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.
