unveiled
INDUSTRY
Clay and Dianna Manship’s Sept. 5, 2020, ceremony at The Brook
Room to Grow Local businesses find a way to launch in 2020, despite the turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was three months into the coronavirus pandemic, and things were not looking good for the wedding of Steven and Chloe Starkey. The Marion couple had resolved to keep their date of July 18, but in May, they received word that their chosen venue—the North Bank Pavilion—would not be open in time. They got their money back, but they were suddenly without a venue. “We called and toured several places,” says Chloe, who, with her husband-to-be, checked out spots in the Short North and German Village. Nothing felt quite right. Then Steven got in touch with a friend who had purchased a 180-acre property that had, in a former life, been home to a summer camp in 24
COLUMBUS WEDDINGS FALL/WINTER 2021
the village of Marengo, about 35 miles northeast of Downtown Columbus. “We just liked that it was outdoors, that it was open, that there were a lot of different areas on the property that we could host people at to make it feel like it was this little destination wedding,” says Chloe, who spruced up the space ahead of her nuptials. “We came out here and just started doing a lot of yard work,” she adds. After serving as “guinea pigs” for repurposing the former Camp Marengo as a wedding venue, the Starkeys saw an opportunity to share the spot with other couples-to-be. Within a few months, Steven and Chloe had worked out a deal with their friend to become co-owners of what is now called The Brook, a site that the couple touts not
PHOTO: KISMET VISUALS
BY PETER TONGUETTE
