Special Edition • Morrow County Fair and Rodeo • Heppner Gazette-Times, Wednesday, August 8, 2012 - Page 3
Morrow County Fair and Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo Queen Maggie has it all
Queen Maggie Collins
2012 Morrow County
Fair and Oregon Trail Pro Ro
deo Queen Maggie Collins
has it all—beauty, brains, tal
ent, poise, personality, athlet
ic ability and work ethic. But
the 16-year-old queen has one
more advantage, the most im
portant one of all—her Chris
tian faith.
Maggie, the daughter
of Tim afid Jeannie Collins
of Heppner, told the Gazette-
Times that the best experience
she has had as fair and rodeo
queen was attending a queen’s
Bible camp this summer
where she was baptized.
“I was saved,” ex
claimed Maggie. “It was
amazing.”
“This was why God
put the idea into my mind to
become rodeo queen,” she
said. Maggie said that al
Queen Maggie plays her violin
2012 Town & Country awards
though she had been baptized
as a young child, she was
too young and had not been
saved. Wise beyond her years,
she lamented that so many of
the rodeo royalty she has met
aren't able see beyond the su
perficial “pretty dresses and
glitz.”
The queens' bible
camp, held in Coulee, WA,
the end of June was hosted
by Jamie Rauch, the sister of
Chris Rauch from the Hepp-
ner/Lexington area.
Maggie said that an
other favorite experience was
representing Morrow County
at Chief Joseph Days in Jo
seph, OR.
“The parade was
huge and everyone was so ex
cited and enthusiastic. I yelled
'Good morning Joseph,' and
the whole block yelled back.
The little kids were so friend
ly. I went through four auto
graphed picture tablets.”
Besides her parents,
Queen Maggie credits friends
Rita and Hal Bergstrom and
Roger and Rena Henry, who,
she says, go to all of the pa
rades, for supporting her in
her endeavors. “It would not
be possible without them,”
she says, adding that she is
humbled by all the support
people in Morrow County
have given her.
In fact, her horse,
Penny, belongs to the Berg
strom's daughter, Emily. Pen
ny, an 18-year-old quar
ter horse/Morgan cross
that stands 14.3 hands
high, is a veteran of pa
rades, rodeos and even
“bagpipes.” A liver-
colored chestnut with
a white stripe down her
face, Penny “loves chil
dren, peanut butter and
jelly sandwiches and
pineapple.”
“Penny is a
very lovable and de
pendable horse,” says
at the
Maggie's mom Jeannie.
“She and Maggie have bonded
and growl at each other when
Maggie has to give Penny a
bath when getting ready for
their court appearances. There
is an unmistakable bond that
they have with each other that
not just anyone can have with
an animal. They trust each
other to keep one another safe
while having fun doing their
jobs. It is really quite phe
nomenal the bond that they
share.”
Jeannie expresses a lot
of gratitude to the Bergstroms
for “allowing Maggie to bor
row this beautiful horse.”
Besides her parents,
Jeannie, a language arts teach
er at Heppner High School,
and Tim, who is a range
management specialist with
the Heppner Ranger District,
Maggie's family also includes
younger brothers Patrick, 14,
and Roy, eight. Maggie, her
dad and brothers all share a
love of music, singing and
playing the fiddle, mandolin
and guitar. She played the
fiddle at the 2003 state fair
contest, at the coronation of
Miss Rodeo Oregon Shelby
Ross, at a dinner for Miss
High School Rodeo Oregon
Lillian Sandford, also of the
Heppner/lone/Lexington area,
and even at her own corona
tion this March at the Morrow
County Fairgrounds in Hepp
ner along with her dad.
Maggie, who will be a
senior at Heppner High School
this fall, is also involved in
4-H, FFA, having recently
received her State Farmer's
Degree, was the 2011 Mor
row County Fair senior horse
grand champion showman,
is on the honor roll and is a
member of the National Hon
or Society. In addition to that
staggering schedule, she adds
sports to the mix, playing bas
ketball and softball. She was a
member of the Heppner High
School softball team, who
took the state championship
this year. She also likes work
ing with her 4-H pig, teaches
fiddle lessons and plays fiddle
with the Blue Mountain Fid
dlers.
Did we forget to men
tion that she also excels at
sewing? She made her own
parade outfit this year with the
help of Emily Bergstrom. The
green lame western shirt with
gold trim and a decorative
yoke is paired with a pair of
blue designer jeans. Her out
fits are accented with two dif
ferent boots, a pair of square-
toed black riding boots and a
pair of tan dress boots featur
ing decorative cuts of crosses
and roses. Her working outfit
usually consists of a pair of
decorative blue jeans, her tan
boots and an emerald-green t-
shirt with a paisley applique.
Not surprisingly, like all the
good guys in the old westerns,
Maggie wears a white hat,
although hers features a spar
kling crown.
Like many previous
royalty, Maggie has been a ro
deo flag bearer several times
and has ridden horses most
of her life. Her escapades as
Morrow County royalty in
clude meeting Miss Rodeo
America, Miss Rodeo Oregon
and Misses Rodeo Washing
ton and Idaho.
Queen Maggie has
designated a special event
at this year's
Oregon Trail
Pro
Rodeo.
She has desig
nated the Fri
day, August
17,
Oregon
Trail Pro Ro
deo as “Tough
Enough
Wear Pink
night, in sup
port of breast
cancer
re
search
and
for all those
whose lives
are affected Maggie Collins and
by breast cancer. She encour
ages everyone to come out
and wear pink to show their
support. She is in the process
of making pink arm bands for
rodeo and fair board members
and stock contractors—just
in case they don't have pink
shirts.
In addition to her
sparkly presence, Maggie's
reign as queen this year can be
celebrated for another reason.
She is the first queen to repre
sent the county in five years.
The Morrow County Fair and
Oregon Trail Rodeo Court
has gone without a queen and
court for all these years, ap
parently due to high costs and
lack of interest. With Maggie,
proud county residents can
say, “We're baack!”
her horse Penny