Barn On The Prairie venue a labor of love for Nelson family

Along Kansas Highway 16 in far western Jackson County, motorists have been likely to see farmers quietly celebrating their annual wheat and corn harvests in the past.

Now, there’s a place along the highway that provides the opportunity for young couples taking their first matrimonial steps together to celebrate with family and friends.

The Barn On The Prairie, which was recently built and opened by the family of Jerry and Jo Ann Nelson of rural Soldier, is that place, a labor of love put together by the Nelson family as a location for weddings, parties and, as Jerry put it, “any kind of an event.”

“From what we understand, it’s one of the biggest venues like this in this area,” he added, noting that their youngest son, Judd, will join Jo Ann in managing the venue.

“This is not just a wedding venue,” Jo Ann said. “We can also do birthday parties, corporate parties and any kind of meeting.”

The idea behind The Barn On The Prairie began to take shape with the wedding of the Nelsons’ son Joel and his wife, Ally, a year ago in a venue near Newton. Jerry said that particular venue lacked a few amenities that wedding parties today tend to expect, and that spurred the creation of the Nelsons’ venue.

Construction on the venue began last fall in an area that Judd described as “open field,” with a view of the Kansas prairie as a backdrop for future weddings in the area. With some help from local contractors, the family pitched in to make it their own place and wrapped construction just a few weeks ago.

“Everybody in the family stepped up and helped when they could,” Jerry said.

“All the finishing work definitely took a lot of time,” Judd added.

The venue hosted its first wedding reception in early June, and the family put together an open house for the venue on Sunday, June 15 that drew a lot of interested people to view the 6,520-square-foot facility and meet with about 15 area vendors who were ready to provide services for weddings, birthday parties and other celebrations.

“We had a lot of lookers,” Jerry said of the open house. “People were stopping in and saying, ‘We just came out to see what was going on,’ and that’s good. We even had someone tell us they were looking at this place for their wedding anniversary in about four years.”

Judd noted that the family is also looking at “a couple different options for outdoor weddings and other events,” and future plans may also include lodging for members of the wedding party and others.

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