Aissa Norris and the 1912 Barn A Not So Hidden Historic Treasure Hosts Woofstock 2.0

Jeff Williams:
Welcome to Community Voices, a production of NPR Illinois. I'm your co-host, Jeff Williams. In the studio with me today, Aissa Norris. Aissa, how's it going?
Aissa Norris:
It's going great.
Jeff Williams:
Right on. Did I say your name correctly? You know.
Aissa Norris:
That was perfect.
Jeff Williams:
Was it? Sometimes I'm on it and sometimes I'm not! (laughter) It just depends. We never know. And Aissa has Denver in the studio too. So maybe Denver will decide to chime in and say something here every now and then.
Aissa Norris:
She might.
Jeff Williams:
She might. You don't know. You never know. So yeah, the 1912 barn, I hadn't really heard of it before.
Aissa Norris:
The 1912 Barn is a barn in Niantic, which is almost smack dab in the middle between Decatur and Springfield. They see the sign as they drive by. They don't even realize it's a town.
Jeff Williams:
Oh, I've been through on my bicycle. I ride my bike a lot. And so I've been through it quite a few times. Yep, definitely.
Aissa Norris:
So we are just south of the interstate. My husband and I, Hank, got there about 14, 15 years ago. And we were hot air balloon pilots looking for a place to fly our hot air balloon from. And I was a principal in Decatur. He worked for a real estate agency and we just wanted to live out where we could fly. So we found this property, 6 1/2 acres. It's got a beautiful historic barn on it that was built in 1912 itself. The farm was established in 1851. So it's a nice heritage property. So we moved out there and We flew balloons a little bit in about a year into being there. My husband got a phone call at the real estate office saying, do you know somebody with a barn where we could get married? And they go, you're in luck. Hank Norris has this cool barn out in the country. And that was our first wedding. It just kind of happened organically. And once we had one party, we had another party, and another party, and another party. And the next thing I knew, I was in business. That wasn't really the plan, but that's kind of what happened. Because I was a school principal, I ran my teacher workshops out there and it was peaceful. And people come out and my husband always says they just exhale because there's big shady trees. There's this barn that was built in 1912. It's post and beam, beautiful wood stalls inside. So it's just very tranquil. It's a place that's a family, cozy, comfortable farm. Just what you'd expect.
Jeff Williams:
That's awesome. It's a little outside of Niantic then, is that right?
Aissa Norris:
Yeah, Niantic, there's like a whole 500 people. Right, Yeah, like 5 streets, 10 streets just south of the interstate. So if you drive back and forth from Decatur to Springfield, you'll see a white barn with some silos and then you'll see a big star on the back of our barn.
Jeff Williams:
Okay.
Aissa Norris:
And we do events up to like 300, 400 people.
Jeff Williams:
Nice, yeah.
Aissa Norris:
But we also do small things. things. I mean, this weekend I got a graduation party on Friday night. I got really into the history of the barn and the community and learned so much about Niantic. It was kind of a hub for rope during the gold rush.
Jeff Williams:
Really.
Aissa Norris:
And yeah, because they were using it on going in with mining and down barges. And so our farm was one of the first farms in 1851 in Niantic and they were raising hemp and then shipping it on the railroad, which is right there. Everybody sees a railroad run back and forth. And they take it to the river or it'd go out west. And there's still these nails in the beams of the barn where they'd hang that hemp to dry.
Jeff Williams:
Wow, crazy.
Aissa Norris:
So, it's kind of kind of unique, you know, and to be post and beam, there's not a lot of nails and things regularly for how it's built. And to stand this, you know, over 100 years is phenomenal.
Jeff Williams:
I love it. Yeah. So that kind of reminds me, I'm somewhat familiar with Funk's Farm. You know, the Funk's family have this farm. I'm just mentioning that because I'm familiar with it from doing some art shows and stuff up there, you know. And so, yeah, that's super cool. I'm really I'm curious to check your place out. That's super cool.
Aissa Norris:
Yeah. It's been one of those things that, like I said, grew organically. We don't do a huge amount of publicity because people just come to us. Once somebody comes, then they have a birthday party. And I have a lot of girls come do prom pictures. And the next thing I know, they're getting married there. And they're having their baby shower there. And they're having their first birthday party there. And so we do all those kinds of things.
Jeff Williams:
Yeah, any like doesn't have to be necessarily a larger event. It can be like smaller, more intimate sort of things. Right.
Aissa Norris:
And I think that's what people like because it has its own character. Especially from April to October… when we're open. And people want to be outside, but if the weather turns to crap, what do you do? So, you have this beautiful barn. It's 3 stories. You can go upstairs if you need to. Great things for pictures. And a couple years ago, we started doing even celebration of life. We had a few military men come back, sadly, and families were struggling and we're like, why don't you come hang out at our place? And so we kind of started doing those first, giving those families places to gather and relax and kind of unwind. And people come out and they just feel right at home. We live right on the property. And then we run an Airbnb.
Jeff Williams:
I was going to mention I saw that and I thought that too.
Aissa Norris:
And so, we host traveling nurses.
Jeff Williams:
Okay. Traveling nurses.
Aissa Norris:
So, there's a ton for the hospital. Right now I have an RN who's working at memorial and he lives at my house for a year. We have several suites in our home and they come and they can work their schedules and then when they're not working, they really like it, unwind.
Jeff Williams:
Well, you could even get those from the Springfield or Decatur areas, right?
Aissa Norris:
I have a set in from Springfield and Decatur currently. And then we do another thing called Hip Camp, which is people open their homes and areas for camping. And because we're on 6 1/2 acres, we have spaces out back that actually have 30 and 50 amp service. And so sometimes we have long-term nurses stay in their camper on our property. So we have that going on. And then Denver wants to remind everybody we got Sniff Spot. And Sniff Spot is you pay a little fee and you come spend the day on the farm with your dog and they run the paths and lay out in the sun and do whatever. So we kind of evolved to all these little side venues, but they really, it works for us.
Jeff Williams:
That's great.
Aissa Norris:
And lets us retire and chase our grandkids.
Jeff Williams:
It's a great purpose. You are serving people, you know, and it utilizes this space and it's great for the people who come in. in as a respite or, however, they're going to use it. So that's really cool. Now, this could be a little bit off topic, but in the area, do you know much about those? I guess my grandmother used to work in some of those barricades that used to be the bunkers and stuff. By Illiopolis area, sort of?
Aissa Norris:
You'll see the bunkers when you come across 72, and those were actually ammunition factories. Because years and years ago in Illiopolis there was a major ammunitions port for the country. And so, they're starting to take some of those down now. They don't let people get to any of them. Because they're dangerous. Right, It's ex-military stuff. Farmers are now starting to take some of them down. to get their ground back. But I mean, you come out into the country and there's all kinds of things that you don't even realize. I mean, not even a mile from us is a homestead where Abraham Lincoln lived before he went to New Salem. And he floated the Sangamon (river, via barge). They had part of his old house there at one point. And then that got burned down and they put in a couple, you know, demo little houses out there. Now it's gone again. But that's where he actually boarded to go down the Sangamon and get down to New Salem. And it's less than a mile from my house.
Jeff Williams:
Wow, that's so crazy.
Aissa Norris:
And Pit Road, there is a big quarry pit and we watch the bald eagles fly. by there. We've had bobcats at her house and the bald eagles in the yard. So, I mean, we're not very far out of town, but we really feel like we are in the country and relax, and like you said, we do feel like we're serving the community. My husband and I love being social. We're getting ready to do in July, Woofstock 2.0, which is a fundraiser for New Hope Animal outreach in Decatur, and they provide supports for families who are struggling with pets and think they have to give them up but need money for shots.
Jeff Williams:
Or food, et cetera.
Aissa Norris:
So, we're helping with the fundraiser for that, and... Every year we do 2 fundraisers, totally free. People call us and say, hey, have you done your two fundraisers this year? And if we haven't, we hook them up. And we try to give them a space to have something to raise funds for something in our community, in the Sangamon (County), Macon County area. So, it's been a great opportunity to be a part of a community, a small town, bring business to small town. And I do fun field trips with kids. We used to have chickens. We don't now. I got tired of chickens.
Jeff Williams:
I was chasing them all the time.
Aissa Norris:
Denver was chasing them all the time. But the kids come out, they have picnics. I get out all the old things. They got like an old wooden butter churn and the old ceramic jugs. And we talk about, how do people do their laundry and how do they get the crops in? And the kids are just like, what? Are you kidding me? What do you mean? And it's just such a different feel for them. But I want them to have those experiences. We've been fortunate. My husband has great connections. He actually won a Drew House Award through the historic preservation. Association in Illinois for historic preservation in Danville that he did. And so when we came and bought the property, it really was, we wanted the historic barn. You know, the house was just there. We didn't care about this, but the barn was just so cool. And so we've kept everything original in it. So it really gives people that feel for what was it like here 100 years ago.
Jeff Williams:
Nice. You mentioned Danville. Are you originally from the Danville area?
Aissa Norris:
My husband is from Danville. I'm from Belleville.
Jeff Williams:
Oh, Belleville!
Aissa Norris:
But because I was a principal, I moved around, met my husband in flying hot air balloons when we flew all over. And so, it was just kind of, we just kind of landed in the middle.
Jeff Williams:
Yeah. Now, I've got a couple of questions in different directions. Down in Belleville, there's a neighborhood that it's like these old kind of brick houses. I don't know how to explain it because I wasn't really expecting (Belleville) to come, or anything. There's like a really old pub sort of a thing. Maybe it says like it's got like an old Falstaff (beer) or Stag (beer) sign. But it's this old neighborhood that looks to me as if it's very, got a bit of a European sort of a feel. Right. Is that in Belleville? I'm trying to think of it.
Aissa Norris:
Down that area, there's a lot of German.
Jeff Williams:
It's got a very German sort of vibe.
Aissa Norris:
Stag was a big deal.
Jeff Williams:
So, Stag, maybe it was Stag, maybe it's some Stag neon signs though.
Aissa Norris:
Yeah, and so that in Belleville, there's a lot of old brick neighborhoods that are still there. Yeah, I grew up in the Belleville area. And so, you know, we just really... That's what I just love all that historic kind of stuff.
Jeff Williams:
Once again, we are in the studio with Aissa Norris and her pup, Denver, talking about 1912 Barn, which is a historical site. Is that correct? I know you said most of your people who come through is word of mouth, but is there a web presence or some way people can get a hold of you?
Aissa Norris:
Sure, we're at 1912barn.org. We went with org because we kind of do lots of things, you know. educational history and event space. And then we're on Facebook. We actually do a lot of our bookings through a service called Eventectives that's popular in Springfield. You just get online, type in Eventectives (a event management platform), and any place you want to go, hold an event, thing you want to do, you put it in there, and then the venues in the area can latch on to you and say, hey, come see us, come see us.
Jeff Williams:
Okay, sorry to interrupt. So that Eventectives, that's like the word event and detectives sort of put together? Is that sort of a, okay, just so if people heard that, They were trying to write it down. How am I supposed to, look for that. So, very cool.
Aissa Norris:
Like I said, we'll stop. Woofstock 2.0 on July 11th. And whether you're having a gathering of 10, last fall we had a gathering of 10 and they were doing a train mystery, but it turned out to be a barn mystery. And so they did this family thing and then we do big events for like Decatur Memorial, ADM, Barn Progress Show. So we do the damn it.
Jeff Williams:
Yeah, that's awesome. As you mentioned, the Danville connection, I remember being over there. And of course, Dick and Jerry Van Dyke, you know.
Aissa Norris:
Oh! You have got to talk to my husband about that! Because he helped with the original renovation of the Fisher Theater.
Jeff Williams:
The theater, that's what I was going to ask about.
Aissa Norris:
My husband has a picture with all 5 actors who were from Danville with him when they first started this. He'd love to come talk about that forever.
Jeff Williams:
I don't have to do that. So we'll save that then for another time. That's great. Yeah, I'd love to do that.
Aissa Norris:
But that is such a cool theater. And I mean, in Decatur, the Lincoln Theater in Decatur, they have stuff in.
Jeff Williams:
There all the time. Still having stuff going on, yeah.
Aissa Norris:
You're seeing a lot of these older places be regenerated because people are missing it.
Jeff Williams:
Yeah, absolutely.
Aissa Norris:
We're really, really missing that connection with people. And I think everybody's way off of COVID now, and like, what happened? And so they just want to connect.
Jeff Williams:
Absolutely. And that's how I gone to up until the old Avon Theater over in, you know, Decatur. I'm hoping, I don't know, I haven't heard anything, but God, it'd be great if it could keep going. It is so sad that it was. But there are these, in this case, like some of these small theaters, there's like the Majestic in Canton and there's the Princess, maybe in Rushville, Illinois, kind of got one of those old neat, you know, signs and the Orpheum and Taylorville stands really cool. But you know what I mean? Those things that are kind of in a part of Like you're doing, it's part of history. It's cool to preserve those sort of things when people are able to. Of course, Springfield's gotten rid of all of their downtown, the many theaters.
Aissa Norris:
But Springfield's been hit so hard with fire and this and that. They're working so hard to come back. You know, we try to come over for everything that's downtown. And, you know, I think people are needing to be out and be with people. I think people are looking for unique places. to go see, have a picnic, meet new people, have a reunion, I think we don't even know what's under our nose sometimes. And that's why I love the show is because, you know, all of a sudden you go, well, gosh, darn it, that's in my backyard. Or somebody will now go, you know, I see that star every night when I drive back to Springfield. Now I know what's there. So it's important to have these kind of things and have these discussions so people know what we have and value our own community so much.
Jeff Williams:
Love it, love it. Well, once again, we're in the studio with Asa Norris and with 1912 Barn, the historical site. right in Niantic or right near Niantic, Illinois. Thanks so much for coming and giving this information. It's been great.
Aissa Norris:
Yeah, great discussion.
Jeff Williams:
I enjoyed it. So we'll have to talk about getting your husband in here to talk about Danville.
Aissa Norris:
Oh, he'll come. He loves it.
Jeff Williams:
Right on. All right. Thanks A lot.
Aissa Norris:
All right. Have a great day.
Jeff Williams:
Yeah, you too. Thanks. Community Voices is events you might have missed and conversations with neighbors, artists, and area businesspeople. Suggest a guest or Comment at communityvoices@nprillinois.org.