For the first time in more than half a century, there’s no Eberly at Eberly Farm

For the first time in its more than half century in business, Eberly Farm Event Venue is no longer owned by an Eberly.

“We enjoyed all the people we helped party,” Judy Eberly said.

She and her husband, Sam, and their son, Chad, sold their business to Stacy Rogers of Rogers Properties.

“We thought wow, what an iconic piece of Wichita history and a wonderful rich history in this venue to be able to carry that on and be able to create something new as well,” Rogers said.

“Nothing’s changing, including the name,” said operations manager Jennifer Arnold. “We’re carrying on the tradition.”

Judy Eberly said the decision to sell was not a difficult one for her and her husband.

“Because we’re 77 and 78 years old, it’s not that hard. If you own your own business, you never really get to retire.”

The property, at 13111 W. 21st St. between 119th and 135th streets, was in the country when people first started going there.

“It was nothing but a buffalo grass cow pasture,” Judy Eberly said.

The Eberly family first purchased 260 acres there in 1883, and it became a working farm with cattle, farm animals and crop production.

Sam Eberly’s parents, Merl and Dixie Eberly, first began hosting people at the property in part because Dixie Eberly wanted the place to be a gathering spot, Judy Eberly said.

The Eberly family was the only farm family at their church, so they often would host fellow church members at the property.

The Eberlys built a cinder block building with open-air windows, which they called the Lodge. The property became a summer event place with a swimming pool, and there was ice skating in the winter on a creek.

“It was just kind of a natural evolvement,” Judy Eberly said.

The farm animals were part of the attraction, especially for children.

“She liked to show them the baby pigs and the little calves,” Judy Eberly said of her mother-in-law.

Girl Scouts took horseback riding lessons there.

There eventually was a day camp with a variety of activities, such as archery, swimming, hiking and arts and crafts.

“Just a little bit of everything,” Chad Eberly said.

Slowly, it grew into a business, Judy Eberly said, “And then Sam and I took it to the next level.”

They purchased what was then 140 acres in 1979 and in 1985 built a year-round event center called the Outpost. When that burned down, they built another one — still referred to as the Outpost — that holds 260 people inside and has room for another 800 outside.

Then they started building more buildings and patios and walkways and planted trees and made hiking trails.

Only churches and children were using the property before 1979.

That changed when the family added corporate events and weddings.

“That definitely kicked everything up a notch,” Chad Eberly said of his parents.

He was 7 when he first started working for his family’s business selling pop and candy bars. When he grew older, he added barbecue to the center’s offerings.

Chad Eberly has been running day-to-day operations.

“I could not find anybody to help me,” he said. “Overall, the biggest factor for me wanting to sell is not being able to find quality employees.”

He said it’s been a problem for several years, “But as soon as COVID hit, it got really bad.”

Eberly said he had 20 employees at one time, but lately it’s been him and one other person, and they quit serving food during the pandemic.

He said selling is “a huge weight off my shoulders, that’s for sure.”

“This is the first time in (more than) 30 years that I haven’t had 16,000 moving parts in a week,” he said. “Honestly, I couldn’t be happier.”

He said he’ll find somewhere else to work and never again will own a business or have an employee.

“I’m just glad that the family has room to switch gears.”

The family still owns about 60 acres of its original farm. They sold Rogers not quite 15 acres plus the event center.

Rogers has multiple businesses, including a Kid’s Closet Connection Consignment franchise that currently operates at Wichita Hoops.

“One of my goals is to have a permanent location for this pop-up sale throughout the year,” Rogers said.

“That was the original thought of how we got this property presented to us,” she said of the Eberly deal, though that doesn’t mean that’s going to be the future home of Kids Closet.

Rogers is still finalizing plans for what new things she may add at the venue.

“Rest assured . . . we are not changing anything that is currently scheduled.”

Rogers has ideas about what she might like to add.

“We do have some hopes to bring back food and to expand to more of a public venue.”

She’s thinking Christmas and Halloween events, something where families could come for the day or evening.

“It’s not a fully formed thought yet,” Rogers said. “I would probably like to leave it like that.”

She said it’s her hope, though, “If I had all my dreams and wishes come true.”