NORTH JACKSON, Ohio – A working cattle ranch isn’t your typical wedding and party venue.
But the rustic charm and pastoral setting of Black Feather Ranch offers get-away-from-it-all vibes close to home.
“We like to just stay casual here, have fun, make it a family event for everyone to enjoy and at the same time they get to feel what it’s like out in the country, away from things – the quietness, nature,” says Sue Dreiling, who owns Black Feather with her husband, Jim, and Rick Waltemire, a business partner.
The venue, on a 40-acre farm, boasts 3,000 square feet of customizable event space with indoor seating for up to 125 guests and features indoor and outdoor areas including a fire pit. A fountain, a flower and vegetable garden and a willow tree provide backdrops for wedding photos as do the carved wooden chairs on the ranch’s front porch. It’s a family friendly space.
Farm Setting
The owners opened the event hall about two years ago at 9370 Mahoning Ave. A fence-lined lane starting about 350 feet off of the north side of the road leads visitors to the secluded spot.
“We like to celebrate,” Dreiling says. “We host graduations, weddings, showers – any kind of celebration you come up with – birthday parties, lots of fun things. We want to give everyone a farm experience.”
The cattle are kept at the rear of the property, but one occasionally wanders up to a separate barn area where guests can see them. That area also houses Buck and Whiskey, the family’s two donkeys that bray and stretch their necks over the fence as guests approach. And two cats, Buster and Biscuit, wandered the grounds, meeting visitors on a late August afternoon.
They’re part of the experience, Dreiling says.
“They can see them, pet them,” she says. “We have people on hand to make sure at parties that they’re not feeding too much to the animals, but it’s just a fun experience, and that’s what we kind of had in mind, that people be able to enjoy what the country feels like.”
An enclosed coop shelters a smattering of hens and roosters and one turkey.
The popularity of the agribusiness property has spread through word of mouth, she adds.
Guests like the seclusion, Dreiling explains.
“They say it’s a gem hidden away,” she says. “We’re hidden away, but we’re close to things too.”
Employees help direct parking and Waltemire ensures the music system is set up properly for guests who want to use it. “We all just kind of work together, and it just goes as a flow,” Dreiling says.
What Others Say
Google reviews of the site compliment the staff and note the ranch’s beauty.
“Had my daughter’s graduation party here,” one reviewer wrote. “What an amazing experience. Rick and Sue are awesome to work with and helped out above and beyond in my opinion. If you need a venue this is the place to go.”
Another reviewer: “I attended a party at The Black Feather Ranch. The Barn is gorgeous from the inside out! Great attention to detail. The grounds/landscaping is absolutely beautiful. Perfect place to have a wedding! The owners are so caring & kind. I highly recommend this facility for your event!”
Dreiling decided to open an event venue because she thought she’d enjoy it.
“It looked like fun being in,” she explains. “A long time ago, I worked with a party store, so that was fun, and so just blending a little bit is a little bit different. But we are enjoying it – the experience of meeting so many new people.”
Her husband, who works as a project manager in the construction industry, was on board from the beginning. “He thought it would be fun,” she says.
Dreiling hopes to expand the venue’s offerings including adding an old western town scene toward the back of the property for photographs.
“We’ve had some graduation pictures and things that have happened here,” she says. “They like the scenery, the pastures, the creeks, things like that. But it’s kind of neat to just have something different that someone else might not have.”
Family Business
Besides her husband, one of their sons, Ben, also helps at Black Feather.
“I own Dreiling Landscaping and Concrete Construction, so we put all the concrete there,” he says. “We do help out with the landscaping, although I can’t take all the credit. She puts a lot of work in. We do a lot of the work around there.”
That includes the barn’s interior – with its tongue and groove design – as well as installing insulation. When his mother suggested opening an event center, he was on board.
“I guess we’re all a little bit crazy,” Ben says, jokingly. “We just can’t sit still. It’s always a lot of fun. I honestly thought it was a great idea.”
One of the reasons the idea appealed to him is location.
“It’s kind of set aside from everything else,” Ben says. “Nobody really knows it’s back there. That’s one of the unique things about it, and that’s honestly why I thought it was a great idea.”
It was something his mother had wanted to do for a long time. “We’re just really happy for it, and it’s been a very fun process pretty much the whole way through.”
Both Dreiling and her son point to community support as a highlight.
“It’s been a great surprise,” he says. “It’s been nothing but positivity for us as far as that goes.”
And Dreiling wants to offer more community events at Black Feather Ranch. It’s a spot where people may gather and do things together, she says.The ranch’s season runs May through October.
The name Black Feather Ranch came through an owners’ brainstorming session.
“It was kind of neat,” Dreiling says. “We were all tossing out different kinds of things, and my husband said, ‘Why not Black Feather Ranch?’ And I thought, ‘Well, I better see what a Black Feather would mean first. I looked it up, and it’s kind of like a new
beginning.”
Because the ranch would host events like weddings and graduations that bring new beginnings for guests, she thought it was perfect.
One of Dreiling’s goals in starting the business was meeting new people. She’s done that by the dozen.
Most couples choose to stage both their weddings and receptions at Black Feather. That prompted more plans for the venue’s future.
“That’s turned into one of our phases where we have to build the dressing rooms for them,” Dreiling says. “All of that is in our next phase of stuff.”
Pictured at top: Sue Dreiling holds Buster, one of the cats that roam the grounds at Black Feather Ranch in North Jackson.
