JENISON, Mich. – The cable show “Duck Dynasty” is a popular reality TV show about an unusual family with strong family values.
Now a man from Jenison has a chance to share in a part of the show’s success, but it will require some help.
Kevin Matthews is a pastor, a father of three, and now a finalist in the Duck Dynasty Camo Photo Contest on Facebook.
How he got in that position was not by his design.
Nonetheless, with a single snapshot Matthews has a chance to win a trip of Louisiana to meet the cast of Duck Dynasty and star in a commercial for the show.
When the picture was taken, his only intention was to embarrass his daughter, Matthews said.
At his core, Matthews is a family man who is content at spending his time on the couch with his family or out hunting in the woods. Time he nearly lost back in November. While dragging a deer he had just hunted, he felt the onset of a heart attack.
It would require two major surgeries.
“They cut me open and put some metal plates in my sternum,” said Matthews.
He would pass time during recovery by watching Duck Dynasty DVDs, given to him by his family.
“He’s crazy about hunting and he would just crack up whenever he was watching the show,” his teenage daughter, Kirsten, said.
Matthews was instantly hooked on the show, “I was intrigued because I love the outdoors and certainly love them as a family, as a family of faith.”
As a pastor at the Chapel Pointe Church in Hudsonville, Matthews could relate to the family values in the show.
As a father of a teenage girl, he could relate to some of the humor in the show as well, which is how the picture came about.
“I was trying to create some memories for my daughter and I,” he said.
With that in mind, he put on his camouflage outfit and waited for his daughter’s prom pictures.
“Then I come downstairs and he is dressed in all camo,” said Kirsten. “His face is covered and I just shook my head.”
The photo could be Matthews’ ticket to the Big Easy.
“A friend of mine saw it posted on Facebook and said, ‘Hey there is this contest and you should get in it,’ ” said Matthews.
He submitted the photo to the Duck Dynasty Camo Contest on Facebook.
He got nearly 3000 votes from friends, family, even strangers from other countries.
Now, he’s asking the West Michigan community to support one of their own and vote for him to win it all. Here is a link to the voting process.
According to the rules on the website, each person can vote one time in a 24-hour period.
Voting ends at the end of the day on June 2nd.
