MELANIE ASHCRAFT – ON THE TRAIL

Bearing the American flag, two-time Ms. Texas Gay Rodeo Association Melanie Ashcraft will enter downtown on February 22, at the head of the Sam Houston Trail Ride in the annual rodeo parade. One of 6,000 men and women who saddle up every year for the15 trail rides that lead to the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, Ashcraft will make the 7-day 70-mile trek from Montgomery with 9-year-old mare, Pride. This year will mark her fourth Sam Houston ride. "It is a lot of fun, even if it is a bunch of straight folks," Ashcraft says with a cowgal grin.

A nurse and disabled Army veteran, she lives on a spread in Magnolia. Involved in TGRA since 1988, Ashcraft says, "I have been rodeoing since I was two." She frequently uses her rodeo and equestrian skills to raise money for charities, including the Shriner's Hospital for Children, St. Jude's Children's Hospital, and the Pediatric AIDS League in Austin. She is also on the board of the Larry Garrett Foundation and has helped produce its "That's What Friends Are For" benefit events. "If somebody needs help raising money, I'm there," Ashcraft states.