Rodeo Royalty
More than 20 rodeo queens, princesses, to be at the 86th annual North Dakota Winter Show
The rhinestones and crowns will glitter and dazzle at the North Dakota Winter Show like a myriad of sparking snowflakes.
That’s because nearly two dozen rodeo queens and princesses will be on hand in Valley City to represent their titles at this year’s Winter Show.
The Winter Show’s two representatives: Kendra Klosterman, the 2022 Miss Rodeo NDWS, and Katelyn Goldade, the 2022 Miss NDWS Princess, headline the troop of ladies.
For Klosterman, of Breckenridge, Minn., the NDWS pageant was the first competition she entered. She grew up riding, attending rodeos and admiring the rodeo queens, but was unsure of competing in a pageant.
“I was too scared,” she said. “I didn’t want to put myself out there.” Then one year, while attending the Winter Show and seeing Miss Rodeo America Jordan Tierney there, she told herself, “when I have kids, I’ll make them do this.” Then she stopped herself: “No, this starts with me.” She competed at the 2022 NDWS pageant and won it.
She first attended the Winter Show at the age of two, and has rarely missed a year.
Now she holds a new title: as the 2023 Miss Rodeo Minnesota.
Klosterman is a graduate of
North Dakota State University with a master’s in business administration. She is the daughter of Kelly and Michelle Klosterman.
For Katelyn Goldade, the 2022 Miss NDWS Princess, this is her third title, having served as the 2019 Miss Triple R Princess (Edgeley, N.D.) and the 2021 Miss Rodeo Ashley (N.D.) Princess.
For the twelve-year-old cowgirl from Wishek, her favorite parts of the Winter Show are meeting new people, the barrel racing (which is her favorite event of the rodeo), and the taco bar.
A seventh grade student at Wishek Public School, she is member of FFA, 4-H, the Dakota Saddle Club in Wishek and the Beaver Valley Horse Club in Strasburg.
She is the daughter of Paul and Lisa Goldade.
The Queen Contest Fashion Show returns this year on Fri., March 10, with a new twist. Rodeo royalty will wear fashions from the vendors at the NDWS. It’s a great way to showcase the clothing the public can buy at the NDWS, said Sam Bishop, NDWS royalty coordinator. “It is free to the public, and we hope to get a good turnout.” It will be held in the Southeast Exhibit Building beginning at 3 pm.
Bishop, who is herself a former NDWS queen and the 2011 Miss Rodeo North Dakota, said that rodeo queening is more than a pretty face. The skills the young women gain
are helpful throughout their life.
“The biggest thing a queen pageant does for a young lady is to prepare her for the workforce. I always say, if a girl competes as a rodeo queen, she can go into any interview and get the job. It gets them out of their comfort zone. A lot of girls were shy. It completely gets them out of their shells. It gives them poise, confidence, professionalism, and teaches them etiquette.”
Other visiting rodeo queens include state queens Miss Rodeo North Dakota Lindsey Miller; Miss Rodeo South Dakota Morgan Erickson; Miss Rodeo North Carolina Rachel Gagliardi; and Miss Rodeo Arkansas Abigail Benz. Other queens in attendance will be Miss White Earth Valley Saddle Club Sweetheart Caileigh
Rudland; Miss Rodeo Prairie Rose Princess Emily Goldade; Miss McLeod Rodeo Assoc. Queen Jillian Hughes; Little Miss McLeod Rodeo Association Bennie Lunneborg; Miss Rodeo Ashley Princess Emberlin Gartner; Miss Prairie Rosebud Kaylee Johnson; Miss Rodeo Prairie Rose Jr. Princess Brooklyn Jenner;
Miss Sheyenne Stampede Rodeo Queen Riley Widman; Jr. Miss Rodeo Mandan Maggie Iverson; Miss Rodeo Mandan Princess Elizabeth Tibke, Miss McLeod Rodeo Association Princess Leigha Scott, and Miss Rodeo Ransom County Fair Ellie Baasch.