It's not just our name, it's our passion. —— This is our story ——

It all started in 1996 at the Great Geauga County Fair. My wife Linda, daughter Elise and I were having a great day when we came across the Alpaca tent. We were almost mesmerized by these animals. Before we realized it we had spent over an hour with these wonderful creatures. I decided I wanted to investigate the whole Alpaca industry further. Another year passed and we were again in the Alpaca tent at the fair, even more interested in raising Alpacas. I took more pamphlets and business cards from the nice people in the tent, and over the next year I spent some time on the web learning about these animals. Time flew by and we were all in the Alpaca tent at the 1998 Great Geauga County Fair. The difference this year was that I was committed to really investigating this lifestyle and all that came along with it. By January of 1999 I had personally gone to visit almost 20 Alpaca Farms in the area surrounding Cleveland. I physically put my hands on over 100 Alpacas, helping various farms with worming, clipping toenails, and shearing. I even had the luck of being present for a birth. All the people I met were extremely friendly and gave me helpful advice and information. We also made some lasting friendships. At this point I knew I wanted very much to be an Alpaca owner. However my wife was not so sure, and I was certain that I was not going into this adventure alone. I continued to visit as many farms as I could to learn as much as I could, all the time falling more in love with these beautiful creatures. Then it happened. We were at Majestic Meadows farm, and Linda fell in love with an animal named Mariah Monroe. She said "I want that animal!" and so it began. We purchased 2 young female Alpacas in February of 1999. Through that spring and summer we worked frantically to rebuild our barn, put in a driveway to the barn, and fence in the pasture. Finally, in late September of 1999 we had Alpacas on our property. It had been almost 3-1/2 years since we laid eyes on our first Alpaca until we made our dream come true. The first time an Alpaca gave birth on our farm was on July 8, 2000. The baby was 7 to 10 days early and caught us by surprise. But I must say that the support from the surrounding farms was overwhelming and very much appreciated. We named the baby "FA Mariah's Golden Sunshine" We call her Sunshine. She had a rough start, but she is doing fine now (excuse the pun). On September 17, 2000 we were pleased to find our second cria in the barn about 7:30 AM Another girl, we named her "FA Autumn". She was up and nursing in about an hour and a half. We purchased a junior herd sire late in 2001 named LZD Diego. His first babies hit the ground in 2003 and they are outstanding. In early 2004 we purchased a high end white stud named Snowmass De Beers. He arrived at Fine Alpacas in early March and started settling females immediately. Well after 5 years of Alpaca ownership we are enjoying ourselves and are happy to be in the Alpaca Business.