Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Courtney.
Hi Kevin, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I grew up in Birch Run, Michigan a small town between Flint and Saginaw. I always wanted to be a police officer and after High School graduated from Ferris State College with a degree in Criminal Justice. I was hired by the Jackson Michigan Police Department and spent 14 years there reaching the rank of Lieutenant. I was then hired to be the Director of Public Safety in Big Rapids, Michigan and spent the next 13 years in that position until retiring. I earned a Master’s Degree from Michigan State University while working in Jackson and also graduated from the FBI’s National Academy. I am very proud of my Irish heritage and can speak a fair bit of the Irish language. That and my Catholic faith are the center of who I am. Both of my parents were raised on a farm and many of my Aunts and Uncles and cousins are farmers. I grew up with stories of my Grandfather Courtney farming with horses and was fascinated by that although he passed away before I was born. I love to hunt and so it was always my goal to have enough land to hunt on, farm a bit, and have draft horses. I have been married for 44 years and have 4 children.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Overall it has been pretty smooth sailing. I think because we started small and built up our operation gradually it made things easier. The real joy of our operation is we almost never have an unhappy costumer. We provide folks a chance to get outside and enjoy nature with friends and family and so we pretty much see all smiles. The only real struggle we had was keeping our prices affordable but we’ve managed to do that pretty well. We’ve only raised the prices of a couple of items in our 20 years of operation.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Shortly before I retired my wife and I had an opportunity to purchase a 162 acre property in 2003 that include woods, wetlands, and tillable fields. We built a home on the property which we named Four Green Fields Farm and we have lived here for 20 years. I purchased my first team of Belgian Draft Horses in 2005 and began driving and working them at that time. My wife suggested in 2007 that I build a corn maze and at that time I had never heard of corn mazes. I did a little research and went ahead and made my first maze that attracted about 100 customers that first year. Since then, we have added a U-Pick pumpkin patch, horse drawn wagon and sleigh rides, a haunted maze, produce maple syrup, and a wedding/event barn that can accommodate up to 200 people. We currently draw about 3,000 people to the farm annually.
What we are most proud of is that we show people REAL Irish hospitality at the most affordable prices anywhere in the State. We measure our success by the large number of multi-generations of families who come back to our farm every year to enjoy the beauty of our farm and the Michigan fall weather.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
They are welcome to reach out to us anytime via our website or FB page. We enjoy sharing with others.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.fourgreenfieldsfarm.com
- Instagram: fourgreenfieldsfarm
- Facebook: four green fields farm
