- Welcome to "A Shot of Ag."

My name is Rob Sharkey.

I'm a fifth-generation farmer from just outside of Bradford, Illinois.

Did you grow up in the country?

Did you move to the big city?

Did you have that desire to come back to the country, back to Peoria?

That's why we're gonna talk to our guest today, Ashley Wurzer.

How you doing, Ashley?

- Fine.

Nice to meet you, Rob.

Glad to be here.

- I'm doing great.

How are you doing?

- I'm doing good.

- Yes.

I like your hat.

- Thank you.

- I wish we would've coordinated.

I woulda wore a hat.

(Ashley chuckles) I don't look good in cowboy hats though, 'cause I don't know, they make me look husky.

(Ashley chuckles) - Sasquatchy.

- Sasquatchy.

Yes, exactly.

That's not really a cowboy hat though, is it?

- No, it's a felt- - It's more of a- - Chic hat.

- Fedore?

What do they call those hats?

- A fedora hat.

- Is it a fedora hat?

- A little bit bigger.

- [Rob] It's stylish.

- Very.

- [Rob] Should we keep talking about it?

(Ashley and Rob chuckling) - We could.

- All right, you live in Peoria currently?

- I do.

- You are, where'd you grow up?

- So I grew up in Hanna City, born and raised.

- [Rob] Not everybody knows where that's at.

- So, you're kind of in between Peoria and Farmington.

- Okay.

- Basically.

Went to Farmington High School.

- [Rob] Did you?

What was their mascot?

- Farmington Farmers.

Farmington Farmers.

- [Rob] That's sad.

(Ashley laughs) - I mean- - I was a cheerleader for the Farmington Farmers, so we would have to make Farmington Farmer things for the lockers.

- Like, what did you have like, a guy in bibs?

(Ashley laughs) - Pretty much.

Pretty much.

- I should be offended, but that's kind of awesome.

- It's cute.

Yeah.

(Rob laughs) - Love it.

Right?

Love it.

- So, did you grow up on a farm?

- So I grew up on a farm.

We had some sheep, we had chickens, we had geese.

So yeah, I grew up in the country.

We had a bunch of hunting property as well, with a blueberry farm on that.

So- - [Rob] Blueberry farm?

- Blueberry farm.

- [Rob] Really?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

You have Fulton County is where that's at, right?

- Correct.

That's in Fulton County.

- That is world renowned.

- Yes.

- Part of the Golden Triangle for hunting.

So that was part of your farm?

- Yep.

Big bucks.

So, we have guys come out and hunt and my dad still hunts and my three little girls go hunting, my husband hunts.

So, yeah.

Good, clean, country living.

- Yeah.

Okay.

So let's go back to high school, Ashley.

Did you go to college?

- Went to Bradley for undergrad.

- Did you?

Okay.

- Yep.

And then I got my nursing degree there.

Moved out.

- Why?

What did you want to nurse for?

What was the draw?

- You know, I just, I liked healthcare, I had been in gymnastics and just enjoyed anatomy, physiology, and I knew I didn't wanna work a desk job.

And so nursing was the draw.

And then, got into Rush Medical Center after working in the Cardiovascular ICU.

- [Rob] In Chicago?

- I was working in Cardiovascular ICU out in Arizona.

And then I went to Rush Medical Center in Chicago.

- Okay.

- Downtown.

And- - Is that a, that's a big hospital?

- Huge.

- Yeah.

- Level I Trauma.

- You always hear about it.

- Yeah.

- So I assume it was big.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

Is that where "ER" was?

- I don't know.

It might have been Northwestern.

- That Noah Wyle.

I always thought he was smug.

(Ashley laughs) You know what I'm saying?

- I do.

- Yeah.

- Concrete got to his head.

- Okay.

Where were we?

Rush.

So you were, what were you doing at Rush?

- So, went there for nurse anesthesia, and then grad for- - [Rob] For what?

- For nurse anesthesia, so I'm a nurse anesthetist.

Its kind of hard to say.

- [Rob] Don't ask me to say that word.

- It's a little bit hard to say.

- [Rob] Anesthetist.

- Anesthetist.

- [Rob] That wasn't, okay.

- You got that.

- [Rob] So you put people out.

- I put people out, put 'em to sleep.

I'm at the top of the- - [Rob] It's what I do with this show.

(Ashley laughs) They never laugh.

The camera guys, they never laugh.

- Oh, he's laughing.

- I say some funny stuff, too.

They never laugh.

- I see him laughing.

- Case in point.

Anyway.

All right.

You're at Rush, you're knocking people, what was, so why did you pick anesthesia as a, I don't know.

- Yeah.

- Like, I wanna say like a minor?

- Yeah, yeah.

- You know?

- You know, I just thought it was interesting.

I thought, you know, you can see the pharmacokinetic effects of drugs that you're giving.

- [Rob] Did you make that up?

- I did.

- Oh.

(Ashley laughs) How do you, like, what do you shoot 'em up with?

- So, in pre-op they get a little Versed, it's like a benzodiazepine, like a little bit of Valium, IV.

And then in the operating room, when they bring 'em back to us, a little propofol, a little fentanyl, lidocaine, a little rocuronium, which is a paralytic, and then sevoflurane gas.

- [Rob] Do you ever just use a club?

- On a few of 'em I'd like to, but no, I don't.

(Ashley laughs) - I'm not talking about the doctors.

(Rob and Ashley laughing) Okay.

So you're up there?

- Yep.

- I mean, this is, I don't know, small town girl, big city.

- Yes.

- How'd you fit in?

- I enjoyed it.

But I would come home, you know, when I was at Rush, I would come home literally every weekend.

Just, I could study a lot easier here and, it was just quiet.

And, you know, I love the city.

I do, I love the city, but there's something about the country that just draws you back.

- Chicago takes a lot of heat.

Rightfully so, in some cases.

But it's a fun city.

It's like a, I gotta imagine, like, you living up there, it had to be exciting, a little bit.

- Absolutely.

Absolutely.

Great restaurants, you know, just a lot of different exposure to a lot of different cool things, but also gives you an appreciation for quiet and simplicity.

- [Rob] Yeah.

- You know?

So I kind of think it's good to have both, a little bit.

You know, great exposure, but definitely have, you know, a place to get away.

- Yeah.

- For sure.

- Okay, so, when did you go to work at Northwest?

- So I graduated from Rush and then- - [Rob] Oh, so that was a school?

- Yeah.

So I got my master's- - Okay, all right.

Yep.

- Yep.

So I got my master's from Rush and then started working at Northwestern in '05, 2005.

And, so started working in all the ORs there, so doing everything from spines to craniotomies to liver transplants, kidney transplants, knee replacements, hip replacements, you name it.

- [Rob] Wow.

- Yep.

- Okay.

Is it?

(sighs) Obviously, I know nothing about what you do.

Do you get a chance to really interact with your patients?

- Yeah.

- Or are you just a person that comes in and like, knocks 'em out?

- No, I think there's a big part of making patients feel at ease, you know?

So I see them in pre-op.

- [Rob] Yeah.

- So I'm one of the first people that greets them after their IV is in, or I'm putting the IV in.

- [Rob] Ohh.

- And then when they, right when they come in the operating room- - [Rob] Don't like you all of a sudden.

(Ashley laughs) Can you do it first time?

- All the time.

No, usually it's every time.

(Rob and Ashley laughing) - But you are, you're dealing sometimes, obviously, with people that are in a lot of pain.

- Yeah.

And need that pain to stop.

- Yep.

- So, it's gotta make you feel good- - It does.

- That you have the knowledge and the know how- - It does.

- How to do that.

- It does.

It's a really, it is very rewarding, for sure.

- I could talk about this all day, but I guess we gotta- - It's interesting, right?

- It is!

- It's interesting.

- I don't know, as a farmer, I find it fascinating what you.

- It is.

It's interesting.

- Yeah.

- Because you don't really know the back end of things sometime.

You know, you just know you're nervous, you don't know everything that's kind of, going on in that world.

- Yeah.

I know if I had a surgery, I don't want to feel a damn thing, so, I want you to be- - Yes, yes.

- Amazing.

- Right there.

Right there.

(Rob laughs) - Okay.

So tell me about the decision.

How did it all come back that you kinda migrated back to- - Sure.

- Central Illinois?

- So, you know, I was working downtown, driving two hours a day, fast forward, three kids later, you're living in the 'burbs, you know, had lived downtown for about 10 years, then moved to the burbs.

- [Rob] What 'burb?

- Hinsdale.

- [Rob] Okay.

- Yep.

And- - [Rob] I don't know where that is.

- It's about 20, 25 miles, 26 miles outside of the city.

- [Rob] And that took two hours?

- It'd take 45 in and an hour and 15 with no accidents coming back.

- Yikes.

- Isn't that crazy?

- Okay.

- So two hours a day, round trip, and you just kinda start thinking, "What are we doing here?

What's going on?

Why am I in the car two hours a day?"

You know?

I take the train in sometimes, but I'd have to catch it at 5:00 am, and then take the train back home and get home late, so, you know, just time, right?

Starts becoming more valuable and, you know, as I was, you know, kept coming home, you know, I bought a little house on Lake Wee-Ma-Tuk in the country, in Canton, and we'd go there every weekend, every other weekend, and then you're like, "Gosh, this is pretty nice.

Pretty freaking nice down here."

And, you know, those two-hour drives kind of started getting, seemed like they were getting longer and longer, and it just, it made me wanna come home even more so, you know, after that wears on you a little while, you know?

- So, you come back to Peoria and you're a nurse here?

- So I'm a nurse anesthetist here at OSF.

So, I've been here going on about a year and a half, working at OSF in the ORs.

And it's been great.

It's been great.

It's, you know, affording me to be near family, which is nice.

And, you know, pursue other things as well, so.

- Other things.

Okay, let's change gears.

(Ashley chuckles) All right, how do you get into, would you call it the reception business?

How did this whole thing start?

- So, I started kind of, investing in Peoria in 2013.

I started buying up little houses in Peoria Heights and I thought, you know- - [Rob] Like, as rentals?

- As rentals, yeah.

And then, you know- - [Rob] So you're a landlady?

- I am.

And some Airbnbs and- - I always heard they were mean.

- No, I'm not a mean one, though.

(Rob chuckles) And then I thought, "You know?

I could do this Airbnb stuff.

It's great.

Now I kind of wanna venture out and I think I could do a wedding venue, or an event center."

I feel like Peoria needed some good energy, needed something a little bit new, you know, somewhere where, you know, you're close enough to town, but yet you're still feeling like you're in the country.

Somewhere to kind of escape to, you know, get away from it all.

So I pulled in, I called one of my girlfriends and I said, "Hey, do you know any barns for sale?"

And she said, "Well," (Rob snorts) I think there's one out by, in Edwards."

- Somehow, I'm guessing that's not the first time you've ever uttered that sentence.

(Rob and Ashley laughing) - "Do you know who any barns for sale?"

- So for Peoria people, it's between Weavers and Bethany.

- You got it.

- Yeah.

- I'm right across from Weaver, so I'm across the street.

- Catty, kitty, catty?

- Yeah, I'm like, diagonal from Weavers, yep.

- Diagonal.

On Trigger And 150.

So I'm right on the other side, like, right past Grand Prairie Mall.

- [Rob] Okay.

- Yep.

- And that, what's the history?

What was that?

- Sure.

So, I believe that there, it was a pig farm.

They had, you know, hay.

All the pastures were hay as well, some corn.

They had some horses as well.

But I know that a couple of the barns were pig barns, and my big barn was used for hay as well.

And horses.

They'd have some horse races and horse, some derby events and things like that out there, too.

- Legal ones?

Or like, under the table?

- I don't know, I don't know.

(Ashley laughs) - I'm guessing.

- Probably, probably.

- I'm guessing I know the answer to that.

So was it, what are you buying?

There was ground, but was there just a house there?

- So, the barn was there.

So I called and I said, "Hey, would you sell the barn?"

And they said, "No," they, "We don't wanna sell the barn."

I said, "All right."

So then a week later they called me back and- - [Rob] Okay.

(chuckles) - They said, "All right, we'll sell you the house and the barn."

- [Rob] Were they emotionally attached to this barn?

- Right, right.

I said, they said, "I'll sell you the house and the barn."

And I said, "All right, I'll get the house and the barn."

And a couple of the lanes and a couple of the pastures.

So, you know, I kinda told them that the area that I wanted and- - They upsold you?

- They did.

- Yeah.

- And it was good enough that I thought, "You know what?

This is, it was, it's a special piece of property."

- Okay.

- So- - It's a great location.

- It's a great location.

- And, you want to build on that?

Or do you want to use the existing buildings?

- Yep.

So we are going to build a brand new, 7,000 square-foot barn.

- Seven?

- 7,000 square foot.

- [Rob] 70 by 100?

- 70 by 100.

- 7,000 square foot?

- You got it.

- That is a- - So small.

Very small.

- Barn is the perfect word for it.

(Ashley laughs) - That's huge.

- It's huge, right?

- And that, I mean, is that all gonna be one big room?

- One big room.

- Holy cow.

- Yeah.

- Okay.

- Yep.

So bathrooms, oh, the whole bit.

We'll have- - That has to be.

I don't know Peoria, but that has to be like, one of the biggest centers or whatever?

- Right.

I think we're gonna be up there pretty good.

Yeah.

- If you found out like, the biggest event center in Peoria, like this, was gonna be 7,000, would you make your 7,001?

- Probably.

- You're damn right you would.

(Rob and Ashley laughing) So you're gonna build this, I mean, is it just a shed?

Or are you gonna make it all nice and stuff?

- Yeah, we're gonna do all wood interior, so our steel just got delivered this week, so pretty pumped about that.

So gonna put, you know, the steel beams going through, and then all wood interior with a little balcony.

- [Rob] Okay.

I'll sell this stuff.

- I mean- - If you want.

- I could use that.

I think I could.

I didn't even notice that.

- 20 bucks and a van in the back and it's yours.

- I would be in.

I would be in for that.

(Rob laughs) I would be in for that.

- So what are you hoping to do with this building?

- Yeah, so hoping to make it just a really cool event center slash wedding venue slash you know, place for basically the community to hang out.

Hoping to have, you know, I've kind of been talking with a few other people in town about getting some bands out there, hopefully, eventually.

- [Rob] Really?

- Having some- - [Rob] Like Nickelback?

- Just really good.

- [Rob] Those guys are good.

- They'd be good.

- You'd probably fill that with.

- They'd be good, they'd be good.

- Is this for like, weddings?

- For weddings, yeah.

And then just other like, you know, whether it's veteran events, whether it's, you know, anything you can think of, just, you know, fundraising events, things that kind of bring everybody together, in the community.

I think we need some uplifting, good places to kinda hang that, where, you know, there's some good energy.

- Do you think like, people that would be wanting to come out to this, they look at it as more of a country or a farm setting?

- I do.

- Yeah?

- I do.

I think, you know, a few of us have sat on that back porch watching the sun go down and it's just, you know, you really feel like, you know, you could see all the stars, you can hear everything, you're, you know, you're enough away from things.

But not too far away if, you know?

So I think it's a good mix of both.

- Yeah, it's not like you have to drive three hours to some- - Right.

- Especially 'cause I don't know, people getting married in Peoria- - Right.

- They don't.

You ever been to one of those weddings where like, "Oh, here's the wedding," and then the reception is 72 hours away?

- Right, right.

(laughs) - By boat.

- Right.

- Which is crazy stuff.

- Right.

- Yeah.

- You get it.

- So will you be like, just having the location itself or will you be like, in charge of the, I don't know, the food and all that stuff?

- Sure.

So, no.

So we'll have, you know, preferred caterers, but we're letting people, as long as they're licensed and insured, that they have a caterer, we're letting them bring in whichever caterer that they want as long as it's approved.

[Rob] Yeah.

- And then they can bring their own decorations.

They don't have to use anything that we have, but we have things if they'd like to rent, they could.

So kind of just letting them customize how they want to customize, which I think is important.

You know, we have one bride and groom, they're, his dad, he comes from a big farming family and so they wanna bring two, you know, antique tractors and park 'em in the front, right when you're coming in along, you know, tree-lined drive, which I think is awesome, right?

It's really freaking cool.

So they're gonna do that.

So really make, letting the bride and groom customize how they want to.

I'm really, a lot of the parties that have booked so far are from farming families, so I think it's pretty cool.

- That, I mean, I guess that surprises me a little bit.

I don't know why, but I would think, you know, the whole draw of like, "Oh we're gonna go out to the country to do that," it would be more of the people inside.

Maybe it's just 'cause you haven't really gotten up and going?

- Yeah, yeah.

- Once you have that first event, I imagine you are going to be a very busy lady.

- I'm hoping so.

I'm hoping.

I'm hoping the community is excited about it, 'cause I know that we are.

- Well it's, I mean, June, right?

June, July, I'm sure you have no problem.

I mean, do you have like, a plan to keep that thing busy outside the wedding season?

- Sure.

Well, we're looking to have our first wedding in September, so really, you know, this is gonna be the big build going on, right?

But you know, ideally wedding season is usually, you know, anywhere from April through November, December.

So I'm really kinda hoping that April through December is busy.

You know, January, February, March, I don't know.

A little downtime might be kind of nice.

Go to Mexico or something, I don't know.

But- - Yeah.

- Then you'd be a grain farmer.

- We'll see, we'll see.

There you go.

Right, exactly.

Exactly.

- With a building that big though, are you gonna have it to where you can, I don't know, section it off?

So maybe if the event isn't quite as big, people- - I think so, you know.

Or just kind of, you know- - Get some- - I'm a woman, we fill it with things.

All of a sudden, stuff.

- You get some bisque weave, and you hang that down, you cut that shed right in half.

- Right?

- Yeah.

You could have two events.

- You could be one of my decorators.

- I don't come free.

(Ashley and Rob laughing) I know it's a business.

Right?

And as an investment, you want to make money off this, but, what does it mean for you to bring something like this to Central Illinois?

- Right, good question.

- [Rob] Ah, I'm a professional.

- I love that.

You've done this before.

You know, I think for me, honestly, it's just the intrinsic value of, this is my hometown.

For me, to do this in Chicago wouldn't have as much meaning.

It wouldn't have the meaning that it has, coming back home, bringing, you know, exposure that I've had up there, ideas, to my family and friends and community down here.

That makes me proud.

It makes me proud to help Peoria better itself.

Thinking of other ways to stay, you know, on top of things, right?

That makes me excited.

I wanna see Peoria succeed.

So, you know, I think that is a huge reason that I did this, 'cause I could have done something similar to this with, you know, in a different city, with maybe not all the rules and regulations that Peoria has, and I probably would have been up and running a little sooner.

But for me, to do it here, I think is only going to benefit Peoria.

Which makes me feel good.

- I just bribe people, myself.

- I am starting to think maybe I need to start doing that.

(Rob and Ashley laughing) - Cut that out.

Cut that right out.

I love to hear that because, I mean, Peoria is such a unique fun city and you know, you hear the bad stuff about it, right?

- Yeah.

- And you hear where it's going and all the bad news and the gloom and doom.

It is so nice, and that's why, I mean, even though we're a farm and ag show, when we get someone like yourself that is willing to bring something new and energetic back, I mean, for us as farmers, for a rural community, it even helps us.

- So I mean- - I agree.

- It's so much fun to see someone bringing some life back into stuff.

- I agree.

- I agree.

- Yeah.

- I agree.

I think we need more of that.

We need more, you know, entrepreneurs that are able, that are thinking that, "I wanna come home."

You know, I wanna go to the country.

The city, nobody wants to be in the city anymore.

Well- - Yeah.

- You know, I mean, after all the things that have happened recently, you know, I think that there's just a big draw to get away from massive amounts of people, to get to the country.

And I think, you know, that things can only get better by heading in that direction versus cramming all together in a city.

And, you know, living like.

- You went away for what, 17 years?

- So, I was away, I left Peoria in '99 and just came, yeah, so.

- [Rob] I'm not gonna do math.

- Can't do math either.

- [Rob] But, yes.

- Yeah.

- I guess my question is, I mean, when you came back, even though you grew up in Hanna City, I mean, were you, did you kinda get treated like an outsider, approached as an outsider?

- I think maybe a little, but I had already been coming back and forth a lot, so I don't think I had, you know, my finger on the pulse as much.

So it, there's still some stuff where I get mixed up on my streets and things like that a little bit still, but I do think that, you know, it would be nice if Peoria could kind of, be open to people that (clears throat) have other exposure to other things, where you're not just in this bubble.

You know?

I think a little bit, I would answer yeah.

But like I said, you know, coming home a lot and my family's still here, not as much as other people probably.

- Well, it's kind of a unique way you have looking at stuff and I see this in farming and ag all the time because my frustration is that people that live in the city don't understand what we do, and think that we're actually trying to hurt the environment or hurt them, and it just, I don't know, it's frustrating for me.

You, coming from Chicago, living in the bigger cities, coming here, maybe that actually creates a very good like, transition or a very, for you to almost be like a go between- - Agreed.

- And bring some of that fun stuff from the city- - Agreed.

- And, but also preserve Peoria.

- Agreed.

That's well said.

Well put.

I agree.

- [Rob] Well, thank you.

- Oh.

(exhales) (Rob and Ashley laughing) - Good night, everybody!

- Oh.

- Oh.

- Yeah, no, I agree.

I think that's, you know, and that makes me, because to me, when I'm around, you know, my hometown people and they're telling me the things that have been going on, it makes me, you know, it's like brain food for me.

Because it's not what I'm exposed to, haven't been exposed to up there.

But you know, and then I'm telling them things.

They're like, "Gosh, what was happening during the riots?

What was going on?"

And so, just, it's interesting, right?

But I also, you know, I think it's good to have it, information on both ways.

I have so much respect for farmers, 'cause it is hard, darn work.

- Eh, we like to complain.

If people wanna find out about, what are you calling this?

- Haven on the Farm.

- If they wanna find out about Haven on the Farm, where would they go?

- So, you can go to our website, havenonthefarm.com.

We also have Instagram, so, as well, Haven on the Farm- - [Rob] No TikTok?

- I'm not into TikTok.

- [Rob] Is it because of that balloon?

- It's 'cause of that balloon.

- Yeah.

I hear ya.

(Rob chuckles) Haven on the Farm.

(Rob and Ashley laughing) And when's it gonna be open?

- So, September, 2023.

- Guaranteed?

- First events.

Guaranteed.

City willing.

Love it.

(Ashley laughing) - We're joking.

- Joking.

- Kind of.

(Rob laughs) Well, thank you for coming on.

I love it.

I love what you're doing.

- It's great being here.

- I love that you're bringing- - It was fun.

- A spark of life back in to- - It was fun.

- Peoria, areas of Peoria, bringing people outside a little bit- - I agree.

- Into the rural.

I just- - I agree.

- I love every bit of it.

- I agree.

- Ashley Wurzer, from Peoria, originally from Hanna City.

Thank you- - Thanks, Rob.

- For being here.

- Thanks for having me.

- Appreciate it.

- It was great.

It was fun.

- Yeah.

If I- - Love this show.

- Had a child getting married and wanted to rent that place- - I'm charging you double.

- You've legally agreed to it being on this show.

We'll catch everybody next week.

(Rob laughs)