Nineteen-year-old Alora Wright remembers the moment when she wanted to be a rodeo queen.
“I’ve been going to the Frolic since I was 6 years old and the 2012 queen is the one who made me want to be a rodeo queen,” Wright said last weekend. “Since that day, I’ve been practicing the queen wave.”
Not only does Wright appear to have the wave down, but the smile, smarts and skills to go along with it. She will take over the rodeo queen title for 2025 coming out of last week’s tryouts.
“We do a speech, we do a personal interview, we do a horsemanship pattern, we’re judged every night at the rodeos, they ask us questions that they throw at us in the back of the barrel truck,” Wright said. “Wherever they need us, we go with a smile and a wave.”
The Frolic and Rodeo added a princess title this year “to try to encourage some younger girls to get involved so we can produce more quality queens when they get a little bit older and drum up some interest,” said Sara Wright, Alora’s mother, Frolic and Rodeo board member and queen coordinator.
The first princess title goes to 15-year-old Cadence Stevens.
“I love rodeos because it’s such a fun environment and I feel like the people here are so helpful and always willing to come and help you with whatever you need,” Stevens said. “I just love the people here.”
Stevens said that going through the tryout has been “like getting the experience without having as much pressure on you and not as many expectations. And then you get to look up to the queen and see how she does things. … They’re always there to help you and guide you and teach you what to do.”
The queen and princess know one another well.
“I look forward to being with Alora because I’ve known her since I was little,” Stevens said. “It’ll be fun because we’re friends.”
The queen and princess were crowned during the Saturday night rodeo.
“The community reached out and said that they really like having the competition during Frolic weekend and we listened,” Sara Wright said. “They also said that they would love to see local girls hold the title of queen. Because of that, our princess title has a 30-mile radius attached to the requirements.”
As for the 2012 Frolic queen that inspired Alora Wright to start practicing young, it was Denise Nelson. The two queens actually have a lot in common. At the time, Nelson was also age 19 and like Wright, planned to attend a two-year school in the fall. In fact, both were returning to Oregon after spending time in other states — Nelson in Arizona and Wright in Florida.
Wright plans to major in agribusiness this fall at Linn-Benton Community College. Stevens still has two years of high school left but knows that she wants to go to college in pursuit of a career as a sonographer.
Wright came into Frolic and Rodeo weekend with more riding experience than her princess counterpart, which is understandable considering their age difference. Wright has been a flag runner on rodeo night since she was about age 12 and has become accustomed to performing in front of a crowd.
Stevens did it for the first time on July 11 — this year’s first rodeo night.
“I think the most challenging would have to probably just to keep my horses cool because it’s her first time doing anything like this,” Stevens said when asked about the toughest part of serving as rodeo royalty. “I have to make sure I’m calm so that she doesn’t feed off my energy.”
Wright, who rode a horse for the first time at 18 months old, said she thrives in the chaos and high-energy challenges that come with serving as a rodeo queen.
“I want to be involved in this way because it brings our community together in such a big way, especially in a small town,” Wright said about why she wanted the title. “It’s amazing to see the crowd that it brings in and the joy on the little kids’ faces and the excitement it brings.”
Stevens rode Ruby in the arena and was also on her for the Grand Parade.
“I have grown up around horses since I was little and I’ve come to the rodeo every single year,” she said. “It’s been our life.”
Wright, meanwhile, was on Glimmer for rodeo nights and on Doc in the parade.
“I hope to stay involved as much as I can and come back and help with the Frolic every year,” Wright said when asked if she sees herself wanting to continue involvement. “As long as I’m here, I hope to stay involved and maybe hold another title after this one.”
Wright will succeed this year’s queen, Katie Kilcullen, on Jan. 1.
