Joanne Williams
Editor
(Joanne Williams/FAN: Ginny and Gary Gillean and baby lamb Cinnamon are by the cow area of the farm with the goats and lambs behind them.)
Just minutes from downtown Eaton Rapids is one of the most bucolic places you might ever see or feel, complete with baby lambs.
It is Willow Wood Farm Venue, and it has a story that owners Gary and Ginny Gillean love to share.
Searching for a perfect wedding venue themselves, they could not find what they were really looking for, so, after 25 years as a licensed plumber, Gary decided to build one himself.
The white 1880s farmhouse at 2224 S. Canal Road, is situated on property that holds barns, stone and wood, fenced areas, pastures where sheep could safely graze, 13 acres in all, including a modern wedding venue, and, newly announced, photography sessions, complete with fluffy farm animals.
The owners are still marveling at the beauty they have found and now foster. Meeting them, you get the feeling they know every inch of their farm.
Gary knows it was an old dairy farm, with the stone milking shed to prove it. When he built a barn for parties, he organized his own saw mill to cut the wood for the custom 20-feet high plank wall. The barn opens up on three sides, has a sanded and polished floor and charming wood beams and features a large patio.
Ginny is from Holt, and Gary is from Nashville. He went to Maple Valley High School and Lansing Community College. Their family helps as well. The farm is named in honor of Ginny’s late father, Gary Wood, and there is now a charming Willow tree planted in his memory to share with others.
They were recently granted local and county permits to operate seven days a week for photoshoots and the farm experience. Plans include a special holiday experience with a variety of backdrops for family photos.
“We still pinch ourselves,” said Ginny of their farm. “We are humbled to help celebrate peoples’ special times here.”
This is their eighth season, which runs from May to October and starts out with bookings to feed baby lambs and weddings and family gatherings. Cinnamon is the lamb of choice this season, bedecked with a flower necklace and a baby diaper. She gobbled her milk bottle down in about a minute. There were 14 babies on the farm this year.
Besides the sheep and goats are Hereford cows and Maverick, a docile Highlander.
Ginny said she is “super excited” to welcome a baby Highland in about six weeks or so.
The website is willowoodfarmvenue.com.
