About Us

Rick, having grown up on a farm in Michigan, has always dreamed about getting back into agriculture. While now owning the family farm, traditional agriculture did not appeal to Rick because of the need for high capital investments in equipment while only offering meager profits.

Living in the Columbus area since 1998 and working for a Fortune 100 corporation, Rick had seen signs advertising the annual Alpaca Fest at the Ohio State Fairgrounds on several occasions. During his 2005 Christmas vacation, Rick began to seriously research Alpacas online. He read several articles about how one can start an Alpaca farm on small acreage, by growing the herd through selective breeding.

On several occasions Rick share his interest and growing knowledge, of alpacas, with Char. However, Char thought Rick was just dreaming and his interest would pass. Being an accomplish pianist, Char accompanies numerous Gahanna-Lincoln band students at solo and ensemble contests. During a break at the contest in February, the Gahanna-Lincoln Band Director, Mr. Shellhammer asked about Rick. Char stated that she thought that Rick was losing his mind or having a mid-life crisis because he wanted to start an Alpaca farm. Mr. Shellhammer looked Char in the eyes and responded that Shelley Wetherill, the treasurer for GLIMB (the band’s booster association), was a successful Alpaca farmer and we should check into it. That sparked Char’s curiosity and a farm visit to Tick Ridge Alpaca Farm was arranged for the following weekend.

On the coldest February day of 2006, Rick, Char and daughters, Laura and Rachel, were able to touch their first Alpacas. Char found the animals cute and charming, while Rick thought that this may be his ticket back into agriculture. We had many questions and found that we had a lot in common with Todd and Shelley Wetherill. With the Wetherill’s guidance, we purchased three female Alpacas from Arnold’s Alpaca Acres on April 29th. Three days later, on Monday, May 1st, Pinkie gave birth to a beautiful male cria, who was named Fire Shadow by our older daughter, Laura.

We were very fortunate to find five acres with a lovely ranch style home in the Gahanna-Lincoln school district. With our new barn and fencing complete, our Alpacas moved onto our farm at the end of September, 2007. We continue to feverously work to build and expand our dream.

Can you tell that we are just a little bit excited! We still have a lot to learn, but we look forward to the future with hope and optimism!!