they asked me.  I don’t have time to do it, so I suggested you.”  Silence on my part.  I had been to rodeos, had only ridden a horse twice, and this was totally out of character for me to do.  Howard encouraged me, and reluctantly I said yes.

We went to the Fort Worth Stockyards to find me some Western Garb, a real cowboy hat, some western shirts.  I already had a nice supply of boots.

I drove by myself  to Oklahoma City where the event was.  The contestants and judges were all staying at a local hotel, and I met the other judges.  I had met two of them previously when we lived in Oklahoma City, a husband and wife.   They owned a small department store.  The others were a Mrs. Dupont, Mrs. Simplot (from Idaho Potatoes), a high honcho from J.C. Penneys, and an official with the Quarter Horse Association.  Then there was me, credentials – President of League of Women Voters of Tarrant County, who had ridden a horse on a Dude Ranch.

The contestants were from all over the country.  Many of them had won state contests to qualify.  Others, like the young woman from Delaware, entered on her own.  States like Texas and Oklahoma, and Colorado, where rodeo is big, the women had participated in a state contest a little lower key, but they definitely had an advantage.  One of the contestants had never been on a horse, but she had entered as a modeling career was one of the prizes.  She was photogenic, and though she did not win the contest she was offered a modeling job.  The girl from Delaware had a polyester outfit with round pockets. Upon be asked why she chose that outfit, she said her grandmother had made it for her.

The judges were divided into three groups – judging appearance, judging personality, and judging horsemanship.  I was in the appearance group, though the three groups somewhat overlapped with one another.

It was a week filled with all kinds of activities.  The young women were wined and dined, appeared on TV, were interviewed by us, showed us their riding skills.  We went everywhere with them.  Though this was totally out of character for me, I really enjoyed the week. 

One of the things I wanted to do was try to choose someone who would represent the cowboy and rodeo world with a little more dignity than the previous winner.  Howard told me that the previous year’s winner, had probably  slept with half his sales staff.

The girl we chose was from Kansas, had a journalism degree, worked as a reporter for a farm magazine, and came with a very limited wardrobe that she knew how to accessorize.    Upon being asked what she liked to do in her spare time, she answered that her parents owned a riding stable and gave lessons to handicapped children.  She loved working with the children.  This impressed all of us.  I asked the Horsemanship Judge if she rode a horse adequately to represent rodeo, and he assured me that she did.  As rodeo queen, she would ride in the grand entry parade in rodeo’s across the country. 

As a judge, I received a wonderful decoration for my “cowboy” hat, and a lovely charm. 

I must had done an adequate job of judging, because a year later, I was invited to return to Oklahoma City to judge Miss Rodeo Oklahoma.  I accepted the invitation, but had to call them and tell them that Howard was no longer employed by Justin (he had been fired).  They wanted to know what he was doing—nothing I replied.  Bring him along, so both of us went to Oklahoma City.  Judging Miss Rodeo Oklahoma was a whole different ball game.  The contestant’s qualifications were somewhat lacking, and we even had to tell the winner to polish her boots. 

Looking back on these two experiences, it was fun, but twice was more than enough.  The hat, which I don’t recall ever wearing again, was relegated to a shelf in the garage, and eventually became moth eaten, and I threw it away.  The charm is somewhere in my keepsakes.