PENDLETON – Doing everybody’s hair comes naturally to Pendleton Round-Up Princess Emily Johnson. She has been styling friends’ hair for several years and enjoys doing it.

She is working at Woman to Woman this summer, where Cathy Williams, store owner and manager, has trained her to do makeovers.

At school she has always helped friends style their hair for prom and other special events. She also has helped dance teams and royal courts with their hair and makeup.

“I’m always the one who does everybody’s hair,” she said, “but I don’t mind. It’s fun.”

She will study cosmetology at Beaumonte Academy of Cosmetology in Portland this fall and finish her associate’s degree at Mount Hood Community College.

Cosmetology is the whole package, she said, hair design, coloring, facials, manicures, pedicures and massage techniques for the face. She said it’s important to learn the bone structure of the face and hair texture to know which style will be most flattering and to study color to select the right shade to go with various skin tones.

She probably gave little thought to her hair and makeup before her stage debut, however.

She premiered before she was 3 years old. She attended her sister Natalie’s school concert with her parents and wanted to go up on stage with the other children. Her mother held onto her and explained that only the big kids were singing. Emily said she calmed down for awhile and sat by her mother’s feet playing, then suddenly, before anyone could stop her, she ran up to the front and stood on the risers pretending to sing.

“My mom had to go up during the concert and get me off the risers,” Emily said. “She was really embarrassed, but I guess I wasn’t.”

Since then Johnson has appeared several times in the Happy Canyon Night Pageant. When younger, she portrayed a pioneer with the oxen and wagons and later a “working girl.” One year she played the part of the captive girl who jumped in the water to escape and another year sang “Happy Trails,” and “Has Anybody Seen My Gal?” She looks forward to seeing what new part or surprise might be added to the pageant each year.

Throughout high school she sang with the swing choir and the a cappella choir, and sang for community events. She branched out to play the lead in the musical, “Hello Dolly,” her junior year.

Although accustomed to singing and performing, she said it was much harder to memorize lines in addition to the songs. Include acting, learning the blocking, learning how to dance and five costume changes, and it was a lot of work, but fun and well worth the experience, she said.

Performing in a musical requires effort and patience waiting for cues to sing or say lines, but, Johnson said, she is learning even more about patience from all of the “hurry up and wait” the court experiences prior to parades and other events.

“You just have to realize that the parade will start, so you might as well sit and wait,” she said. “It’s a good time to visit with other courts and get to know them. And it’s much easier to wait with four other people than by yourself.”

In addition to their life-long acquaintance, the 2004 Round-Up Court has one other thing in common, Johnson said. They all crave coffee beverages.

“One night in Portland after finishing our official duties,” she said. “We were relaxing at our motel and we all wanted coffee at the same time, so we all went to Starbuck’s for coffee – in our pajamas. Then came back and watched a movie.”

Patience also is important when working with animals, she added. It takes time to understand them and to help them learn to understand you.

“Your horse can tell if you’re nervous or excited and that’s how they get,” she said.

In an early run-in practice, her horse, Trader, continually dodged the jump instead of going over it. Normally one to roll with the punches, Johnson said, it made her mad and her “stubborn streak” showed a bit.

“I just needed to ride him more,” she said. “He does real well now.”

Trader exhibits his own unique personality, she added. He’s partial to Oreo cookies, kettle corn and Happy Canyon water that he drinks directly from the bottle.

When her sisters were on the court, she warmed up their horses for them and now they are returning the favor by doing the same for her.

She has been a pennant bearer for the Round-Up for six years and has helped out wherever she could.

Johnson’s sister, Natalie, started a family tradition when she served on the Pendleton court in 1997. Middle sister Liz was a Round-Up princess in 2001.

“My parents didn’t know what to expect when it came to me,” Johnson said. “I always wanted to be on the court because it was so fun traveling with my sisters,” she said. “The run-in was always my favorite part of the rodeo and when my sisters were on the court and I got to see all the fun things they got to do. … It’s been difficult to wait to do the run-in.

“I’m so excited and I get more and more excited every time we practice,” she said. “It just gets better and better. I see how well everyone is doing and how well they get along with their horses, it makes me that much more excited.”

Riding horses is a big part of her family and future, Johnson said.

She enjoys competing in barrel racing and pole bending and served as secretary on her high school rodeo team. She also participated in Mustangers. Her college, however, doesn’t have a rodeo team, and she hasn’t had time to participate lately.

“It’s just fun to do,” she said. “I’ll never be as good as PRCA.”

Johnson said having fun and relaxing are easy during spring break because every year since she was 8, her whole family has vacationed at Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

“It’s a really relaxing getaway,” she said, “with no phone or TV. You just lie out in the sun and go from the pool to the hot tub all day and then go out and dance all night.

“Homemade salsa and guacamole taste better there, too,” she said.

In some ways being ambassadors and getting out the word about Round-Up is a lot of responsibility, she said, and trying to look pretty in 10-pounds of leather outfit may be a challenge when the thermometer hits triple digits, but “the whole Round-Up experience is way worth it. I know my sisters had fun and I had fun going with them, but it’s so much more fun to do it yourself. We’ve (the court) made so many good friends who will stay friends. And being on the court makes you a part of Round-Up forever.”

Emily Johnson

Age: 19

Schools: Graduated from Pendleton High School; attends Mount Hood Community College, Gresham

Color eyes: Blue

Color hair: Blonde

Height: 5’4″

Parents: John and Polly Johnson own the Pendleton and Hermiston Burger King restaurants and Officials Pizza and Sports restaurant in Hermiston. Her parents helped in the Happy Canyon Casino for many years and her dad used to play with a band for Round-Up dances.

Siblings: Sister Natalie Johnson Alanis is married to Dan Alanis, who manages the family restaurants. They have a son, Cole, 1. Sister Liz Johnson, 23, graduated from Eastern Oregon University with a teaching certificate.

Maternal grandparents: LeRoy and Betty Hanna

Paternal grandparents: Rita Johnson and the late Tommy Johnson

Family members who have served on a court: Both sisters, Natalie in 1997 and Liz in 2001, have been Round-Up princesses

Official horse: Trader, 12-year-old sorrel quarter horse

Other horses: Lux, a seasoned “court horse” that both Natalie and Liz used when they were princesses, and Huligan, a 5-year-old the family is training

Pets: Two border collies, Cowboy and ClaraBell, who help bring the cows in, and a lazy cat named Calamity Jane

Awards: Arion award for choir at PHS, honor choir and selected as one of three from PHS to attend the all state choir conference her junior year

Activities: Sings the national anthem at community events, sings for weddings and funerals. Because fitness and exercise are important to her, she stays active with baseball, basketball, snow boarding and wake boarding. She also enjoys family outings four wheeling and hunting.

Job: Works at Woman to Woman in sales and doing make-overs and worked the front desk and child care room at Ballys Total Fitness in Gresham during the school year. She also taught children’s basketball at Ballys, where the free membership encouraged employees to work out.

Favorite color: Bright pink

Favorite food: Olive Garden

Favorite sport: Rodeo

Favorite type of music: All types

Favorite movie: “Fifty First Dates”

Favorite beverage: Anything with coffee

Favorite place: Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Favorite thing to drive: Classic convertible Volkswagen bug with friends piled inside

Favorite rodeo event: Barrel racing, bull riding

Favorite PRCA cowboy: Kass Kaiser, who is a good friend

What she would like to say in print that no one has asked her: “I’d like to thank my family for their support and the Round-Up Association for choosing me to be an ambassador for the Pendleton Round-Up. I’d also like to thank Randy and Rosemary Severe and the rest of the court girls for putting up with me. And, I’d like to thank all of the people who have given us luncheons and dinner parties and who have helped make this year so much fun and, my horse, Trader, for being so reliable.”