A Fairview Farm

Living the Good Life on A Fairview Farm

AFairview Farm is the lifelong dream of high school sweethearts Eric and Jessica Ward. For years, they talked about wanting a family farm that their children could grow up on with animals and a garden. They knew it would be hard work, but whatever it took to achieve that goal, they were willing to do.

Eric, in addition to owning Triad Heating & Cooling, is a licensed real estate broker. In order to maintain that license, he is required to attend Continuing Education programs each year. He attended one such training in 2015 at The Exchange in Asheboro and was one of the last people to arrive, so sat down in the only available chair next to Emily Smith. They chatted throughout the day, and Eric mentioned that if she ever had a farm come up for sale with approximately 50 acres and a house on it that needed work so it would be a good deal, he’d be interested.

Two weeks later Emily texted him at 10:30 pm on a Saturday night, having just left a listing appointment for the very thing that he had described he was looking for. She was going to list it on Monday but told him to take a look on Sunday and see if he was interested. He and Jess drove out and walked the entire property line down to the river on Sunday afternoon, all around the 52 acres for over three hours, envisioning raising their family there.

Eric had already been to a local lending institution and gotten prequalified for a loan, so he was able to make an offer on the property that afternoon. When things are meant to be, good things happen. While the original financing fell through two weeks before the closing because the home was in such disrepair, through a ton of phone calls and meeting with people, Eric was able to secure the money he needed in a shortterm personal financing deal to buy the home and 52 acres attached to the property. He spent the next 16 months renovating the house for his family, and when he paid off that personal financing and refinanced it with the original lending institution, they valued just the house and the five acres it sits on at $40,000 more than he bought the entire 52 acres for! Talk about serendipity.

The property had a chicken house on the lower side that they use for hay storage, stalls for the animals and Eric built a beautiful, enclosed area for their store and event space. Another had burned down, and he cleaned

that area up to make a spot for picnic tables and a firepit.

They moved onto the farm with their son Jax, who is now eight. Ellie came along 4 years later, and the littlest is Tate, who is one. Eric and Jess had long conversations about what they wanted to do with the farm. They wanted to raise animals and have a garden, so their children grow up knowing where their food comes from, but they also want to educate future generations as well.

That first year, they hosted a Fall on the Farm for about 75 family and friends with a cookout and a band at their house. They rented bounce houses for the kids, and everyone had a great time. The next year they did it again and they had around 100 people. In 2019 they opened it up to the public and almost 400 people attended. That year they had two bands and realized that it was just going to continue to grow. In 2020 they again had Nobody’s Fault entertain the crowd, and they opened up the event to eight food trucks and ten craft vendors. They hired off-duty sheriff’s deputies to help with the parking, set up several bounce houses for the kids, and everyone had a wonderful time. Over 1,100 attended last year!

This year, they are moving the event to the area near the chicken barn, which offers a lot more space to spread out, shelter if it rains, shade if it’s hot, and the store where they sell farm raised beef, eggs, honey, t shirts, stuffed animals, and beautiful soft blankets with A Fairview Farm’s logo on them.

One thing led to another, and with the store area having the capacity to seat up to 30 people, they opened up the farm during the week to school tours, visits from local assisted living facilities, and even hosting birthday parties on the weekends. For two hours, kids get to pet and feed the animals with supervision, play games, take a hayride around the property, and enjoy playing in the fields. You supply the cake and can decorate the event space if you like.

Education is the backbone of everything that they do at the farm, so they try to teach in a fun and inviting environment about the animals, chickens, and even the bees (they have five hives at the farm that produce about 25 gallons of honey each year.)

“We had a little boy who was afraid of bees come on one of the tours. I explained that bees really don’t want to sting people unless we are bothering them and I asked the group, ‘If a bee lands on you what do you do?’ I told them, ‘You gently blow on them because bees don’t like wind and they will fly off.’ We want to offer them a chance to experience things they wouldn’t normally get to experience living in town and help them understand where their food comes from.”

Last year, when all the Christmas events were

canceled in the area, they planned and held a Christmas at the Farm event with visits from Santa. It was very well attended, and they are planning to open it up this year to three evenings so people can book the time they want to have their photos with Santa (no waiting in long lines to see him!). The event will be held on December 2nd and 3rd from 5 to 7 pm, and December 4th from 2 to 7 pm. They plan on having craft vendors for Christmas gift buying, hot cocoa, and coffee with treats available from Just Desserts Catering in Randleman for purchase.

In February they hosted a Valentine’s Dinner which was sold out, but the weather did not cooperate. It was a cold and rainy night. It was still fun, and they intend to offer it as a couples only event again next year. They want to try lots of different things, and if something has a lot of interest and is a hit, they will continue to offer it. They also offered movie night one weekend, which they are considering doing again in the fall.

The farm is a great location for corporate events. Only 9 miles outside of downtown Asheboro, the event space is designed to hold 30 comfortably. They have a TV and AV solutions for training sessions, team building and offsite meetings. Catering can be made available as well.

In addition to events, Eric and Jess, with help from her mom and dad, raise Black Angus beef cattle, Berkshire meat pigs, sheep, goats, pot belly pigs and even a turkey named Billy Bob. They have 30 chickens and sell the eggs when they have a surplus, as well as five beehives for local honey. They have a couple of horses and of course, everyone’s favorite, especially if you are a fan of Parks and Rec on TV, Lil Sebastian. The farm is sponsoring the Four Saints Parks & Rec Trivia Night on September 30th – and you will even get to meet Lil Sebastian if you attend!

The farm’s ambassador is Beau – a beautiful, sweet gentle white giant who greets everyone and has never met anyone he didn’t like. On a recent visit from Cross Roads Memory Care residents, Beau almost went home with them when they realized he had gotten on the bus and was hanging out getting lots of love!

Fall on the Farm 2021 is scheduled for October 9th and is sure to be another great event this year. Nobody’s Fault is already booked to play music, and they have many of the same vendors from last year, as well as some new ones that have requested to attend.

Watch their Facebook page www.facebook.com/ afairviewfarm for other upcoming events, to buy tickets for events, or for more information on their store and what they have in stock to purchase visit their website at www.afairviewfarm.com.