Tony Schultz returned to Athens to find it much different than when he was in school. He was coaching the Athens junior varsity basketball team when something struck him.
“When I grew up and went to grade school, half the kids in my class were 50-cow, dairy-farm kids," Schultz said. "When I came back from college (in 2004), one player from a team of 30 was from a farm like mine. I find that sad.”
Schultz, along with his wife, Kat Becker, decided to take back at least part of the countryside with Stoney Acres Farm. In 2006 they bought the 120-acre farm, which is located about eight miles northwest of Athens, and sold community-supported agriculture or CSA shares. In the farm's second year of doing CSAs in 2008, they doubled shares from 72 customers to 145. Business has grown steadily from there