On the west end of the arena on Wednesday evening, Alora Wright posed for photos in full Philomath Frolic and Rodeo queen attire — a crown attached to a black cowboy hat, a button-up striped western shirt, denim jeans with a large buckle, a sash identifying her royal title in decorative script and an impressive set of custom-made leather chaps.
Opening night for the first of three evening rodeo performances was just eight days away. And the 20-year-old can’t wait to ride into the arena on her longtime horse, Glimmer.
“It gives me goosebumps every time I think about it,” Wright said.
Wright’s look blends tradition, pageantry and western heritage as part of her efforts to represent the Frolic and Rodeo with pride and professionalism. With those in mind, she couldn’t be happier with how the custom chaps turned out.
“It’s exactly what I envisioned,” Wright said. “We’ve been working on these since October of last year and the maker was absolutely amazing to work with. He did everything exactly how I asked — he kept a little bit of them a secret.”
Kody Bedore, who runs KB Custom Leather in McCook, Nebraska, made them.
“I kind of let him be creative because he does it for a living,” Wright said. “I told him what I wanted, where I wanted it and he just took off from there and made it better than I ever could have.”
In a special tip of the cowgirl hat, Wright’s chaps carry special significance that connects her to the community’s past.
“I’ve lived here almost my whole life and I absolutely adore this little town and everything it has to offer,” Wright said. “So I wanted to incorporate a little bit of our timber town — the rodeo side of it but also some personal things that mainly just capture how amazing our little town is.”
Growing up, Wright enjoyed the mural that appeared on the side of the CD&J Cafe building. The mural features a logging truck, cheering students, Marys Peak, a cowgirl on a horse and the iconic Philomath College building that now houses a museum.
All of those images appear on the chaps.
“As soon as we’d come into town and I’d see it, I knew we were almost home,” Wright said about the mural. “It’s just a great replication of our town and everything that we do and how diverse we are and how our community can come together to just be a small town in a big way.”
After CD&J shut down and the building went through a renovation to become the Dizzy Hen, the old mural was relocated from the property. But it can still be seen at Mainline Pump and Irrigation on Applegate Street just east of South Eighth.
Wright’s signature image, a feather, also appears on the chaps in addition to her buckle, tack set and bronc halter. It will also be featured on a custom scrapbook that’s in the works.
“It’s kind of a little piece of me,” she said. “I’ve grown up loving feathers, so it’s just kind of a little bit of my trademark almost.”
An up-close look reveals other features of the custom chaps:
- Frolic and Rodeo logos from past and present are featured on each hip.
- The Skirvin name is plainly seen to pay tribute to the family that helped start the local rodeo and later donated land where the rodeo grounds are located.
- The years 1953 and 2002 are highlighted — the first representing the Frolic’s inaugural year and the latter being when Wright’s horse, Glimmer, was born.
- Wright’s first name appears on the back and her initials are on the front.
“When I began my year (as rodeo queen), I wanted to bring a little bit of the history of the Frolic back into it,” she said, “because I feel like everything nowadays is evolving, which is good, but we also just want to remember where we came from and where the tradition began.”
The custom leather chaps did come with a hefty price tag of about $3,000.
“My sponsors were absolutely amazing,” she said. “CPI and Cantrell Logging are both local businesses and they were so excited to help our queen program this year. They’re first-time sponsors — we’re growing our sponsorship program — so I really took that and ran with it this year. They have been so supportive and amazing to work with.”
Wright has raised significant funds through sponsorships and her coronation in January. She plans to leave most of those funds with the queen and court program to purchase a rotating tack set, create a queen’s closet of apparel for future royalty to use and update aging supplies abd equipment.
“My goal this year was to hit it out of the park and really help build our program,” she said. “I only get to do it for one year but it’s been a dream since I was little. So every girl after me, I want to be able to help them improve in the program, get custom things like I did and just help the program grow a little bit.”
Among its additions was adding a princess, a role filled by Cadence Stevens. Next year, there are plans to add a junior princess with possibly more to follow in the future.
Wright plans to begin classes this fall at Linn-Benton Community College with hopes one day of becoming a National FFA teacher — a youth-based organization formerly known as Future Farmers of America that promotes and supports agricultural education.
But before embarking on that part of her life, Wright will carry out the rigorous duties of a rodeo queen over the rest of the summer.
“We’re on the road every weekend and I just absolutely love it,” Wright said, naming off a few of the towns that she’s visited so far. “It’s almost rodeo time here so it’s coming full circle. I was crowned here last year during the rodeo so it’s almost been a full year, which is crazy. And we have so much more to go — we have at least 10 more rodeos to hit this year.”
The Philomath Frolic and Rodeo runs July 10-12. Tickets can be purchased online.
This is a great article. My grandfather went to the college.