About Legacy At Oak Meadows

We never set out to be venue owners. God had placed it within our journey. We own a tree farm, growing trees, shrubs and grasses and we have a herd of cattle. Chad had his eye on the beautiful piece of land the venue now sits on. It has a field of “in ground” magnolia trees that is now part of our inventory for our tree farm business (Legacy Farms and Ornamentals, LLC). Someone who was building a pole barn for us at the time, asked if we had considered building a venue since it was such a beautiful piece of property. That was a seed planted, and our minds were filled with what the venue would be. We began looking into barn venues, as well as the details involved in building one. Through much research and many conversations with key people (including God), it wasn’t long and we were on a plane to Texas to look at an event barn (and ended up looking at two). We came back with a vision for the property and the barn is just part of it!

Chad comes from a background of farming and ranching. Alongside his Papa, he grew up working cattle, cabbage and hay fields and the family owned fern business. At one point, Chad was active in rodeo and after graduating high school, he helped manage his grandfather’s fern business, working with the migrant workers at times and learning Spanish to better communicate with them. In his twenties, he left the family business and went to work at Sea Ray building boats for two years. From there, he went on to work at Skinner’s Wholesale Nurseries, where he worked his way up from overseeing the loading dock, to a top salesman. After about 13 years, Chad and Tera went on to open their own wholesale distribution business, brokering landscape material. A few years later, they purchased 28 acres that had once been a tree farm/nursery. After extensive renovations, they had their first tree farm, with two rental properties. From there, they went on to purchase more land, thus growing their operation!v

Tera comes from a background of farming and agriculture. She grew up working at her parent’s custom slaughter plant, where clients brought in livestock for processing and wrapping. She was also hands on with her hog operation, where she raised pigs to sell to locals. She grew up playing softball for her high school, rodeoing, competing around the state and very active in FFA. She attended Daytona Beach Community College, where she obtained a degree in business administration and management. She ultimately became a buyer for the Central FL Fern Co-Op, where she worked 13 years, before stepping away to work in a church office part-time, so that she could be at home more with her and Chad’s children. After about 3 years, she came “home” to work the tree business with Chad, and the rest is history!

Love. Love is action and not just a feeling. Feelings can be fickle, and come and go like seasons of the year and seasons of life. Ground yourselves in the Word of God, which is Truth. Get connected to a community of believers. There. Is. No. Plan. B. You entered into a covenant with God and your vows were intentional.

Don’t be too prideful to rely on Godly counseling. Counseling has gotten such a bad stigma, but it is so necessary and beneficial. Whether talking about pre-marital counseling, crisis counseling or counseling to help you through seasons of life, It. Is. Good.
Be adamant in preferring each other over “yourselves” and diligent in not going to bed angry at each other. COMMUNICATE with each other, so that you seek to understand. Listen to each other’s needs and be intentional in meeting those needs.

Men and women truly are “wired” differently. Take time to educate yourselves on these differences. There’s a lot of info. on this, like Gary Chapman’s “The Five Love Languages” and Emerson Eggerichs’ “Love & Respect”.

Legacy is not just what you leave behind, but it’s really about what you set in motion during your lifetime, that will live on through the people you impart it to. As your lives are about to become one, know that how you live your lives, truly matters! It’s not just about people remembering you years from now. It’s about the effect your life actions will continue to have on others 50, 75 and even 100 years (or more) down the road. It’s about YOUR future generations! And it’s not only about your children and grandchildren, but the world they will live in! It’s our desire to help nurture a legacy that includes strong marriages and family ties.