Holly Spreitzer, the 2016 Rooftop Rodeo queen, is now the rodeo’s royalty coordinator and would love to involve more young people in the program, which allows youth to grow through Estes Park’s Western legacy.
(PHOTO BY TED HARBIN)

 

Rodeo’s royalty program helps mold Estes Park’s young people

ESTES PARK, Colo. – For many, rodeo is much more than a sport.

Sure, there’s a rough-and-tumble attitude toward it, just based on the brawn and tests of talent that are part of every ride and run. But there’s also a beauty to it, whether it’s a high-leaping bucking horse seemingly floating through the air or a barrel racer speeding around the arena on her athletic partner.

There’s also majesty in the form of rodeo royalty, and that’s certainly the case for Rooftop Rodeo, set for 7 p.m. Monday, July 6-Saturday, July 11, at Granny May Arena inside the Estes Park Fairgrounds.

“Being in the royalty program builds confidence, and it builds an understanding of animals and the relationships you can have with animals,” said Toni Brown, who was Rooftop Rodeo attendant in 1978 and queen in 1979. “I think continuing strong horsemanship is a good quality.”

Rooftop Rodeo has a long and storied history of royalty alumni, from Patty Moomaw in 1941 to Sharidan Huggins in 2025. The rodeo is also interested in maintaining communication with its former royalty members, so a form has been established at https://www.rooftoprodeo.com/past-queens.html for alumni to provide information.

“We’d love for all our Rooftop Rodeo royalty alumni to fill that form out so we can contact them and keep the communication flowing,” said Cindy Schonholtz, the Rooftop Rodeo coordinator.

That will help open the dialog while also trying to make the program the best it can be.

“There are a lot of other things that being a queen helps with that you will need going forward,” Brown said. “You need the ability to speak, the ability to understand the rodeo and the ability to understand the town and be a good representation of the town.”

It’s been several decades, but everything Brown gained during her reign is still being used today.

“I think the big things are to be respectful and responsible,” she said. “I think that holds true today more than ever given the use of technology.”

Queens and attendants are ambassadors for Rooftop Rodeo, but they’re not the only ones. Estes Park’s rodeo is unique in that it has a program designed for boys to learn and grow within the values of representing one of the community’s marquee events.

“The royalty program is ultimately the development of youth,” said Holly Spreitzer, the 2016 Rooftop Rodeo queen and the Rooftop Rodeo royalty coordinator. “The youth is our future. Rodeo is becoming more popular, but it’s also becoming more challenging to continue on what we have in our Western heritage. Being able to cultivate an environment where youth can grow up in an environment that helps preserve our past while building our future is the goal with our royalty program.

“Ours extends not just for the young women but also the young men in our program. We have young men that are able to be wranglers and junior wranglers. Not only do we teach the girls the side of rodeo, but I also want to teach the men to cultivate the next rodeo athlete or the next rodeo supporter in some way.”

There is something to be said about cowboy culture, where folks look out for their neighbors, care for animals like loved ones and are willing to work for everything they have.

“I want to help build and create an environment for them to grow into amazing human beings that are going to be successful in any facet that they choose to go into in their lives,” she said.

Spreitzer has experienced those benefits.

“It was an amazing opportunity,” she said. “The year before I got into the Rooftop Rodeo Royalty program, I was part of the Larimer County Sheriff’s Posse, and it really started there because that was my first rodeo experience as a local queen. They took me under their wing.

“Because I was in the royalty program, I got some amazing opportunities that helped me propel into the future of working inside of rodeo, not just being a representative of rodeo. That was a very positive experience to kind of kick-started my entrance into the rodeo industry.”

While there have been changes to the royalty program over the decades, one thing remains constant: The mission is for the betterment of youth involved.

“We were part of every performance and part of both parades,” Brown said. “Back then we had four days and five performances, so we had a double-performance day in there. On Saturday afternoon, there was a kids’ rodeo gymkhana, which was super fun. We also had other requirements that we tended to, like going to five or six parades and rodeos in our area.

“Our job was representing Estes Park, representing Rooftop Rodeo and representing Estes Park as a Western-heritage town.”

It sparks pride in the community as well as in oneself and continues to be a major part of the program.

“I think one of the biggest benefits I gained out of it is having initiative and being able to have confidence to enter any environment not only with an open mind, but also a learning heart,” Spreitzer said. “The biggest thing in rodeo is that there’s always something to learn. Something I took away from when I first started as the attendant and went on to carry through with as the queen is that there’s a lot of responsibility that goes into it.

“There are so many other things that a queen does. It’s not just a pretty face you see. It’s the person that helps sit you down and talks to you about your life experiences and how you got yourself here and what brought you to the rodeo industry. It’s also the person that is there to be supportive in other ways, not just in the rodeo community but also as a community.”

 

Gates for Rooftop Rodeo open at 5 p.m. Monday, July 6-Saturday, July 11, with the preshow beginning at 6:30 p.m. and the rodeo beginning at 7 p.m. For more information about Rooftop Rodeo, which is a Town of Estes Park signature event, or to order tickets online, log on to www.RooftopRodeo.com. Other ticket inquiries may be made by contacting the Town of Estes Park Events office at events@estes.org or (970) 586-6104.