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Published Monday, January 04, 2010 in Local

Photo by Sarah Fay Campbell

Melinda Cole pets Ani, an Icelandic horse at Five Acre Farm, at last week’s Something Sunday event.

Owner wants to make farm a place like grandma's

By Sarah Fay Campbell

The Newnan Times-Herald

Each Sunday, Teel Montague opens her Fairburn farm for good music, new friends, old friends, horses, bonfires and food.

Montage began "Something Sundays" the weekend after Thanksgiving.

Her vision was to make her farm a place "kind of like grandma's where we go on Sunday," she said. "Here I am on this beautiful piece of land. I want it to be like -- this is grandma's, this is where we go after church to have fun and meet people and get to know our cousins and neighbors and friends and make new friends," she said. The event runs from noon to 5 p.m.

Montague is also hoping that Something Sundays will help her keep Five Acre Farm. Following her divorce, she has had to put the farm on the market. As she says on her flier, "donations needed and appreciated."

Southern blues musicians play each Sunday; there is also fishing, and people can enjoy meeting and riding on Ani and Blesi, Montague's two Icelandic horses.

They may be small, but don't call them ponies. The small, sturdy horses can hold up to 300 pounds. They are known for their great temperament, five gaits, and thick hair. Montague has done equine-assisted therapy in the past, and found that Icelandic horses are perfect for that purpose.

Instead of just letting people ride the horses, "I'm giving 10-minute lessons, so each time you come it is a progressive lesson," Montague said. The first lesson will be on balance. "You ride in the saddle with no reins, you hold onto their manes, and learn about how important balance is," Montague said.

Montague is a musician herself, and has recently signed with a Christian record label to re-release her debut CD, "Shameless Jane."

She is also an inventor with several patents to her credit. Montague offers field trips and workshops on "all about horses," "inventive thinking" and "song creation."

She doesn't know how long she will get to keep her farm, but Montague plans on holding Something Sundays as long as she can. "I had a vision to have this farm, and my dream is to be able to work with kids using my perfect horses," she said.

And she knows from experience that sometimes "people get in the way of other people feeling loved by God. So I feel like, as a Christian, I'm reaching out to people who maybe don't want to go to church on Sunday, or don't have family or for whatever reason they're lonely," she said.

Atlanta musicians Nathan Nelson and Jonathan Edwards have committed to performing at the event.

"I'm hoping people will say this is awesome, that I want to be able to be a part of this and make contributions," Montague said. "Something Sundays is not a business, but I would love to receive contributions so I can make my payments."

"My vision is for the people to come, to bring grandma and the toddler and the teenagers. It's like family in a way," she said. "Imagine having an extended family with cousins you've never met before, and you get together," she said. And "the thing that draws us together is the music," she said.

"You don't have to wonder who you're going to talk to or what you're going to say. Relax, and listen to some awesome music. And soon enough, you'll be meeting people," she said. "This is a place where we can go and we're not going to church and we're not going to a bar and we're not going to a restaurant, and yet we're not going home and being by ourselves, either," Montague said.

"Come hear some good blues, enjoy some food, enjoy the beauty of the outdoors and these precious Icelandic Horses," Montauge said. "Just check it out and you can't lose. You can stay for 10 minutes or five hours."

Five Acre Farm is located at 7755 Hall Road in Fairburn. To get there from Coweta, take U.S. 29 north to Palmetto. Turn left onto Cascade-Palmetto Highway/Highway 154. Travel 6.3 miles, and make a slight right onto Ridge Road. Go 1.8 miles and take a right onto Hall Road. Five Acre Farm is on your left.

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