PORTLAND, Texas — This story is just as good as two scoops of ice cream. Dallas-based Howdy Homemade Ice Cream held a contest to find a face for a new flavor of ice cream to bring awareness to autism.
“I feel great, a great way to start off 2022," said Portland man Rig French who is on the face of the Cookie Nom'ster ice cream.
And what a way to begin the new year for French. French said he was beyond excited to finally pick up a pint of the blue ice cream called the Cookie Nom'ster at H-E-B on Jan. 7.
“It’s a cookies n' creme flavor, it's blue and that's the symbolic color for autism awareness," said Tom Landis, creator of Howdy Homemade Ice Cream.
French overwhelmingly won the Facebook contest, Landis said.
Rig said he found out about the contest through Howdy Homemade.
Landis asked him to be part of the contest where they feature business owners who are on the autism spectrum. When the contest began, Landis said French overwhelmingly won and the rest was history.
“It was a contest and people voted for me and I won the contest on Aug. 13, 2020," said French.
Rig’s dad, Chris, said they are excited for their son and proud of Howdy Homemade Ice Cream for raising awareness for autism.
“Rig has a pretty big following in this area.," Chris French said. "And so he won by a pretty big substantial margin. But Rig had the most votes, so he’s going to be on the first run and so again we are happy for him."
Rig said autism awareness is important because it can be hard for people with autism to get regular jobs. He said people assume those with autism cant do a lot of things and this contest shows they can. And for him, it's all about making people happy.
So what's next for Rig after being featured on a pint of ice cream?
“My plan is to take a lot home with me and share it with some people," he said.
The cookie Nom'ster flavor ice cream is on sale now at the H-E-B store in Portland located at 1600 Wildcat Drive in Portland and at the H-E-B located on Saratoga at 5313 Saratoga Blvd in Corpus Christi while supplies last.
To learn more about Howdy Homemade Ice Cream and their mission to raise awareness for autism click here.
