Your 2026 Rodeo Court includes Miss Calaveras Rodeo Princess Aurora Kelling, Miss Calaveras Senior Rodeo Queen Mina Russell Choi, and Miss Calaveras Junior Rodeo Queen Alisha Baker. Jason Currier/Calaveras Enterprise
As part of a new format, the 2026 Calaveras Rodeo Queens were announced and crowned Friday night at the fair on the mainstage in proximity with the Miss Calaveras competition.
In a nutshell, while two of the three rodeo queen races were noncompetitive, meaning there was only one candidate in contention, Mina Russell Choi, crowned as Miss Calaveras Senior Rodeo Queen and Aurora Kelling, at 9 years old, the first ever Miss Calaveras Rodeo Princess, competed as if they faced a field of rivals, according to Rodeo Queen Competition director Suzanne Butler.
As far as onstage surprises went, of the three contenders in the Miss Calaveras Junior Queen race, Alisha Baker emerged as the victor, winning speech, interview and horsemanship categories. The other candidates, Stella Cole and Scarlet Lucero, were staunch competitors with Cole winning the written test and Live Like Lilly (LLL) spirit award and Lucero winning the appearance and ticket sales award. Butler noted that the LLL and ticket sales categories had no point value in the actual queen contest.
Among the prizes received by the winners was a $5,000 scholarship to Russell Choi as the Senior Queen as well as the perpetual chaps and all the other accompanying gear awarded to the queens.
“This group of young ladies did an amazing job being involved in the community. I am very proud of their commitment to the community and to this fair,” Butler proudly shared. Butler has been the lead for the competition since 2023; having initially taken on a supporting coordinator role in 2021, when her daughter Lilly became Rodeo Queen royalty.
The ceremony came in even closer proximity with on stage honors for the Broglios as the 2026 Fair Family and ahead of a rousing and highly entertaining performance by country artist Pam Tillis, Friday night’s mainstage entertainment headliner. Prior to this year, the Rodeo Queen competition finals determination and crowning were held in the afternoon at the Friends of the Fair’s Ranch building.
This reporter attended the afternoon events at the Ranch during which the queen contestants modeled, gave their speeches and were asked questions pulled from a container as judges reviewed them. The activities, witnessed by an enthusiastically supportive audience, were the culminating portion of a weeklong competition involving numerous components such as an interview, written test and horsemanship.
This year’s Rodeo Queen judges were Roper Sports News publisher and former Miss Oakdale
Rodeo Dee Yates; former Oakdale and Amador title holder Lillian Crummey and the currently reigning Miss Rodeo California Sujhey Rosas. All three, through their support, judging service and media presence serve as strong role models for young women as well as active rodeo heritage advocates.
Yates shared, “It was a true honor to judge the Rodeo Queen competition at the Calaveras County Fair and Rodeo, my hometown fair. Suzanne is an amazing leader, and she’s built something genuinely special—an event that also honors her beautiful daughter Lilly through the Live Like Lilly Foundation, which makes the whole weekend that much more meaningful.
“The young women we judged blew me away,” she continued. “Intelligent, hard-working, talented, and poised beyond their years, Calaveras should be enormously proud of the youth coming up here. As the publisher of Ropers Sports News, I’m blessed to have a front-row seat to incredible events all over the West, and this one was among the very best.” You can follow Yates’ activities at roperssportsnews.com.
Competition Director Butler thanked the Calaveras Rodeo Queen sponsors, which included Blonde Desperado, Bridlewood Equestrian Center, Buchanan’s Country Feed and More,
Legends Ranch Show Pads, Opal Hill Family Farm, Pony Expressions, Punchy Charms, Pyranna, Triple C Photography, Triple L Photography, Turners Wild West, Western Reign Designs, and WMR Custom Leather.
Meet the Queens, Princess
Calaveras Senior Rodeo Queen Russell Choi, who was holding her market Californian rabbit butternut as she spoke with the Enterprise on Friday after the Hide Race, shared, “I am very very excited. I have been dreaming of this moment since I was four–so 12 years ago–and being able to do this is such a blessing. I am so grateful for everyone who has helped guide me throughout the way.”
She continued, “It’s been a little chaotic–not going to lie–because I am showing five animals at fair but after I was done with my sheep and goat shows, I quickly ran over…did my speech and and onstage portion, nailed it, and then we went onto the big stage for crowning. So, I am now very excited to represent this county for an entire year!”
Holding her repaired but still somewhat bent Queen’s crown and her still to show Californian Market Rabbit named Butternut, Russell Choi confided that before taking part in Friday’s Hide Race, she had no upfront idea of what the event actually entailed. As the second hide rider in the three-person team Hide Race, she noted, “As I jumped on, the cowhide flipped so I just said ‘keep going fast’ because we wanted to win the (belt) buckle–especially being the newly elected queens!
“I caught some air, my hat fell off, crown went flying, sash came off and I got dirty because I’m basically the one getting pulled in the dirt with the cowhide pretty much on top of me,” she continued. “When we were done, they announced that we were 13.13 (seconds) for our time and then I realized, ‘where’s my crown and hat’ and when they got it, it was quite literally bent in half with the band all broken.”
Butler confided that she was able to get Paul James Jewelers in Angels Camp to do some much needed emergency repairs, allowing the queen to carry on with her duties and animal showmanship plans.
Russell Choi, who showed a breeding ewe won the overall exhibitor award and said her animal would be AI-bred by exhibitor lambs. She also competed with a market lamb that did ‘pretty well’ in his class and showed registered and unregistered goat does that placed second and third.
Baker, the Junior Rodeo Queen, met with the Enterprise Friday by the arena, sharing that the swine she had brought to show had been underweight so she was taking it as a sign to devote more time to her queening activities. She recounted that in her category competing for Junior Queen, the three contestants came to know each other over a five-month period as they prepared themselves for the grueling competition ahead.
“When they called my name (Thursday evening onstage), I felt a lot of emotions going through me,” Baker said. ”I felt being able to represent my family like this is such a huge honor.”
Kelling, who was watching the Barrel Race atop her horse, shared with the Enterprise, “I felt good about running. I was the only one so I knew I was going to win but it still felt good!”
Smiling, she posed atop her mount, proudly showing off her Calaveras Rodeo Princess saddle. Her Dad, Donnie, standing with her, mentioned that the Calaveras Rodeo Princess was already aspiring future runs and reigns at the junior and senior queen levels, which if it happens, would give the county its own first “Triple Crown” winner of sorts. As this reporter looked to Kelling for a comment, she broke out into an ear-to-ear grin. With eyes already lit up like a Christmas tree, the Calaveras Rodeo Princess, vigorously nodding, replied, “I want to. Yes!”