Article in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, June 1996

Party Animals

by George Beran, Staff Writer

Lea Ann Neamy launched Down on the Farm Inc. as an entertaining enterprise for city kids wanting a taste of country life. As a former East Sider who lives with her family on 20 acres northeast of downtown Hugo, Neamy is building a farm-based business that produced $50,000 in revenue last year. With a growing collection of farm animals and a new picnic facility, she hosts corporate picnics, birthday parties and visits by day care groups and school classes. Down on the Farm offers pony rides, a petting zoo, face painting, hay rides, scavenger hunts, catered meals, volleyball and horseshoe tossing. Says Neamy, "I like to see kids come out here and have fun."

She entered the business after a devastating accident crippled her husband, Scott Neamy, four years ago. He fell while working on a barn roof and broke his neck. The accident made him a quadriplegic. After 16 months in occupational therapy at Courage Center, he returned home in a wheelchair and to his job as a computer analyst at 3M Co. Lea Ann, 39 was stunned by the accident. "If I don't keep busy, if I have to think about what happened, it really bothers me," she said. I'm trying to build a business so I can be here at home for him." She has lots to do, helping her husband and running the business, which may double its revenue this year.

Besides meeting visitors, handling reservations, keeping the books and supervising up to 30 part-time workers, she has extra tasks that other entrepreneurs rarely encounter. She spends an hour or two a day doing the chores, feeding animals and cleaning the barn. "The hardest thing is coming out when it's below zero," she says. "This winter was tough." But, she loves the country, keeping animals and being boss of the backyard business. Daughters Becky, 15, and Jessie, 9, help her out. Among the animals she tends are a llama, nine goats, six ponies, two horses, three mini-horses, four chickens, donkeys, ducks, sheep, pigs and rabbits. The winter feed bill was $3,000. She incorporated the firm this year to limit liability in what she and her husband have invested in the business. "We don't want to lose everything we worked so hard for."

Down on the Farm grew out of a face-painting and birthday party business Lea Ann Neamy started several years ago after she was laid off from a hospital pharmacy technician's job. She bought a goat, ponies and other animals to haul to parties, giving kids a petting zoo and rides for a unique flavor in a very competitive business. I always loved animals and have had horses for the past 20 years, so having a few more mouths to feed and chores to do didn't seem like too large a task," she said. In the face-painting business, she built contacts in catering and other specialties that she calls on for farm functions.

Two years ago, she founded Down on the farm after throwing a welcome home party for her husband that drew 200 friends and relatives to the new, handicapped-accessible home in Hugo. "Everyone had a great time, the animals and pony rides were a hit," she recalled. "I thought, why not do this for a business?" Since opening the farm enterprise, she has hosted lots of parties, the largest for 100 people. But that was prior to building a 50-foot-by-60-foot picnic barn last winter for $18,000. Bookings look good for the summer; business is best from April through October.

She charges groups $75 for a birthday party featuring pony rides and $100 for a party that includes face painting with the pony rides or the petting zoo and the pony rides. The corporate events that include a meal cost $17.95 for an adult and $15.95 for a child. Without a meal, such events cost $7.95 for an adult and $5.95 for a child. The events feature the petting zoo, pony rides, games and races. "It just depends on what the client wants," she said. Farm field trips cost $4 a child and include the petting zoo and pony rides.

There are two similar business operating in the metro area, in New Hope and Minnetrista. Neamy likes her Hugo location, serving St. Paul and eastern suburbs. She hopes the farm provides a memorable experience for the children who come for a look. "I want visitors to say, 'That was one of the nicest things we ever did.'"