Scott Swanson
Of The New Era
Cera Kem was chosen 2008 Rodeo Queen Saturday night at a coronation dinner at the Elks Lodge.
Amanda Hilburn was named first princess and Jenna Jessen-Compton second princess by a panel of three judges.
Kem and Hilburn both have been members of the court before, Kem serving as princess last year.
“I am ecstatic,” Kem said following the event. “I was more nervous this year than last year. I wanted this so much.”
Hilburn decided over the weekend to step down, she said, because she’s been first princess twice before and she thinks Jessen-Compton should have that experience. She said a three-member court makes it more difficult and costly to have all three members travel to rodeos, while just having a queen isn’t ideal either.
“Three’s a crowd,” she said. “Traveling by yourself isn’t fun. I thought I might as well step down and let Jenna have the fun.
“I went into it for queen or nothing, since I haven’t been in those shoes.”
The court will represent the rodeo in the community and at other events throughout the state, and will help put on the 2008 Sweet Home Rodeo July 11-13.
The panel made its selection based on horsemanship, performance in an interview earlier in the day, a speech delivered during the dinner and answers to two impromptu questions.
Rodeo Committee Chairman Dick Coffin noted that the decision was a tough one as he made the announcement.
“There are no losers here,” he said.
Kem, 17, is the daughter of David and Kellie Kem of Sweet Home. She was princess on the 2007 Rodeo Court with Queen Larissa Bjornsen. who crowned her Saturday night.
A senior at Sweet Home High School, she has been involved in 4-H for nine years, with the school equestrian team for four years and works at Limited Spot Appaloosa Ranch in Crawfordsville.
After graduation, she plans to attend Northwest School of Massage Therapy to become an equine massage therapist.
At the rodeo coronation she was also named Miss Congeniality and Miss Horsemanship, the latter going to the top finisher in the horsemanship trials held during the fall.
Compton, 18, is a senior at Scio High School and the daughter of Julie and Jim Compton.
She was named Miss Photogenic.
Hilburn, 20, a student at Linn-Benton Community College, and the daughter of Billie Bjornsen and Ken Streeter, was named recipient of the Spirit Award at the coronation for “the smile that’s on her face all the time,” court coordinator Elizabeth Fitzsimons said.
A crowd of more than 140 attended the coronation event, which included a steak dinner and a silent auction. Auctioned items included a Labrador puppy, that sold for $300 in what became a live auction between two bidders, conducted by David Kem. Money raised from the event helps to pay for the court’s travel and other expenses.
The court has been involved in a variety of community outreach activities since the candidates were announced last fall. In December Cera Kem organized a spur-of-the-moment, pre-Christmas food drive at Roth’s supermarket in Lebanon that raised $400 and “tons” of food, Fitzsimons told the crowd.
During the public speaking segment of the event, Kem and Hilburn described their desire to be queen in allegorical style, while Jessen-Compton described a bucking bronco’s rodeo experience as seen through the horse’s eyes.
In the inpromptu question-and-answer portion, Kem said her favorite rodeo event was mutton bustin’ because she enjoys “seeing a flock of kids get shoved in the dirt and get up and say, ‘Man, that was fun.'”
To a second question, about what she would say to people who argue that rodeo is cruelty for animals that participate in it, she answered that rodeo is a sport and the animals are athletes, trained for the sport and therefore aren’t being abused.
Kem said she plans to represent Sweet Home at other rodeos in the community, and “really further my ventures in the state and even out of state.
“I want to give more people the opportunity to know that Sweet Home has a rodeo,” she said.
She said she would also like to visit local preeschools and elementary schools to talk to children about rodeo.
“I really want to go to schools this year and show children what it’s like to be a rodeo queen,” she said. “I want to show them all the things they can do to participate in the rodeo and watch it. I want to take Jenna with me. Really give children a rodeo experience without having to go to a rodeo.”