Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
The Sweet Home Rodeo has five candidates for queen this year, including Larissa Bjornsen, Jessica Eli, Cera Kem, Ecaterina Rodriguez and Brandy Young.
The five candidates tried out for horsemanship in September. Through January, they will raise funds, perform volunteer work and participate in the Albany Veteran’s Day Parade and Sweet Home Christmas Parade.
The queen will be selected on Jan. 20. The location of the coronation and time remain to be announced. The queen will be joined by one princess this year for a final court size of two.
The first duty for the queen and princess will be helping out at the Chamber of Commerce awards banquet in February.
Among plans this year is a fall fashion show, said Kellie Kem, a rodeo committee director.
The show, a luncheon, is planned tentatively for Nov. 18. She hopes to get Ms. Oregon and Ms. NPRA to be guest speakers.
Vendors interested in the fall fashion show, sponsorships or making donations, may contact the new rodeo coordinator, Elizabeth Fitzsimons. Fitzsimons was the 2002 rodeo queen. She may be reached at 401-5911.
All five candidates are from the Sweet Home area.
Bjornsen is the daughter of Billie Bjornsen and Kenneth R. Street. She is a senior at Sweet Home High School. She works at Figaro’s and has worked two summers for Scott Cooley’s landscaping business.
Eli is the daughter of Bob and Linda Eli. She is a junior at Sweet Home High School. She works for McDonald’s in Lebanon.
Kem is the daughter of David and Kellie Kem. She is a junior at Sweet Home High School.
Young is the daughter of Trudee Balester. She earned her GED and is in her second year of college at Linn-Benton Community College working on an associate’s degree in equine management.
Rodriguez is working on her GED through LBCC. Her parents live in Eugene. She is an active volunteer with TJ Farms where she helps with feeding, maintenance and training some of the horses.