'Everything is from our faith,' says Kay Robertson

Food, faith and family are the center of the Robertson family's life, and those topics were the focus of a dinner for the Regional Inter-Faith Association's tenth annual Canstruction event, featuring Kay Robertson, matriarch of the A&E television show "Duck Dynasty."

"Everything is from our faith," Robertson said while signing cookbooks prior to her speech at the Carl Perkins Civic Center on Saturday. "That's the number one goal for us. You see our family every week on TV, so you can judge about that — and food, it's always been part of us, who we are."

Canstruction benefits RIFA, a Christian nonprofit. Teams build elaborate structures out of cans, which afterward go to RIFA's food bank. This year, 18 tons of food were donated.

Robertson shared about the early years of her marriage with Phil Robertson, a story she calls "the good, bad and ugly." The couple have been married for almost 50 years.

"It wasn't always the fun-filled family that y'all see on TV," Robertson said. "It wasn't always pleasant, it wasn't always good."

Robertson said she spent much of her childhood with her grandmother, learning about cooking and life.

Robertson said her grandmother told her marriage was a commitment, one she would have to fight for along the way.

After marrying Phil at age 16 and having several children — including one prior to their legal marriage but after they pledged to each other "under a tree" — Phil started drinking heavily, Robertson said.

Eventually, he opened a bar, to his wife's horror. Deciding she had to support her husband, Robertson walked into the bar.

"I said, 'Hello, I'm Miss Kay and I'm a Christian barmaiden, and everybody in here doesn't need to be drinking,'" she said to laughter from the crowd.

Robertson said she was convinced they could start over after leaving the bar. Instead, Phil's drinking grew worse.

"One day I went in there to my bathroom and I cried my eyes out, as hard as I could," Robertson said. When she heard her three little boys on the other side of the door, she realized, "What are you going to do, leave those three little boys with that drunk?"

Eventually, Robertson became a Christian and was baptized. After a three-month separation from his wife, Phil also became a Christian.

"That was the best decision I ever made, was to stick with that old buzzard," Robertson said.

Lisa Tillman, executive director of RIFA, said the focus on faith and food made Robertson an excellent speaker for the event.

"She loves to cook, we're all about fighting hunger," Tillman said. "I don't think there could be a better fit than that."

Follow Katherine Burgess on Twitter @kathsburgess

Canstruction award winners

• Best of Show: Jackson Energy Authority

• People's Choice Award: Fellowship Bible Church

• Juror's Favorite: Toyota Bodine

• Best Use of Labels: Jackson Energy Authority

• Structural Ingenuity: Gerdau

• Best Meal: LyondellBasell

• Honorable Mention: Delta

• Honorable Mention: Fellowship Bible Church