This year marks the third in a row that VTC Enterprises’ candidate for the Santa Maria Elks Rodeo Queen Contest took home the crown. St. Joseph High School student Madison Hall, 17, was pronounced rodeo queen during the 74th annual event on June 2.
Hall and VTC garnered $290,000 in donations—the largest amount ever raised by a single organization in Rodeo Queen history.
“I expected it to be high, but I was shocked by the amount that they raised,” Peter Sterling, chairman of the Elks Rodeo Queen Contest, told the Sun. “I thought they had a good chance of winning, but I thought I couldn’t rule out anyone. All of the groups had strong support.”
“I am very proud of all the queen candidates and their organizations for their hard work in raising funds,” he added.
Sterling has served as chairman of the contest on and off for more than a decade. One thing that rings true every year is that no matter which queen candidate wins, the real winner is always local nonprofits, he explained.
“The funds always go back into the community,” Sterling said. “And this year was substantial, as evidenced by the $573,000 in funds raised by the queen candidates and their sponsoring organizations.”
For example, the proceeds raised by Hall and VTC go toward job training programs for developmentally disabled individuals, Sterling explained.
VTC offers various services to people with disabilities in need of assistance in areas related to employment and daily living. These services are individualized as each client helps design their own plan based on their goals.
The organization was founded in 1961 in Santa Maria by a group of parents seeking life-skills services for their adult children with significant developmental disabilities. Hall became involved with VTC through her grandparents, Jim and Teresa Diani, who have been supporters of the company for decades, she said in a press release from VTC.
“I feel honored to have been chosen by VTC Enterprises to represent them,” Hall said in the release. “VTC does so much for our community, working alongside individuals with disabilities to assist them in reaching their personal and work-related goals.”
Hall said that being crowned rodeo queen is a dream come true. Her ambition to achieve rodeo royalty began when she was 7 and was given the opportunity to be “princess for a day” at the 2007 Elks Rodeo, which gives young girls the opportunity to accompany the queen candidates.
Starting as a princess and becoming queen a decade later was a challenge, but Hall thanks her family, friends, and the entire VTC staff for their support throughout the campaign.
“Madison’s family is fantastic to work with. They’re so gracious and hard working,” Erika Weber, marketing and development staffer at VTC, told the Sun. “This campaign was both a lot of work and a lot of fun. We really worked together as a team to make every fundraising event a success.”
Weber has helped organize every VTC queen campaign since the organization’s first in 2014. What makes the Rodeo Queen Contest so beneficial to VTC and other organizations is the opportunity to raise more funds in a short amount of time than regularly possible, Weber explained.
“All of the sponsoring organizations, including ours, are nonprofit and the contest allows us to generate additional funds for us to give back to the community,” Weber said. “That’s what makes this contest so important to us at VTC and the community overall.”
For more info on VTC, call 928-5000 or visit vtc-sm.org. For more info on the Santa Maria Elks Rodeo Queen Contest, visit elksrec.com.
Highlights:
• CalPortland raised $1,266 for the Santa Maria Elks Mini Rodeo this year. The funds were presented during the Joni Gray Party prior to the rodeo. CalPortland raised the funds through a raffle, which offered its employees a chance to own a Weatherby shotgun. Tickets were $1 each. The Weatherby was presented to CalPortland as a gift from Santa Maria Elks Rodeo and Parade in 2016 in recognition of their sponsorship and support over the years.
• Central Coast Pug Rescue has officially merged with Pug Nation of Los Angeles to continue rescuing pugs from Paso Robles to south Bakersfield. More information is available at pugnational.org.
Contributor Caleb Wiseblood wrote this week’s Biz Spotlight. Information should be sent to the Sun via fax, mail, or email at spotlight@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jun 22-29, 2017.