Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 7, 2013)
Special Edition • Morrow County Fair and Rodeo • Heppner Gazette-Times, Wednesday, August 7, 2013 - Page 3 Powell sparkles as fair and rodeo queen Krysten Powell, 20, reigns as the 2013 Morrow County Fair and Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo Queen. Not only has Powell represented Morrow C ounty for its 100,h fair celebration, she is also carrying on her own family tradition. Q ueen K rysten is the daughter of Mike Powell and Annette Wilgers Powell, who was a 1982 Morrow County Fair and Rodeo princess. She is the granddaughter o f Vi Wilgers, Heppner, and John Wilgers, Hermiston, an ex team roper. Her grandparents also maintained a ranch on Rhea Creek for many years, and all were avid supporters o f the Morrow County Fair, helping with the 4-H horse show and sponsoring awards for many years. “1 grew up with all the stories and riding my mom's old Morrow County Fair & Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo Queen Krysten Powell Cabins - RV’s ~ Tents Fishing ~ATV trails Concessions Reservation Line 541 989-8214 - W ebsite: m orrow countyparks.org Email: m cparks@ co.m orrow .or.us Morrow County Public Works 365 W. Hwy 74, P.O. Box ~ Lexington, OR. 97839 541-989-9500 Office court horse, Smokey, Mom’s official Morrow County Fair and Rodeo mount in 1982,” says Krysten. “ We had him (Smokey) until he was 33, He lived to a nice ripe old age.” One of Krysten’s official rodeo mounts for her own reign as queen is Patches, also known as Fatty Patty, a nine- year old “show horse with a big personality.” Needless to say, adds Krysten, Fatty Patty “loves food.” Originally a show horse w ith many awards and accomplishments, Patches has taken well to the life of a queen horse. This is the second year for both in a rodeo royalty position. Queen Krysten served as a princess on the 2010 Umatilla County Fair Court, also using Patches as her official mount. H er o th e r h o rs e , George, a five-year-old half- thoroughbred is “just like a little kid.” says Krysten. “1 got him as a rope horse prospect. He doesn't have a lot upstairs, but he’s sure got a lot of brawn. He’s really good, though.” Since her co ro n atio n , Powell has represented the fair and rodeo in a variety of ways, including helping out at the Heppner St. Patrick’s weekend Irish boxing smoker as a “ring girl,” riding on a float in the St. Patrick’s Great Green Parade, riding in Fourth of July parades in lone and Boardman and, of course, travelling to events around Eastern O regon to spread the word about Morrow County’s centennial fair. A 2011 g r a d u a te o f P en d le to n H igh S c h o o l, Powell participated in track and field, dram a club and FLICC. Queen Krysten also participated in various 4-H animal projects, showing at both the U m atilla County Fair and the Milton-Freewater Junior Show for many years, earning several championship animal showman awards. She has also shown in many open horse shows throughout the area, earning many high-point awards. When s h e ’s not representing Morrow County, Queen Krysten loves, well, riding. She says that riding has taken up much o f her “spare” time for the past couple years. “ I also love to go fishing, anything outdoors.” Krysten also works at Sm itty's Ace Hardware in Hermiston. The queen’s future plans include continuing to attend BMCC and then transferring to Oregon State University. She plans to pursue psychology and equine sciences, hoping to combine the two in the future. In the present, she is excited for the Morrow County Fair and Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo. She says she is looking forward to a wonderful week representing the county that she has come to know and love. "H arvesting 100 Y ears op M emories M orrow C ounty F air !" at the
