Hi there
So glad you are here! I'm Cassy Ballard, owner of Good Salt Gathering Co. I love JESUS with all of my heart and that is what guides not only this small business but my whole life. I've been married to my husband, Shelby, for 30 years! We have been in the Ash Grove area for almost all of our marriage, raised our kids here, and they thankfully stayed here too. Now we get to spoil our sweetest grandlovey, Eden! She belongs to our son, Dakoda and daughter in love, Ashley. Ashley does our social media, booking, and some of the management of the courtyard space. You'll definitely talk to or meet her if you book our space. Our daughter, Sierrah, owns and operates Fealty Studio that shares the space with us. She married her high school sweetheart, Laramy, and you'll likely see them around as well. We all love our small town and feel immeasurably blessed with this beautiful family and life. We have made some wonderful memories in this space and hope that you will make some for your family as well!
Where did "Good Salt" come from?
Gosh, I could write a novel here to tell you all about the history of this space, or at least what I know of it, how it came to be what it is and why the name. I'll try to keep it brief though and check back soon for a blog if you are interested in more.
There were two buildings here that were connected since at least 1870's. It was many things over the years, but maybe the most known and most recent was Birch Funeral Home and Furniture Store. Somewhere late 80's or early 90's, the last business left the buildings and they fell into awful disrepair. The one on the end had some significant structural collapses and it was just too far gone to save. We own the building across the street that was The Tin Ceiling Venue and wanted outdoor space anyway, so we bought these knowing we would demo one to create this fantastic courtyard space.
A name never really caught on over here. It was just "the outside space". When we decided to close the venue business to lease it to another family, I knew I had to come up with a name. I wanted it to fit for not only the courtyard space for events but also to do market style events here. Maybe even another storefront one day! I had "sort of" branded it The Gathering Ground, but then a couple of other local-ish things came along and used "Gathering" in their name, and I wanted it to be simple and ours. I knew I wanted "Good" in the name because God is GOOD and faithful and I want to share that goodness with the people that come here. Good Ground was my next choice, but a few things use that as well. The scripture "you are the salt of the earth... Matthew 5:13" just kept coming to mind. I also love Colossians 4:6 that says "let your conversation be full of grace, seasoned with salt". "Good" and "Salt" have a lot of meaning in the Bible and it feels perfect. My prayer is that good moments are shared here with good conversations and sweet memories.
