Back in 1999 and 2000, several stars from the national rodeo circuit appeared on the cover of our Drysdales catalogs. They were pitching Wrangler Western and 20X products, both which we sell today.
This is the image of the September 1999 catalog cover (click to enlarge):
Here are the folks in that cover, from left:
- Team roper Charles Pogue, a 15-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier
- Shelly Williams, Miss Rodeo America 1999
- Girl and boy are unidentified
- Champion barrel racer and model Fallon Taylor
This is the image from the September 2000 catalog cover:
From left in the cover are:
- Calf roper Josh Crow, a Resistol Rookie of the Year
- Brandy DeJongh, Miss Rodeo America 2000
- Unidentified boy and girl
- Shelly Williams, Miss Rodeo America 1999
More than a decade has passed since those Wrangler and 20X photo sessions, so we wondered what those cover models are doing now.
Shelly Williams, who graced the cover of our catalog twice, now works in Boise, Idaho, as marketing director for Knitting Factory, a concert promoter. She also still helps her mother produce about 20 barrel races each summer.
She says her time as a national rodeo queen honed skills she still uses today, including being flexible and “functioning on not much sleep.”
“There are really so many things that in some minor way or another have made me such a better person. I am also grateful for the educational scholarship I received, and use that degree and education every day of my life,” Shelly said in an email.
One time during her royal tenure, Shelly lost a ring of great sentimental value during a rodeo in Wyoming. After a fruitless search in the arena, two small girls prayed the ring would be found. During another search of the arena floor’s muck and dust, the girls found the ring and returned it to a grateful and emotional Shelly.
Shelly said she remembers that episode well.
“I was part of the clown act, and the ring flew off my finger. Miss Mariah and her friends were endless in their search. I still have the letter from both her and her mother (and the ring, I’m happy to say). What an amazing memory!”
DeJongh, a 2000 Miss Rodeo America who hailed from Leona Valley, Calif., married Jason Whitlow in 2006. She now works for Henry Schein Medical in the Denver area.
One of DeJongh’s most notable moments as rodeo queen was when she was hit in the face by a pie from an animal-rights activist. The pie-thrower was arrested, fined, and placed on probation. DeJongh was praised for her poise following the incident.
DeJongh also served as the last Miss Winston of the NASCAR stock-car racing circuit. That included DeJongh getting an inadvertent champagne shower after driver Jeff Gordon won a big race in Atlanta.
Fallon Taylor still is competing (and winning) in barrel racing, despite a riding mishap two years ago where she broke her neck. She’s still modeling, too.
At 7, she was the youngest member ever in the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association. At age 13, Fallon was among the youngest to qualify for the National Finals Rodeo. In her career, she’s won more than $500,000 in prize money.
Taylor is an instructor and horse breeder for Dynasty Equine, near Dallas.
Crow, a Resistol Rookie of the Year in calf roping in 1999, re-evaluated his career in professional rodeo after multiple knee surgeries and the death of his father from cancer in 2001.
Crow became head coach of the rodeo team at South Plains College in Levelland, Texas, for nine years, including a third-place finish nationally in 2009.
Crow now manages the J Bar 7 ranch in Quanah, Texas. He and his wife Ashley have an infant daughter. Crow says he still does “a little roping on the side.”
Pogue this year enlisted as part of the Total Team Roping online training program.
Pogue won the Team Roping Rookie of the Year award in 1987. Pogue finished the regular season as the earnings leader four times (1991, 1992, 1997 and 1998). He finished second in the world championship in 1998. He also won average title at the 2000 National Finals Rodeo.
Pogue and his wife Londa have two girls, and live near Ringling, Okla. He doesn’t travel as much for rodeo competition, but remains part of the PRCA Prairie Circuit that covers Oklahoma, Nebraska and Kansas.
