Elton Kennedy came from a family of ministers in rural northeast Louisiana, but he always wanted to be a farmer. When given the chance to lease land with an option to buy in the town of Mer Rouge, he turned to the plow. He farmed his first rice crop in 1969, and over the years, his bulk-rice companies, Kennedy Rice Dryers and Kennedy Rice Mill, grew to include an average of 60 growers per year working over 15,000 acres. But to him, it was a family business all along. "I always thought that I would have a son to take over one day," Elton says. "As it turned out, having four daughters worked out just the same."
While building his business, he raised those daughters: Patchez, Felicity, Chantel, and Meryl. They spent their childhoods making regular "check on the farm" visitsor, as Felicity remembers, "times when Dad would share all kinds of knowledge, either farming related or just general life lessons." Chantel explains, "When we were growing up, our father always referred to his work as the family business and said it was up to us to carry on." The sisters had other plans, and their dreams didn't necessarily include working the land. In fact, they all went off to school and started their adult lives elsewhere.
The pull home, however, was stronger than they'd thought. After graduating from college, youngest sister Meryl planned to study abroad and struck a deal with her dad. If she agreed to work on the farm for a summer, he would pay for graduate school. As it turned out, studying overseas didn't happen-and neither did graduate school. “I think he knew that if he got me back to the farm, I would fall in love with the business," says Meryl. "It was the best deal of my life."
Esta historia es de la edición October 2022 de Southern Living.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición October 2022 de Southern Living.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Forging a Legacy - A Fredericksburg, Texas, couple is creating a new class of heirloom cast-iron cookware
When Jay Mallinckrodt pitched the idea of crafting cast-iron cookware to his wife and business partner, Heather, in 2020, she was hesitant. I immediately said no, she recalls with a laugh. But I finally agreed as long as we made something that we would actually want to use ourselves. Like many others during the initial throes of the pandemic, their multigenerational family operation, Heartland Enterprises (which specializes in machining parts for jet engines and gas and oil equipment), was seeing a lull. “No one was flying; no one was drilling, says Jay. So we had time to try something different.
A Butterfly Haven - In the Texas Hill Country, a conservationist is helping monarchs adjust to the changing world
Twenty-four years ago, Monika Maeckle bought a small property on the Llano River in Central Texas as an escape from fast-paced San Antonio. A journalist and marketing professional by trade, she didn't at first realize the value of the location on which she and her husband would later build their ranch. She also had no idea how this decision would eventually transform her life.One October evening a few years later, a friend invited Maeckle to their nearby house, which sat on a watershed with several large cypresses. All these butterflies dropped from the sky and started to gravitate toward the trees, she recalls. Stronger people who could swing a big 12-foot-long pole began trying to capture them, and we waited. By the end of the evening, we'd tagged a couple hundred butterflies, and I left there enchanted.
Oktober Feast!
While I respect your right to serve spooky food in October, you won't find any gory grub at my house this month. Instead, I'm hosting a gathering that's inspired by biergartens across the pond. The focus of the menu is a fondue made with Gruyère cheese and crisp Riesling-like beer-cheese dip but more elevated. It's served with a smorgasbord of dippers such as smoked sausage, grapes, apples, and a few amped-up store-bought snacks, like Mustard-Glazed Pretzel Bites and Smoked Paprika Potato Chips. (Just one taste, and you'll want to add this spice to every bag you open.) Pour yourself a Cider Shandy, and get ready for a good time. Prost, y'all!
The Roast With the Most
Embrace the changing seasons with a cozy pork supper
Roll With It
Company's coming? Bake a batch of these apple-stuffed delights
VIRGINIA PASTORAL
IN MIDDLEBURG, THE COMMONWEALTH'S MOST STORIED SMALL TOWN, OCTOBER WELCOMES A HOST OF TREASURED TRADITIONS
TAKING ROOT
Turn the season's freshest veggies-beets, parsnips, sweet potatoes, carrots-into colorful fall sides
THE FAMILY PLACE
When it came time for a young Georgia couple to make an 1800s farmhouse their own, they took it apart piece by piece-then rebuilt it into a home ready to welcome the next generation
Loving Life in Fayetteville
This Northwest Arkansas college town is easy to love and hard to leave
The Road That Raised Me
This lesser-known drive offers the most breathtaking views in the Smoky Mountains
