Writer / Alaina Sullivan . Photographer / Amanda Debusk
Located just a few miles west of Mallow Run Winery, you will find the perfect place for rest and relaxation, a place for peace and quiet. You will find Praise Acres, owned by Bargersville family, Jeff and Sharon Beck.
Jeff and his wife Sharon started Praise Acres in the late 1990s. Living on a homestead farm that has been in the family since 1893, they wanted to share the beauty of their property with others in the community.
“It started out when Sharon and I were married, the parents gave us the grounds where we could build our home and raised our family,” Beck said. “We just wanted a place where you could read a book, pray, meditate, watch for a deer and just relax a bit and unwind.”
A number of groups, including home-schooled groups and Boy Scout troops, have used the grounds. A local Boy Scout troop completed their Eagle Scout project at Praise Acres, constructing a fire pit, chapel and small shelter.
Beck and his family planted nearly 1,000 trees on the property. “We just wanted to get it back to a natural state,” Beck said. “It is in a flood plain so no one can build on it, but the critters will have a place to come home.”
They also reached out to an Indiana chef and artist, Brian Kent, who took his love of creating ice sculptures to doing chain saw carvings.
“We wanted a set of praying hands on one of the stumps,” Beck said. “The rest of it we let him do whatever he wanted.”
The sculptures include a windmill, the praying hands, a cow, chicken and an eagle, which Beck considers an excellent landmark. Each piece adds something special to the land.
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While neighbors and various members of the community visit Praise Acres, it is not officially open to the public at this time.
Beck and his wife are not looking for publicity or a way to make money from Praise Acres. That is not the purpose behind the land. They are simply offering a location of beauty and peace, somewhere to go to rest, relax and find some reprieve from daily life.
