By Kimberly Bowker, for The Bulletin Special Projects

If you find yourself sitting on the bleachers watching barrel racing and team roping at the Deschutes County Rodeo this summer, be sure to say hi to Brooke Murphy as she walks through the stands. The 2018 rodeo queen loves chatting with folks of all ages and listening to their stories.

“It is important to meet new people and engage in conversations with others, and learn from those conversations,” said Murphy. “You become a better person because of them. There are so many stories out there that people have, and it’s important to know those stories.”

Brooke Murphy, this year’s Deschutes County Fair & Rodeo Queen, began her own story growing up in the same house in Bend since birth, and on her family’s ranch near Mitchell. The 18-year-old Bend Senior High graduate has been part of 4-H for eight years, traveled as a competitive Irish dancer for 11 years, served on student council, played on the basketball, track, and cross-country teams, was a member of the Oregon High School Equestrian Team, and helped to start a nonprofit with her father. Each activity has taught her something new, and she takes all the lessons with her into life.

“I think it’s important for everyone to look for new passions,” she said, “and never limit yourself to just one, because I think there are so many things you can do.”

Murphy’s journey to rodeo queen included a pageant, a timed speech, a written test of about 80 questions, and an interview with a panel of three judges who asked questions about equine and rodeo knowledge as well as current events, and posed queries to draw out the contestant’s personality and character. In addition, contestants were required to conduct horsemanship tests, such as reining patterns to demonstrate riding skills, a queen wave run-in, and carrying a flag on horseback.

“Brooke stood out to me with her personality and the way that she interacts with people,” said Clay Penhollow, one of the judges and the 2013 Grand Marshal of Deschutes County Fair & Rodeo. Both the grand marshal and the queen, according to Penhollow, are representative to the community of the roots, agricul-ture, care, and fun that the fair and rodeo are all about.

Last year, Murphy acquired her first title as rodeo royalty as queen of the Wheeler County Fair & Rodeo in Mitchell. To earn the title in both places where she grew up is special for her, serving as a way to make an impact on the people around her.

“Both places are so close to my heart, and they have given so much to me, and I wanted to give back to my community as best I can,” she said.

Serving as rodeo queen has taught Murphy many things—how to present herself, how to speak more intelligently, how to talk to other people, and how to conduct herself in interviews among them. She has learned to be open when communicating, to remember that people are people, and to engage, laugh, ask questions, and find commonalities in their experiences. Murphy loves talking to children, hearing about their dreams, and giving them the encouragement to achieve what they want to do.

“Brooke is an amazing young lady,” said Carol Shull-Zimmerman, queen advisor and secretary of Miss Rodeo Oregon Inc. “She is very well spoken, and above and beyond anything, she is very gracious and kind. She is really kind to other people and is wonderful with little kids, and is very willing to give of herself and give a helping hand any way that she can.”

Murphy helps her father and his business partner with their nonprofit, Children of Circumstance Outdoors, working as social media coordinator and guide to open the family ranch in Mitchell to terminally ill youth and those who have lost parents in service. The kids go hunting and spend time outdoors, experiencing the gift of being in nature.

Having hunted with her father since the age of nine, Murphy is part of a sustenance hunting family and an advocate of the conservation that hunters contribute to the environment. For her senior trip, Murphy and her father traveled to Saskatchewan, where she dropped a 400-pound bear with a bow, the bear meat contributing to stews and jerky to feed her family. Hunting has taught her patience, perseverance, the ability to listen to what is going on around her, and how to learn about the animals that make the world an incredible place.

Murphy plans to attend Oregon State University in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program this fall, taking all the lessons that she has learned thus far in hopes of becoming a trauma surgeon in the United States Armed Forces.

If you see Murphy this summer at the fair and rodeo, she asks that you come on up and talk with her about anything. She loves life and is thankful for all of its blessings.

“Every day I try to wake up and say, this day is going to be a good day and be optimistic about every day,” Murphy said. “What is important is the people around you and the nature around you, and it is important to stop and see what we are surrounded by sometimes.”