The Mother Lode Round-Up Queen Contestants and other awards have been announced by the Sheriff’s Posse who manages the local Mother Lode Rodeo, parade and more.

Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Posse General Chairman Mike Suess was Wednesday’s KVML “Newsmaker of the Day”. Suess shares that new this year, tickets including multi-day deals and event sign-ups are all online. Register for events like mutton busting and adult calf scramble starting March 17th.

Three candidates are running for Mother Lode Round-Up Queen are Hannah Fletcher, 17 years old of Oakdale, Kaelee Gates, 22 year old of Copperopolis, and Taryl Townsend of Sonora and recently relocated here from Boulevard, CA near the US-Mexico border. Details from each of the candidates are in our Mother Lode Round-Up Section here.

The 2026 Mother Lode Round-Up Queen will be announced on May 7 at 4 pm at Black Oak Casino Resort. The 2025 Round-Up Queen was Bailey Stepp. The queen candidates serve as ambassadors at all of the Roundup activities and queen contestants will sell raffle tickets with two drawings for $500 up for grabs.

Mother of the Year in 2026 is Denny Bettencourt, the Grand Marshal is Audie Archer and Top Hand is Roger Canepa.

Submit your entry online here now to be in the 10 am Mother Lode Round-Up Parade on Saturday, May 13th, the highlight of the two-day Mother Lode Roundup always falls on Mother’s Day weekend. There is a $40 fee to submit a parade entry, the deadline for entering the parade is April 22. Rodeo tickets to see the event at the Mother Lod Fairgrounds after the parade are $25 per day and will cost $5 more if purchased at the gate.

Other Round Up events before the Rodeo include the Great Steak BBQ April 18th from 4 pm – 7 pm and the stage interviews of the queen contestants on Saturday, May 2 at 8 am, both at the Sheriff’s Posse Grounds. Wednesday, May 6 at 6 pm is the Rick Restivo Memorial Band Review and Thursday, May 7 is the Queen Coronation with the Calcutta at 6 pm in the Posse Grounds Arena.

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