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
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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