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ORAL HISTORY
Kelsey & Garrett Kreuger
Shell Game Products
Kelsey Kreuger was born and raised in Colorado and Houston, Texas. Garrett Kreuger was born and raised in Blessing, a small town near the Texas coastline. Garrett grew up fishing in Matagorda Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico. Kelsey’s father grew up in North Florida, and she grew up spending summers at their family beach house in St. Teresa. Kelsey and Garrett met at Texas A&M University, and they married. The couple often found themselves outdoors, kayaking on Matagorda Bay or boating on the Colorado River. When Garrett was introduced to Kelsey’s family beach house at St. Teresa in 2008, he also became enamored with the Florida Gulf Coast.
Kelsey’s parents introduced them to the burgeoning oyster aquaculture industry. The couple moved to Florida in 2016 and began farming oysters in 2017. Soon after they started farming oysters, Garrett realized that he would need a tumbler, a machine that helps sort growing oysters by size. Instead of buying one, Garrett made one himself to fit their boat. Other local oyster farmers noticed his tumbler and asked if he would build one for their boat or processing facility. The Kreugers established a full-fledged business. They build and sell tumblers for oyster farmers all over the United States.
