Hey y’all! I’m Monica Stewart and I am your 2018 Miss ORA! I am currently in school at Missouri State University and in progress for my Ag Communications degree. My main interest has always been steered towards the educating and informing of the people for the industry I love so dearly, putting those things together into one is my main interest. My future goals after graduating includes working with media and Ag marketing. I have my personal interview show I took on as my own project called “Saddle Up Ozarks” that I edit, video, and sit to speak with many Ag related and horse related subjects across the Ozarks to promote the horse industry to the general public. My passion is to educate the public of the western and horse lifestyle in a fun and interesting way.

I am from Marshfield, Missouri and proud to say that I am from the Ozarks. I have been involved in horses my whole life since I was a child and the passion has grown bigger as I continue to learn in the sport. You usually will find me at rodeos, a reining show, or cow horse show as those are what my biggest hobbies consist of. 

During my reign I plan to practice my skills on becoming stronger in communication and improve my knowledge in public speaking and promotion to the public of the western industry. I am extremely grateful for this opportunity and feel extremely blessed for this association to help me on my journey. I cannot wait to see what the future holds this year!


I encourage ya'll to join me this year as I will be sharing all of my adventures here and letting you see what I'm up to! I also plan to share the results of each rodeo and speaking with the winners to get exclusive interviews with the contestants after their runs each night. So stay tuned for videos this season to go along with my blog! 
Till next time cowboys and cowgirls!
-Monica Stewart
​Miss ORA 2018

Hello everyone and welcome to the brand new Miss Ozark Rodeo Association Pageant Blog! As our pageant grows and our queens get busier with appearances throughout their reigns, we have decided to start a blog to share some of the experiences that come with being one of the Miss ORA Queens. 

In this blog you will find articles from our queens and what they are doing throughout their summers, interviews from people in the rodeo industry including other rodeo queens on the state and national level, rodeo queen tips to help you further prepare for your competitions, and much more! We are excited to take you on this journey with us!

For those of you who don't know me, I am Shannon Norris and I am the Director of the Miss Ozark Rodeo Association Pageant. I am 22 years old and a native of St. Robert, Mo. On top of being a director, I work full time for my family and attend school at the University of Tennessee at Martin where I am obtaining my degree in Farm and Ranch Management. After college, I hope to eventually take over my family's farm and even pursue a career in professional rodeo. This is my third year as the Director and I am so blessed by this job and I am enjoying watching our girls grow throughout their years. My mom was the National Director for Miss Rodeo Missouri for 18 years so I was literally born into the rodeo queen world and I traveled with her to many PRCA rodeos and other state pageants, where I met many wonderful people involved with rodeo and the Miss Rodeo America Pageant. I am also a former competitor in pageants myself as I have been competing since I was three and competed for the title of Miss Missouri 2016 as Miss Texas County in the Miss America Organization. I am looking forward to the continued growth of our pageant in the years to come. 

Stay tuned for our next blog where you will meet our 2018 queens, Miss ORA Monica Stewart and Miss Teen ORA Jacci Gregory!

Thank you to our sponsors: Secrest Tees, More, and Western Store; May's Custom Boot and Leather; Schweer Farm; Ellie L. Illustrations; Sherry Smith Photography; Broken P Arena; Rockin Rodeo Creations; Rhinestone Lipgloss; Kendra's Long-Lasting Lips; Susan Lange-Rodan&Fields; Showboat Branson Belle; Kansas City Chiefs; HoldIt MagneticNumbers; Mary Kay-Victoria Wilson; Amanda's Photography & Design​; Texas Roadhouse; The Wilson Family; The Hibdon Family; Bankhead Candies; The Branson Famous Baldknobbers; and Grand Country Music Hall.

Happy Trails,
Shannon
Miss ORA Pageant Director