Queen for a Year
Montana CMN Champion helps raise money for children’s hospitals
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Grinning ear to ear, 10-year old Sotara Barnaby yelled “Order up,” as she finished crafting a tall, creamy Blizzard for an eager customer at the Ronan Dairy Queen on Thursday.
Barnaby came from Pablo to help with Dairy Queen’s annual Miracle Treat Day, a nationwide event where approximately $1 or more from each Blizzard treat sold helps sick and injured children at local Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Since the annual event’s induction in 1984, Dairy Queen has raised more than $86 million for children’s hospitals.
This year’s event in Ronan was a little different than in years past, as they had Pablo youngster Sotara Barnaby along to help customers with their tasty treats. Barnaby is the first Native American in the history of the Children’s Miracle Network to be selected as a Children’s Miracle Network Hospital’s Champion.
“It’s pretty great,” Barnaby said, with a big smile. “I like serving Blizzards and making ice-cream.”
She joins 51 other young ambassadors from across the nation participating in the Children’s Miracle Network Champions program.
“She has an outgoing personality,” grandmother Jamie Barnaby said. “She loves people and has met a lot of interesting folks so far.”
Sotara was chosen to be photographed for the cover of the spring 2011 Shodair Children’s Hospital Reunion booklet, which is distributed throughout Montana. She is also Montana’s Children’s Miracle Network Ambassador for 2011.
“It’s so neat to have her here,” Ronan Dairy Queen owner Travis Clairmont said. “I’ve never met a kid that’s been a Childrens Miracle Network Champion before, and we’ve been doing this since 1984.”
At the age of six, Sotara was evaluated by genetics specialists after her family became concerned with her growth and developmental delays. For three years her growth and development were closely evaluated, and at nine-years-old Sotara was diagnosed with Rubinstein-Taybi Syndrome.
Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome is a rare condition, affecting approximately one in 125,000 people, and is a genetic disease characterized by broad thumbs and toes, short stature, distinctive facial features, and varying degrees of cognitive challenges.
After her diagnosis, Shodair Children’s Hospital in Helena provided Sotara with medical and developmental guidance. Luckily for her family, the genetic specialists at Shodair travel around the state and conduct outreach clinics. This allows Sotara to stay close to home and still get the treatment she needs.
Later this year Sotara and her family will travel with 51 other young ambassadors to Washington D.C. to tour the White House and visit with President Barack Obama. The ambassadors will then travel to Orlando, Fla for the annual Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Celebration at Walt Disney World.
