The Country Fair Shick-nic

Last year we were blown away by Shick's employee and guest appreciation at their Annual Shick-nic (you can read all about it right here). Well, this year they outdid themselves once again!  Seriously, their employees are so lucky to work for such a cool company!

This year they chose our brand new Country Fair Picnic Package and pulled out all the stops.

First things first, let's just start with their awesome t-shirts.  Having a shirt specifically for your picnic is a great way to get people pumped about the event.  Plus, they look great in photos!

Speaking of photos, one great idea that they had was to provide a photo-op.  

They had a professional photographer here to take family photos.  Isn't that awesome?  This is such a great way to show your employees that you not only appreciate them, but the families that support them as well.

Shick went all out with the Country Fair theme.  Of course, no country fair would be complete without some funnel cakes and cotton candy.

YUM!

The yummy treats didn't stop there. They also had a dessert competition!
The winner for Best Presentation was awarded a $25 gift card to Hy-Vee.
There were some pretty creative (and delicious) cupcakes in the house...

But the Cotton Candy Cupcakes were the grand prize winner!

Our beloved caricature artist, Dean the Machine, was also there to sketch up the guests.

He was a big hit!  Plus, it gave the guests yet another keepsake from the event to take home.

Shick also chose to have a face-painter - that was fun of all ages!

There was a little bit of rain that day, but that didn't stop everyone from enjoying the ranch activities. We had everything in full swing from our ranch recreation to the duck pond to the zip-line to skee-ball and the mechanical bull (under cover, of course.)

After all, duck races are perfect for a rainy day!

There was even a huge inflatable obstacle course for the kiddos to enjoy!

Our friendly petting farm animals were there too.

Not to mention that they had the most epic egg toss we have ever seen - and we have seen A LOT of egg tosses, folks!

Of course, no Shick-nic would be complete without their Bingo Tradition.  During this they did fun Shick-nic trivia and gave away prizes galore.  Did you know that their picnic tradition spans back to the 1970's?!

A huge thanks to Shick for once again choosing Faulkner's Ranch! You guys are AWESOME!

For more information on our four exciting Company Picnic Packages, including our BRAND NEW Country Fair Package, click here!

Have a great day, ya'll!

~ Your Friends at Faulkner's

Word From the Herd: Meet Lisa!

With the Company Picnic Season in full swing, we couldn’t think of a better time to introduce and put the spotlight on one of the nicest and most hard-working people at Faulkner's Ranch,

Lisa Frogge, our newest Event Coordinator!  

Lisa has been a part of our Faulkner's Ranch family for awhile now, so we thought it was about time ya'll meet her and get to see first-hand just how great she is.

Read on for a little Q&A with this awesome lady!

Howdy Lisa, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?  I am married to Doug and have two daughters, Katie (age 16) and Jillian (age 11). I previously was an executive assistant and have been the wedding coordinator at FBC Lee's Summit for the past 12 years.  I still do the wedding coordinating on a part time basis.

What is your job at Faulkner’s Ranch?  My job title is "Event Coordinator" which means I do everything from setting up events with clients to wiping down tables!

What is your favorite/most rewarding part of working at Faulkner’s Ranch?  My favorite part of my job is seeing an event come together and the guests having a good time.  And of course, I have the BEST co-workers! 

You’ve actually been coming to the Pumpkin Farm for awhile.  Can you tell us about that?  I've been coming to Faulkner's since Katie was a baby! I've been on numerous school field trips with the girls to the Pumpkin Farm when they were younger and always enjoyed picking out pumpkins to take home with us.

Katie - October 2002

Katie & Jillie - October 2003

You get to work with lot of awesome guests at the ranch so you must have some fun stories.  What is one of your favorites?  At my first big event, I went up to check on the petting farm and the goats had escaped from their pen!  I spent the next several minutes chasing goats and luring them back into their pen (thank goodness they are greedy for feed). After coming from a corporate environment in my last full time job, I got a good laugh out of the fact that I was having so much fun goat wrangling!

What are you looking forward to the most at Faulkner’s Ranch for 2014?  I've enjoyed meeting so many new people and look forward to welcoming them to Faulkner's for their special events. I love the fact that each and every event at the Ranch is a celebrated as someone's birthday, wedding or picnic. No two are the same and we get to see people relax and have a good time together.

Isn't she just the coolest?!  Thanks again to Lisa for this awesome interview!

Have a great day, y'all!

~ Your Friends at Faulkner's

Pony Party Highlights: Cute Loot!

We sure have been having our fair share of ADORABLE Pony Parties this year!

One of our favorite things to see is the creative party favors that our party mamas and papas come up with.  Giving your guests a party favor to take home is a great way to say thank you for presence!  It doesn't have to be anything complicated.  Something as simple as candy or cookies, western toys, or a bandana are great ideas! 

Here are just some of the cute ways that they have packaged them:

Isn't it amazing how a brown-paper bag can be made to look this cute?  You can find stickers like this on Etsy!

We love the use of a bandana in place of tissue paper!  Plus, the Washi tape to attach the sign adds that extra special touch!

For more info on our Indoor Pony Parties, click here! 

Have a great day, y'all!

~ Your Friends at Faulkner's

Vroom, Vroom!

Our 2014 Picnic Season has just begun and boy, are we already having a blast!

We are so lucky to have the BEST of the BEST clients.  They're always fun and ready to have a good time.  Summit Technical Solutions is no exception.  This group was SO much fun!

After all, it's not just any picnic that has their own car show!

That's right! During the picnic, guests got to display their hot rides.  Picnic goers got to vote on their favorite to win the 1st place prize of a $75 gift card!  How do you even choose among these? 

The car show wasn't the only exciting thing that happened.  They also took place in our Mini Rodeo (part of our Wild Western Picnic Package)!  They got pretty competitive with the cow milking contest, ranch frisbee, water balloon toss, and a fan-favorite, the Roller Roper.

Got 'em! 

The rest of the party was spent enjoying some delicious food and our ranch amenities.

We're so glad that we got to kick off our Picnic Season with these awesome people!  Thanks again to Summit Tech for choosing Faulkner's Ranch!

Banners are always a good idea!

For more interest on our company picnic packages, including our brand new Country Fair Package, click here!

Have a great day, y'all!

~ Your Friends at Faulkner's

Meet Emily, Our New Pony Camp Specialist

This week was our second week of our summer Pony Camps and we aren't kidding when we say that the cuteness up at the pony barn is just too much! All of our campers have been having a blast with the ponies and each other.  A huge part of that is thanks to our new Pony Specialist, Emily Schmidt.
So, we thought what a better way to wrap up week two then to introduce you to this awesome gal!

A Little Q&A with Emily

1.  Hi Emily! We are do excited to have you as a part of the Faulkner's Family.  Can you tell a little bit about yourself?  I grew up in a small town in central Kansas and moved to Missouri after my first two years of college to complete an apprenticeship program with Tony and Jennifer Vaught (3 star Parelli riding instructors and trainers). I have been teaching horseback riding lessons to kids and adults for the past 7 years. I have level 2 instructor certification with CCHI.  I have a passion for teaching children and volunteer in the children's program at my church. I have a BA in counseling and am currently working on a master's at Mid-America Nazarene University to have licensure at a child/family therapist.

2.  What is it that you love most about working with horses?  What I love most about working with horses is the many opportunities they give me to grow and learn. A horse can teach you things like patience, humility, perseverance and trust. They can also teach you about God. They remind me of God's humility, forgiveness and persistence in pursuing me.

3.  Do you have horses of your own?  If so, can you tell us about them?  I have two wonderful horses. Tommy is a chestnut Quarter Horse gelding. I have had him for about 16 years and he is 31 years old. He has been a great lesson horse and friend to me. His favorite thing to do is eat. Ellie is a bay Thoroughbred mare. I have had her for about three years and she has been several of my student's favorite horse. She is Secretariat's great granddaughter, but has never raced. She is a very well trained dressage and jumping horse. Her favorite thing to do is play in water or take a nap.

4.  How did you get into teaching?  I moved to Missouri after my first two years of college to do an apprenticeship at Pine Dell Farm. I worked for Tony and Jenny Vaught, who trained there, and Ed and Karen Moulis (Jenny's parents) who owned the farm. I lived in an apartment that was build into the barn/indoor arena. My duties included taking care of the horses, assisting Tony and Jenny, cleaning the apartment, assisting with clinics, babysitting Jenny's kids...and taking riding lessons! Eventually I started giving lessons under Karen. She supervised me as I taught and eventually left me to my own. After the apprenticeship was over, I stayed at Pine Dell to work. I gave lessons and took care of the horses. At that time I was working on a counseling degree at Calvary Bible College, with an emphasis on Christian Camping. As part of the degree requirements, I had to spend two summers working at Christian camps. During the second summer, I completed training and certification with CCHI, the Christian Camp Horsemanship International. I am now a level 2 western instructor. Pine Dell has been sold to different owners, so I now give lessons in Lone Jack Mo at Ransomed Heart Ranch.

5.  What are you looking forward to the most for Pony Camp 2014?  I am most looking forward to the opportunity to be a positive role model, both for my campers and for the wonderful helpers who will be assisting me with Pony Camp this year. Spending time with ponies is a plus, too :)

6.  What advice would you like to give anyone who is interested in learning how to horseback ride?  To someone interested in learning how to ride: find a good instructor. This is not just a person who has won lots of ribbons or can teach you to look good on a horse. A good instructor cares about you as an individual and about the well being of the horses. You don't need to own your own horse to learn to ride. There are many places that offer lessons to people without their own horse. Learning to ride takes time and effort. It can be a life long journey, if you want it to be. Horses are a great way to learn things such as responsibility, endurance, patience, tenacity, empathy and humility. It is also good exercise. It can be expensive if you want to own horses or show, but taking lessons at a facility that has lessons horses can be just as rewarding for a fraction of the cost.

7.  We love country music around here.  So, of course, we just have to ask...what’s your favorite country western song?

"Unanswered Prayers" by Garth Brooks! Jesus loves you!

Did you know that you can already reserve your spot for our 2015 Summer Pony Camp Sessions? These camps book up EARLY so call today or register online to make sure that your little buckaroo has a spot!

Have a great day, y'all!

~ Your Friends at Faulkner's

Wedding Wednesday: A Perfect Spring Wedding

We are so excited to share with you the photos by The Two McClouds from this BEAUTIFUL wedding. Enjoy!

It couldn’t have been a more picture perfect spring day for Natalie and Brian's wedding.  It was April 26th and the grass and trees were that gorgeous, fresh spring color.
Just stunning! 

You know what else was stunning?

The bride and groom - what a lovely couple! 

These two were such a special couple.  You could see their love for each other through their special ceremony.

A few of the special touches included taking communion together and a foot washing ceremony.  

After the ceremony, everyone headed to the banquet barn.  One of the things that we love about hosting a variety of events is seeing how the decor can truly transform the space.  Here, the mother of the bride created all of the centerpieces.  We especially love the pops of yellow, the brides favorite color.


Ivory linens with burlap table runners, wood slice chargers, and ivory chair covers with cappuccino colored organza sashes pulled it all together.

The beautiful (and delicious) cake rested on a wood slice charger that belonged to a friend of the bride.  Those small touches are what really makes a wedding unique!

Another special detail that we loved was the adorable mason jar party favors.  The best thing about them was that guests got to put them to use during the reception!

 

 

Overall, this was just the perfect spring wedding for a perfect couple.
Congrats once again to Natalie and Brian and thank you for sharing your special day with us! 

For more information on how we can make your dream wedding come true at Faulkner's Ranch, click here.

Have a great day, y'all!

~ Your Friends at Faulkner's