“There was such beauty and peace to this place. I fell in love with it. You will too.”
— Alvin Mashburn
Our story starts long ago.
Alvin Mashburn grew up on a dairy farm not far from here. A natural-born entrepreneur, he was the first of his siblings to leave the family farm and venture out on his own — opting to start a heavy equipment rental and sales company. After 32 years in business, he decided to retire and return to his roots.
In 2008, Alvin acquired this farm, but it looked much different than it does today. It was unimaginably overgrown with just one little barn, but Alvin saw the beauty and potential of this place from the moment he walked the property. A visionary, Alvin developed a plan and began the process of reclamation — breathing new life into this tranquil estate. He dug out the now-famous ponds after discovering a natural spring underground and began raising black angus cattle in the tranquil setting. He planted the signature willow trees around the ponds with his own two hands. Willow Tree Farms has been cared for and tended by Alvin and his family & crew of consummate caretakers who feel a strong connection to this place and the animals who call it home.
Today, Willow Tree Farms is an actual 110-acre working farm, home, and venue. Where they grow the hay for the animals in the back pasture, have multiple barns, a self-sustaining garden, and an aviary.
Alvin has been married to the love of his life, Sherrie, for five decades. If Alvin is the visionary behind Willow Tree Farms, Sherrie is its heart. She’s a people person who loves working with others to ensure that every detail is considered and taken care of. She’s notorious for treating others like family members and strives to make everyone happy. Her attention to detail & comfort is what the farm was modeled by alongside Alvin’s passion & drive.
From all of us at Willow Tree Farms, we invite you to share the glory and splendor of our farm. Book your event today and allow us the pleasure of serving you.
Our Mission Statement
With every private event booked at our venue, we use the revenue we make to sustain our animals and the property as well as host several Family Fun Day events throughout the year to benefit different local charities. Our goal here is to care for not only for our home, but our community. Our public events are one of our favorite parts of what we do here at Willow Tree Farms Event Venue alongside fieldtrips, photoshoots, and witnessing our communities’ special moments in our little slice of paradise.
We’ve helped support non-profits like the Children’s Advocacy Center, Catoosa County Foster & Adoptive Parent Association, Crossroads Unity Family Park, The Sexual Assault Victims Advocacy Center, Lionhearts fitness Summer Camps, and North Georgia Animal Alliance through various events over the years such as family fun days, trick or treat Halloween events, and a battle of the bands. We’ve hosted After Hours & Catoosa Young Professionals Groups for the Catoosa County Chamber of Commerce as well as been awarded with their Tourism Partner of the Month Award several times over the years and their 2022 Micro Business of the Year Award. Our most popular yearly event to date is Christmas at the Farm, in collaboration with Boynton United Methodist Church, which provides free holiday fun to families in Northwest Georgia through pictures with Santa, hayrides, petting zoos, crafts, live music, refreshments, and nativity scenes.
Who are we now?
We’re a family who loves to share our favorite place in the world with the Ringgold community. An event venue for everything from small family gatherings and parties to large corporate events and weddings. With the help of our event coordinator now venue owner, Cassidy Mashburn, we make sure every event booked at our home goes smoothly and efficiently while the rest of the family focus on the homestead and agricultural side of this self-sustaining property. Alvin and Sherrie now live on the farm full time, and we are working on turning their first home on the property into our new indoor reception hall while they move into the new build.
The 609 at Willow Tree Farms is the barndominium you see from our front gate. It will hold 500 guests in the banquette hall and has two apartments for bridal suites. This will open with packages including 5 hours rentals, full day rentals, and overnight accommodations. We are hoping to begin tours in November 2024 with our grand opening being January 2025.
Get on the tour notification list for The 609 at Willow Tree Farms once they become available.
But for right now our full focus is on The Pavilion and outdoor amenities at our venue. We’re pouring all of our energy into constantly improving for our clients. Our gazebos and bridge were just re-painted, The Pavilion’s floors refinished, fans installed & wisteria being grown over the wedding arbor arch, and we now have our own 20ft x 40ft Garden Party Tent available for clients to double the space in The Pavilion. We also continue to expand our yard game & decor inventory monthly, have added table layout designs, more in depth event planning questionnaires, a larger local small business vendor list, and convenient online tools for managing your event as of 2024.
And we’ve been having lots of fun getting more involved online. Follow us on your favorite platform below, it helps our small family-owned business more than you know!!
