Pageant News Bureau - Texas Teen USA

P a g e a n t N e w s B u r e a u

Miss Texas Teen USA

Photos by Benjamin Gibbs / PNB

Wheat is wonderful, corn is colossal, but rice may be the greatest grain of all. Almost everybody eats rice, and billions of people depend on it to stay alive. Folks, that's what they call a staple.

Many people think of rice as an Asian crop, but the United States produces countless tons of it. And much of that is cultivated in the rich Rice Belt of Texas.

But let's stop all the talk about food. (It's making us hungry.) The real point of this story is that they grow other things in the Rice Belt. And some of them are every bit as scrumptious as a steaming plate of pilaf.

We're talking about Katherine Perello, Miss Rice Belt Teen USA, who actually puts pilaf to shame. On a late autumn night in 2000, she beat out a whole crop of young beauties and was crowned Miss Texas Teen USA 2001.

PNB photographer Benjamin Gibbs was there to capture the moment. He confirmed that Ms. Perello is more beautiful than a Texas steak dinner, including dessert. (Did he have to mention food?)

You can see that what he said is true. Feast your eyes. Meanwhile, we've got other things to take care of.

Waiter!

P a g e a n t N e w s B u r e a u