It’s the Festival of Lights. Twinkly lights adorn five acres of trees, barns and buildings as excited families enjoy hot chocolate and homemade, spiced wine.
It’s an annual Christmas celebration hosted by a family-owned winery on the high plains of rural Kansas.
Kirk and Treva Johnston are the owners and founders of Shiloh Vineyard and Winery near WaKeeney. The vineyard hosts special events throughout the year, including the weeklong Festival of Lights during the week before Christmas.
Kirk Johnston grew up in Goodland. His wife Treva is originally from Damar. Kirk was always interested in farming. He grew up helping his uncle on the farm and earned a degree in agronomy from Kansas State University.
“I took lots of chemistry classes,” Kirk said. The two married and eventually ended up on his grandfather’s place near WaKeeney.
“My grandfather bought this place in 1921 because it had a horse barn on it,” Kirk said. “They built a chicken house and by 1925, had 300 layers in it.”
In 1929, they added the family home: “It was a house ordered out of the Montgomery Ward catalog,” Kirk said.
When Kirk and Treva got the property decades later, they considered their options. “We wanted to farm, but diversification seemed like a good idea, compared to spending millions of dollars for new farm equipment,” Kirk said.
Instead of big farm equipment, they put in a vineyard, installing a drip irrigation system. “We planted our first grapes in 2008,” Kirk said. Ultimately, this became a commercial winery.
“I read everything I could and went to a lot of conferences,” Kirk said. He learned from other commercial operators as well.
“We were assistant pastors at a local church in Hays and felt called to make an overseas trip,” Kirk said. Kirk and Treva went to a vineyard in Shiloh, Israel to help trim the vineyard and prune their vines. It was a powerful experience for them.
“If you let God direct your paths, his peace will come in,” Kirk said. “We want to provide top quality service so that people can experience that peace here in western Kansas.”
Today, Shiloh Vineyard and Winery offers a variety of premium wines made from the farm’s own fruit. This includes dry whites, dry reds, semi-sweet white, fruit and dessert wines.
“We started with 350 gallons in our first year,” Kirk said. “In 2021, we produced 1,000 cases at 2.5 gallons per case.”
They have upgraded their facilities and renovated the chicken house, barn, and a 100-year-old granary. In 2020, Treva’s niece, Kym, and her husband, Chris Heitke, relocated from California to WaKeeney to help with the business.
Shiloh Vineyard and Winery also hosts special events, lots of weddings, and visitors throughout the year. In addition to the nightly Festival of Lights during the week before Christmas, they offer a Sip of Summer Patio Party, Fall Festival dinner, and much more. Three times a year, they host five course meals paired with their wines.
The Johnstons also offer recreational vehicle dry camping sites at the vineyard. They connected with a national website called Harvest Hosts which promotes RV camping at farms, breweries, wineries and more across the country. The website has brought in lots of visitors.
“It’s been so wonderful,” Kirk said. “People say this is an oasis.”
They have had guests from every state in the U.S. plus Brazil, China, Peru, Germany, Australia and more.
Shiloh wines are available at a variety of retail outlets in western Kansas as well as at the vineyard itself. The vineyard is located in the country between WaKeeney and the rural community of Collyer, population 97 people. Now, that’s rural.
For more information, go to www.shilohvineyard.com.
It’s time to leave the Festival of Lights, one of several events that bring guests to the Shiloh Vineyard and Winery. We commend Kirk and Treva Johnston for making a difference with grape and wine production and lots of great hospitality on the high plains.
They are helping to bring happiness to light.
