Venue
Then & Now
Plantation Oaks Farms is part of the Mizell Estate in Callahan, Florida. In 1933, the farm was purchased by my great-grandparents, Walter & Helen Hodges. In 1935, my grandmother, Jean Hodges Mizell was born. Walter, Helen, and Jean were a small family of three, but all were full of the love of thousands. In 1948, Walter & Helen's lives were forever changed when Jean met Dorman Mizell at the school carnival. Jean was the carnival queen and Dorman wasn't about to let this pretty girl slip away. Despite Helen's hope of Jean attending college, she married the Mizell boy in 1953.
Dorman & Jean had four sons, Clyde, Larry, Mike, and Walt, who were all born throughout the 50's and 60's. During this time, my great-grandfather, Walter Hodges, passed away from cancer. My grandfather, Dorman Mizell, took over the farm from the 1960's and continued to work the hatchery and raise chicks into the 80's along side his sons.
In 1983, Hollywood came calling and wanted chickens from the farm to be used in Jackie Gleason's upcoming sequel "Smokey & the Bandit Part 3". Over 300 chickens were used in the movie which was being filmed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
In the 1990's, Hodges Poultry Farm was bought out like so many other small family businesses. In 1999, I took over the east half of the farm and began building my dream horse farm. I named it Double A Ranch. After attending college at Texas Tech University & Auburn University studying Animal Science, I came home to expand my dream to build my Paint horse farm. I met my husband, Kevin Green, in March 2007 and we got married March 2008. We welcomed our first and only child, Colt, in June 2009. Unfortunately, our son was diagnosed with autism at 18 months of age. After a year and a half of therapy, we decided it was best for me to quit working and work with our son to help his progression. We leased the farm for one year in 2012 to focus on our son's health. In 2013, we took the farm back over and decided to rename it to Plantation Oaks Farms to appeal to a wider variety of customers. From horseback riding to horse training, to horse shows and even temporary board for horse travelers, we offer a wide variety of agricultural related activities. In 2014, we expanded again to open the new rustic event barn. The farm still has much more expansion to come in the near future.