When it comes to rice, Karen Reneau has all the answers
Oct 14, 2016
WINNIE, TX – There was something for everyone who attended the 47th annual Texas Rice Festival here late last month as the four-day event offers a myriad of activities including: educational booths, carnival rides, parades, pageants, craft shows, cooking contests, music performances, local food, and much more.
Visitors to the Rice Education Tent received recipe brochures, educational information, rice crispy treats, and colored pencils for kids, all provided by USA Rice. Attendees also had the chance to spin the rice wheel to test their knowledge about U.S.-grown rice.
“My great-grandfather, grandfather, and father were all rice farmers, and my husband, Charlie, and our son, Will, are still farming rice today,” said Karen Reneau, Texas Rice Festival volunteer stationed at the Rice Education Tent. “I’m a retired teacher and elementary school principal, so education is a passion of mine, and the rice festival gives me the opportunity to teach people of all ages about the locally-grown rice – another passion of mine.”
Reneau adds that since her retirement as an educator, she’s been helping out on the farm – driving tractors, working at the rice dryers, and in the crawfish fields. “I guess I’m not retired after all, but I don't really look at the farming work as a job, because I get to work with my family each day.”
The festival was created in 1969 to honor rice farming, a major economic contributor to the economy of southeast Texas.