By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
Changes are coming swiftly to the former Pickwick Farms.
The one-time horse farm has undergone some drastic changes since the Stuckey family purchased the grounds on Ohio 4. As the addition to the middle barn came down, Ethan Stuckey was busy planting and caring for his produce that will one day overflow the tables at The Market at Pickwick Place. New windows have replaced the old and a new roof has been installed on 
what will be Acres of Adventure. And work is underway on what seems to have become Pickwick Place’s crown jewel: The Loft at Pickwick Place.
“We’re moving along,” Kent Stuckey, Ethan’s father, said.
Work will be slower on The Loft, the middle barn of the Pickwick trio. Though the families involved in the project – the Stuckeys, the Hartschuhs, and the Schimpfs – can get started installing windows, much of the work done on The Loft will have to await for approved plans from the architect.
“We want to try to stay true to the form of the barn,” Kent explained.
The downstairs will be gutted and remodeled to have a versatile space. An addition will go on the back of The Loft for elevators and restrooms and there will also be a prep kitchen installed.
Despite a slower pace in getting The Loft ready, the event center has already generated a lot of buzz.
“We’ve been really excited. There’s been a lot of interest from within the community just on what we’re doing and how things are progressing. But the event center has really generated a lot of interest from people outside Bucyrus,” Rose Hartschuh said. “We’re excited to bring new people into the community, too.”
The buzz has reached as far as Indianapolis. Hartschuh said she also had people from Cleveland coming to view the space.
“It’s definitely something unique that our community can be proud of but that people are excited from other places too,” she said. “The space sells itself. It’s very unique.”
So far, The Loft has only booked weddings but as they get closer to that opening date next summer, the Pickwick crew hopes to draw in other events as well. Currently, they are booking events for June 2016.
“You’ll start to be seeing some progress in the Market barn,” Kent added. “We got all the windows out of it. The new windows should be coming in a couple of weeks. The roof is supposed to be in another week or so and we’ll do the roof on that one. Things will be progressing along now.”
‘We’ve been doing a lot of work behind the scenes too, ironing out the details about our operating agreements and our rental contracts and all of those things. There’s a lot of work that you don’t necessarily see when you drive by,” Hartschuh added.
She will be running Acres of Adventure, which will feature corn mazes and agricultural education. Acres of Adventure is expected to open this fall. Some of Ethan’s produce will be available at that time.
“He’s starting to get a little produce that’s trickling in and eating it about as fast. A few strawberries, a little hand to mouth operation there,” Kent joked. “Here soon we’ll set up a stand out there and be selling a few things out of here as they come in.”
Ethan will have a roadside stand right at Pickwick Place to start. It will be a smaller sample of what The Market will be like when it opens next summer.
“The roadside stand will be kind of a way for us to ease into the market, see what kind of interest there is and what kind of products to start to offer,” Hartschuh said before adding with a laugh: “We know people are just dying to stop in too.”
“The community support has just been tremendous,” Kent said. He laughingly said masons working on the barns asked if they could pre-buy the sweetcorn growing in the fields along Pickwick. “The community is excited about that. And I’m excited to be able to offer produce here.”
Once The Market does open, it will sell more than just Ethan’s produce. There will also be drinks, snacks, baked goods, and possibly honey.
Ethan has already planted strawberries, sweetcorn, squash, tomatoes, peppers, and pumpkins. He was spotted with his roadside stand open for business on Friday. Visitors can expect the roadside stand to be available Friday evenings and Saturday and Sunday afternoons but it will depend on the availability of Ethan’s produce.
So how has the experience been for high school-age Ethan?
“Overwhelming at times but it’s been good,” Ethan said. “Some of the crops have kind of taken a hit for that but for the most part it’s looking real nice, growing well.”
“He has done quite well. This year, I don’t know that you could have a more challenging year that what we’ve had here as far as the product side of things,” Kent said. “When it’s this wet for this long, it’s a problem. We’ve got some spots that are a little tough.”
Chris Schimpf, who brings the farmers market experience to the group, said Ethan couldn’t have started out on a harder year for his first time than what 2015 has turned out to be. “He’s learning to do the scouting, he’s learning to do what it takes to manage and really take care of your crops. He’s getting a lot of experience that will make the easy years easier.”
Chris said it’s been fun to see and be able to add to the group.
“It’s exciting because we (he and his wife Andrea) kind of got out of it a couple of years ago and it’s always been something I’ve enjoyed,” Chris said. “It’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever done for farms and it’s fun to be able to get back into a new form.”
“I have to say it’s been great how we’ve been able to collaborate,” Laure, Kent’s wife and Ethan’s mother, said. “What I really didn’t expect was how well we’d all interact as a team. When one of us comes up with an idea, we’re able to really make it better by working together.”
More information about Pickwick Place and the roadside stand hours can be found at hepickwickplace.com or on Facebook at facebook.com/ThePickwickPlace.