A family farm near Millstadt that’s come to serve as an event venue is set to welcome visitors with a unique weekend celebration in support of local first responders.

Buttercup Ranch and Creamery is owned and operated by Mary and Rich MacKeen.

The farm is set to host two related events next weekend, with the Balloon Glow and Big Band Concert On the Farm taking place Sept. 5 and the fifth annual Patriots’ Weekend CiderMan Sprint Triathlon on Sept. 6.

Mary spoke with the Republic-Times to discuss the farm’s and the family’s background, recalling how they went on their first date to see “The Princess Bride.”

Their love of the film has been a strong theme throughout their relationship, with Rich capping off his proposal to her – via a plane banner at the end of a scavenger hunt he made – with the phrase, “Love, Farmboy.”

With his mother being a farmgirl who always maintained a huge garden and her mother being a gardener as well, they had a strong interest in starting their own farm.

They named their first cow Buttercup – again inspired by the film – and carried that name over to the property as a whole.

“We wanted to do things as naturally as possible,” Mary said. “We wanted to teach our children to be able to take care of themselves, and we wanted to know where our food came from, so we started the farm, and we started with cows. A lot of people start with chickens or something easy. No, we started with milk cows.”

The family has been operating the farm for well over a decade now, and they’ve developed great pride in the property, from the lake to the many animals they’ve added over the years.

Along with fueling their passion for farming, the property has also come to serve as a venue for a variety of events.

Mary recalled how this aspect of the farm started out fairly small, with family and friends gathering to enjoy games and make cider.

“It’s just such a beautiful property that we started having events,” Mary said. “We had a private party ourselves for our friends and family… It just kind of grew, especially during COVID, people wanted to get outside. We actually started having concerts.”

Those concerts paved the way for the upcoming concert. Mary said they started out inviting Christian musician Joshua Wilson before welcoming a number of more local artists and bands to perform.

The musical feature for Sept. 5 is Scott Vignassi’s Big Little Big Band. Mary noted Vignassi is a friend from church, and the MacKeens are particularly happy to have them perform for the weekend as many of the band members are current or retired Air Force band members.

With their latest musical guest serving as the highlight for next Friday, next Saturday morning is marked by the continuation of another MacKeen tradition with their CiderMan Sprint Triathlon.

Now on its fifth year, Mary said the triathlon developed over the years thanks to their family’s creativity and interest in staying active as their children recommended adding different events. 

“We were having this family party, and we were always making it bigger and better,” Mary said. “We were doing kayak races, and then one of our daughters was like, ‘Hey, we should have an obstacle course.’ People love it.”

She emphasized how the triathlon is really for everyone, with this year’s participants set to include a 10-year-old as well as a team in their 80s.

Mary also noted how the first event took place on the 20th anniversary of the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001. The family decided to have a portion of the event’s proceeds go toward local first responders as something of a tribute to a friend who had lost his brother that day.

While both the concert and triathlon have some roots on the family farm, something entirely new for the family is the Balloon Glow which is also set to take place next Friday evening.

Mary said this is something the family has been looking to put together for some time, with Rich, who is retired from the Air Force and is still a pilot, reaching out to one of his contacts who happens to be a balloon pilot in the area.

A number of other area balloon pilots are set to participate, though, as Mary described, a test flight done at the start of August seemed to indicate that a lone balloon would be plenty exciting on its own.

“It lights up the area,” Mary said. “It’s funny. People were driving by, going real slow, they’d go back several times like, ‘Hey, what’s going on over there?’ And that was just one balloon. I think right now we have about six or seven balloons.”

When it comes to food for the evening, Mary said food would be for sale courtesy of Roy-El Catering, who have previously served at Buttercup events.

Mary also voiced her appreciation for the many sponsors for the event – including Lee’s Home Center, Breadeaux’s Pizza, Mike’s Automotive and First National Bank of Waterloo, who are among those returning sponsors.

New sponsors include Hearthside Grill and Fireplace in Belleville, CrossFit MetroEast, Apex Network Physical Therapy, ATI Physical Therapy and Empire Auto Sales.

Sponsors for the Balloon Glow include Hoffman Funeral Home, Linnemanns Gun Repair, A New You and Kennedi Golf Carts.

The Balloon Glow & Big Band Concert On the Farm takes place from 6-9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 5. Entry fee for the event is $20 per car.

The CiderMan Sprint Triathlon takes place 7 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 6. Online sign-ups for the triathlon will be active until the day before at cidermansprinttriathlon.itsyourrace.com, though folks looking to participate can still sign up 30 minutes prior to the event.

Throughout both days, 20 percent of proceeds will go toward local first responders.

Buttercup Ranch & Creamery is located at 3801 Douglas Road, Millstadt.

For more information, email mary.buttercupranch@gmail.com or call 618-719-5214.