Our First Farm Fun Day!
When Renee Hilbig first approached me about what she wanted to do with her property, I thought, “WOW. What a great idea!”. To have a place where people can not only come and learn new skillsets, but a place where people can come to heal and escape everyday stresses. Afterall, dogs aren’t the only best friends that man has.
Our first project was just getting people there. How could we begin to invite the public in, and introduce her ideas? I said, “Why not have a volunteer day?”, and it spiraled into plans from there. The basis behind a “volunteer day” was to introduce a random group to the property and share our dream with them. It was almost like a focus group in a way, and we wanted to see if any of these people were interested in being a part of the dream as actual volunteers on a regular basis. Starting a new business entails a rather large to-do list initially, and volunteers often make the best future employees. Renee immediately laid out plans for bouncy houses for the kids, burgers, chips, and drinks we could provide, and of course different ways to introduce all the fur-babies who live there to our guests. Her daughter, Shawna, became her marketing/office manager that day, although I don’t think she was aware she’d even applied for the position! Shawna got to work on a flyer, and I drove to countless locations across Abilene, Clyde, Potosi, and Eula hanging them on doors, and shoving them in mailboxes. We had high expectations for a good turnout.
The turnout wasn’t what we’d hoped for. Maybe a dozen came by all day. However, that didn’t deter our spirits, and we made the best of it by turning it into a family BBQ. The public who did appear got to go on horse rides around the round pen, pet the rabbits, hold the chicks, and see the dachshunds. The burgers and other refreshments were a hit as conversation flowed. It may not have been the turnout we had hoped for, but it was a successful day as far as sharing the dream and the joy. Renee often reminds us that the plans in our heads are rarely reality, and it’s best to let God do his work, and not be discouraged. You can find good in every circumstance no matter how small, and God is always nearby with plans you didn’t even count on.
Disability Resources happened upon one of our flyers at a gas station and made an impromptu trip. Several shouted, “YEEHAW!”, from their saddles, when they finally worked up the courage to mount, and there was a lot of hand clapping involved as well. Tobie and Velvet seemed to know when someone was struggling, and even if it took a rider ten minutes to finally get on, they stood steadfast, quiet and patient. The smiles on those faces and the joy in their eyes was probably my favorite part of the day. We hope that they’ll be back some time for more equine fun!
Gibbs and Streaker had stall-windows open for the day and enjoyed free access to attention and cookies. I was sure they’d both be at risk for a belly ache by the time we
wrapped up at the end. Gibbs maintained his halo for the duration, while Streaker accidentally nabbed a small child's finger during a cookie feeding. The toddler startled and started to wail almost immediately. Upon hearing this loud, shrill, and alarming sound coming from the small human, he released his grip, and then stuck his muzzle back out with a look in his eyes that suggested he was concerned, and sorry, but still wanted that cookie. The toddler recovered quickly, with no broken skin, but only fed Gibbs, and Sugar (the ancient donkey) cookies after that. Streaker was very disappointed that he’d lost his pint-sized cookie dispenser. Later, the child's mother told me that she’d had to attach “reins” to a piece of furniture, and the story of the finger biting was told to everyone the child saw for the rest of the day. She even threw in a story of how a pig also bit her that day, even though Renee does not currently own a pig.
The rest of the children there were mostly family members, and while the animals aren’t novelties to them, they took full advantage of the go-cart and bouncy houses. By the time burgers were ready, there was no shortage of red, sweaty, smiling faces, and loud happy, excited voices.
One of our guests brought her pooch along, and we enjoyed her reaction to seeing the farm animals. So many new sights and smells! It wasn’t until the dachshunds realized there was a new dog in their barn, and voiced their opinions about it, (almost dragging a chair over in the process), that the peace was broken. A few verbal reprimands brought everyone back to sanity, and the new dog was able to come to say hi to the others. Only one of the female dachshunds remained guarded, and skeptical of the newcomer, but her general personality is “saucy” anyways.
The whole event showed us that while it may not have been the turnout we’d envisioned in our minds, the ones who came were meant to come that day, and every single person took something positive from the experience even when things weren’t going perfectly. We did end up with a few consistent volunteers, and friendships were formed. We got our name and our dream out to the public by word of mouth after that day, which was the main goal, and we’ve been able to knock out quite a few items on that massive to- do list since then. We are now open to training and lesson services, and even though The Place, and us, still has a long way to go before Renee’s vision is complete, we’ve found somewhere to start, and can build on that for the future. We are working on plans for the fall festival and are excited to start holding these events annually. God can do so much with a little faith, and a lot of prayer. It’s not always easy, but we can’t give up just because it doesn’t look like what we think it should in our own minds.
