Queen hopefuls use speeches to share something that matters most
It was another big night for all eight contestants of this year’s Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede Royalty Contest, with Queen hopefuls setting out Thursday to deliver the best speech.
The News caught up with contestants prior to their speeches to see what they were planning to discuss:
Temara Ebelher —
“My speech really is about what it is like to grow up on a farm and to really experience agriculture. Growing up on a farm, you just learn so many skills. On top of the skills that you learn, you get to also learn companionship with animals, and what it is like to live with them — there really is so much to learn.”
Lacey Palichuk —
“Tonight I’m talking about how agriculture influence rodeo and how it has influenced me to become a teacher. Agriculture has influence rodeo because some of the events have come from that way of life. I want to become a teacher because I absolutely love the western way of life and I do want to teach at a rural school some day”
Haley Schlenker —
“My speech is on mental health. specifically, it will talk a lot about bull rider Ty Pozzobon. He was a really, really great bull rider who unfortunately suffered many concussions that led to depression. He actually ended up taking his own life, which really shocked the rodeo world. Currently there is no protocol for concussions, but hopefully with the start of the Ty Pozzobon Foundation, we can start to get our riders more information.”
Allivia Sauer —
“My speech is about head trauma and the support you need behind you when one occurs. In a sport like hockey, players can be penalized for hitting another player in the head — bulls cannot be. I knew Ty Pozzobon and I knew what he was all about, so having that come home and into the industry, this has become something really important.”
Abby Perrett —
“My speech is on my grandpa and how he helped me become the woman I am today. He inspired me in a lot of ways, and was the one who taught me how to care for my horse. He taught me so many life skills.”
Dionne Freimark —
“This is something that not only impacts myself, but it affects everyone. People don’t think the native grasses do as much as they do, and I’ll touch more on that. I live on the native prairie and this is my livelihood, I would like to keep it safe.”
Kali Duchscherer —
“I think rodeo was born on the spirit of the horse. The spirit of the horse has had a big impact on me over the years, and it has really grown with me.”
Ava Padfield —
“In my speech I really wanted to highlight what it meant to be a Canadian. Some interesting facts I’ll be sharing is that Canadians actually invented peanut butter, there’s some facts about Saskatchewan, as well as some local facts about our teepee. This is the country I was born and raised in and I am very proud of it and had a good time celebrating Canada’s 150th anniversary.”
The next event for the eight hopefuls is the annual Fashion Show and Tea, starting tonight at 5:30 p.m. with the Fun Carnival at the Cypress Centre Auditorium. The price of admission is a donation to the Stampede Royalty Scholarship Fund.