After an hour of speaking with Kay Martinelli, it’s easy to see not only why she is deserving of the title “Cowgirl of the Year,” but also how one might not realize she’s done all she has.

Martinelli is the 2026 Cowgirl of the Year recipient chosen by the Oakdale Cowboy Museum. As is customary, she will be acknowledged at the annual Cowgirl Luncheon. This year marks the 24th annual event, and a sold-out crowd will be in attendance on Wednesday, April 8 for the luncheon and program as part of Oakdale’s Rodeo Week activities.

“I try to be an extremely humble person,” Martinelli shared. “Deserving? I don’t know. I’m so fortunate that I have been involved in so many things and it would have never happened had I not had a blind date in 1969 to a very handsome cowboy that led me down this route.”

The “handsome cowboy” Martinelli references is her late husband of 48 years, Rodeo Hall of Fame honoree Bill Martinelli. She lost her husband in May of 2020, following a long life of rodeo, ranching and countless adventures. Together they raised four daughters.

During her youth Martinelli showed steers in 4-H and participated in gymkhana. She describes her younger self as not an academic student. A fact which was not lost on her parents.

“It’s often said, my dad had to get on the board of the school to get me out of high school,” she said, chuckling. “Because Kay was not a student. I had more fun knitting in band than I did being a student.”

With an older sister who had made her home in San Francisco, Martinelli joined her and attended Heald Business College. Upon graduation she worked for UC Medical Center, as well as Stanford Medical Center. Her time spent at both facilities was anything but boring and offered her experiences which she’d never imagined. Life for her at that time was good.

And then she met Bill.

A few friends had set them up on a blind date, having them over for dinner.

“It was 1969,” she recalled. “That was the night the man landed on the moon.”

While much was happening in space, fireworks were happening for Martinelli in the Bay Area. That blind date led to a 48-year marriage and Martinelli calling Oakdale home.

With her husband being a professional rodeo cowboy, Martinelli traveled with him. She joined the WPRA, Women’s Professional Rodeo Association, and “ran barrels,” as she says, while her husband did his thing.

As their family grew, they came right along. The family traveled in a motor home to varying rodeos right up until the girls became school age.

“We were a family with many other families who had small children rodeoing,” she said.

As Mickey, Angie, Megan and Tasha grew older, Martinelli shifted from a rodeo wife to a rodeo mom. All four Martinelli girls did rodeo. They barrel raced, roped, goat tied and did ranch work with their dad.

“I loved it,” the honoree said of her rodeo and ranch life with her family, “well because I think I was in love. It was part of my life.”

Years later, Martinelli speaks little about her personal achievements. She tells great stories of adventures with the love of her life, her family and her passion for pet rescue. Her stories run the gamut and would fill a wonderful novel of a life lived full of confirmation and joy.

Yet her accomplishments are equally impressive.

When her daughters completed high school, she was approached to judge State Finals. Confused by the invitation, Martinelli shared she thought they were crazy. Yet that “crazy” thought was the beginning of a 30-plus year career judging high school rodeo all throughout California.

“I love it,” she said of judging rodeo. “I like to help. I enjoy judging.”

Martinelli acknowledges rodeo for her is a lifestyle, her passion of pet rescue is likely what she’s become most known for the past decade. Currently she shares her home in Knights Ferry with five rescues.

It’s a passion which sort of found her, years ago when traveling home from Wyoming, following the High School National Finals. The Martinelli family came upon a terrible collision, with multiple fatalities. Upon assessing the situation to see if they could help, a small dog was found, injured in the brush. Literally in the middle of nowhere, with no one to turn the dog over to, they loaded it up and returned home to Oakdale.

When Martinelli connected with the family, via the dog’s ID tag, she learned the dog was the only one who survived the crash. She was asked if she would be willing to ship the dog to Ohio, back to the extended family, and she did.

“I think that was my first true rescue,” she said. “You know, I never really thought of it.”

Martinelli touts social media and the reach she’s been able to achieve as instrumental in much of her success with rescues. Be it reconnecting a dog with a lost owner or rehoming, Facebook has been a powerful tool.

“People don’t realize, if you’re sitting at home and you want to do something, call me up,” she said, sharing there are so many ways to help other than fostering or adopting. “We’d love for you to say, I’ll drive that little dog to Gustine for you. We can’t do it all. We need people. If you can’t foster, maybe you can transport.”

Now, after a life filled with rodeo memories, thousands of dogs rescued, 27 years as a bus driver for Oakdale schools, four children raised and over a dozen grandchildren – Martinelli gets her turn at being acknowledged.

When asked how she felt about the recognition as Cowgirl of the Year, she was honest.

“Well part of me was … I don’t think I want to do this,” she shared with a laugh, recalling her initial reaction to the call from Oakdale Cowboy Museum Manager Bambi Porter. “The closer it gets, I think about some different things. I have done a lot, but not for recognition, not for recognition at all.”

Still, Martinelli isn’t downplaying the honor.

“It makes me proud. I’m proud of all aspects that I’ve done,” she continued. “It’s good for my heart. It makes me feel good that people have recognized me.”

As far as the program itself, she shared her excitement for having all her girls with her, as well as her son-in-law and grandson-in-law present at the Cowgirl Luncheon as servers. More of a conversationalist and less of a public speaker, she shared what she would say as the recipient was an area where she wasn’t completely comfortable.

“I’d really like to get up and say ‘thank you ladies for coming to my party, drink on.’ And then just sit down,” she confessed. “But I did come up with a few little things.”

She also shared that there are many other women, from those that rope to those that are involved in goat tying, that fit the cowgirl identity.

“There’s so many women that are far more cowgirl than I am,” she said humbly when asked what it means to be a ‘cowgirl’. “I feel like my knowledge of rodeo and events is good as a lot of them. I love the respect that I get from people and I love that they think I’m so knowledgeable, but I may not be.”

And as for the cowboy she had a blind date with 57 years ago; what would he make of all this?

“Oh, I think he’d be grinning from ear to ear. He’d be happy. But he was so humble and quiet, he didn’t say a whole lot, but I think he’d be very pleased,” Martinelli said with a smile. “I don’t feel like I’ve ever had a bad day. I’m so grateful for my life.”