Winan Creek Barn is ready to welcome guests

by Michelle Watson

What started out as a dream for Mike and Angie Lester has turned into a beautiful wedding venue north of Clear Lake called Winan Creek Barn.

“I had a friend in high school who lived in a barn house and I absolutely loved it,” said Angie.  “We live on an acreage and up the road from us was a barn that I often admired.  Mike did some research, found the owner, wrote him a letter and he contacted us a couple of weeks later.”

Originally the Lesters wanted to make the barn into their home, but after a coworker contacted them about her daughter getting married in the barn, the wheels started turning in a different direction.  A lack of rustic venues in the area and availability of what was in the area, got the Lesters thinking.

“We started looking into the wedding venue business and became interested,” said Mike.

Party planning and decorating is something that Angie said she has always loved doing and the idea really spoke to her.

“We made the decision to share this beautiful project and land with our community,” said Angie.

The barn started with dirt floors and clay walls, so the Lesters knew they had work to do.  Mike knocked out the walls and leveled the floor for concrete.  Two wings were added on each side of the structure.  To keep the character of the barn intact, they insulated from the outside in with insulation under the tin siding and roof.  Heated floors, a furnace and air conditioning was also installed.  A loft covered the entire main area of the barn. The Lesters opened up the building by removing the floor from the south section of the building.

“Our goal is to make the wedding process as stress free as possible.  We would love to be that ‘one stop’ venue that offers everything a couple would want and need,” said Angie.

Winan Creek Barn, located at 708 342nd St., Hanlontown, offers entire weekend packages so that couples can host their rehearsal, ceremony, reception and gift opening all at the same venue.

“We are avid auction attendees, so we have accumulated a lot of decor and additional items for our guests,” said Mike.  “We do not charge extra if guests want to use our decorations.”

Mike and Angie meet with couples a number of times to help with the planning, including seating arrangements, cen-

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terpieces, additional decor, ceremony details and any other needs they may have.  The venue is set up with tables, chairs and linens when the couple arrives to begin decorating.  If they choose to use provided decorations, those are also in place.  A shuttle, officiant and tents are also available for an additional charge.

The Lesters held their first reception on July 25 and their first ceremony and reception on Aug. 15.  Opening during the COVID 19 pandemic hasn’t been ideal, but they only had one June wedding that got rescheduled to September.  They have weddings scheduled every weekend until the first week of October and one scheduled in November.  They have also started booking for next year.

“We have taken the recommended precautions, such as hand sanitizer stations throughout the barn, masks available to all guests, no self serve stations, servers will wear masks and gloves, seating is limited at tables and we encourage social distancing,” said Mike.  “We also have garage doors lining our east and west wings that can be opened to allow air flow.”

An open house of the venue is planned for Saturday, Oct. 16.  A 40th birthday celebration for Mike will be held after the open house.

Mike and Angie are both employed by the Clear Lake School District.  Mike will be starting his second year as the Middle School principal. Angie is starting her eighth year at Clear Creek Elementary where she teaches STAR class, which teaches life and coping skills.  The couple have two daughters, Josie, who is in eighth grade and Pieper, who is in seventh grade.

“We are a nature loving family that enjoys adventure and being active together,” said Angie.

The family currently does not live on the venue site, but they do have some creative ideas on how they could make that their next dream come true.

“A house boat and grain bin are both on the table as possible homes,” said Angie.  “Stay tuned.”

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