Your Hosts
Brian Neighbors General Manager & Wine Maker
Brian was born and raised on the farm where the winery is
now located in Lawrence County, Illinois. In 1985, he and
Joy were married. Brian worked as a computer consultant
for the state of Illinois in Springfield during the eighties. In
the early 90's, the couple moved to Ohio and had their
own independent consulting company in Cincinnati,
working with Proctor and Gamble, General Electric and several Ohio ad agencies. In 1995, Brian became the Information Systems Director for Cincinnati Precision
Plate, one of the premier packaging prepress companies
in the world. It was during this time that his love of wine became an "obsession." Brian and Joy returned to Illinois
in late autumn of 1999 to begin work on the winery.
White Owl opened in November 0f 2000. When he is not
crafting wines or managing the winery, Brian is working on
his first book, a fictional story set in the area where he
grew up. He has already had two short stories published.
Brian's wine of choice: Vidal
Joy Neighbors Marketing & Media Director, Special Events Joy was born and raised in Vincennes, Indiana.
She has two degrees in Communication and has worked
as an announcer and news reporter for several radio
stations in Illinois and Indiana. After moving to Ohio, Joy decided to go into the television industry. She has worked
as a writer, producer and director for commercial and
PBS-affiliated TV stations in Dayton and Cincinnati. She
left the television industry at the end of 1999 to move back
and begin work on the winery. In 2003, Joy began her
foray into live theatre, where she has starred, performed in
and directed several community theatre plays. In 2007, she formed V.A.M.P. Shows, which performs murder mystery
and comedy Improv shows, along with full length plays.
Joy has trained for two summers at Second City in
Chicago. She works as the winery's Marketing and
Media Director and Special Events Coordinator.
Joy's wine of choice: Merlot
KEY WINERY PERSONNEL:
Fred Tromley Plant Manager
Fred is a handy person to have around. Not only can he
build and repair things, but he can also manage the bottling
and shipping of the wines. Fred is the father of three
children. Fred's wine of choice: $5 Huck
Jack Klemeyer Sales & Distribution Manager
Jack graduated from Ball State with a B.A. in Business Administration. He worked for several years in the
insurance industry before the wine bug took hold of him.
Jack resides with his wife, Cathy and their two children.
His oldest daughter is attending college.
Jack's wine of choice: Sweet Liberty
Terry Cox Office and Tasting Room Manager
Terry has several years of office experience and is having
a lot of fun learning about the wine industry. Terry is a
talented actress and enjoys music.
Terry's wine of choice: Snowy White
Charles Kivlehen I.T., Inventory & Compliance
Charles is a Texas import. He moved to Illinois with his
wife, an area local. Charles has several years experience
as an I.T. Manager and Network Administrator. He is
now learning to make wine in his free time.
Charles' wine of choice: Persimmon Solera
Thomas Dailey Computer Graphics
Thomas is the newest member to the White Owl family.
He is a graduate of Vincennes University.
Thomas' wine of choice is:
Ramona Babineaux Tasting Room
Ramona assists in the tasting room on the weekends,
serving wine and assisting customers with their selections.
Ramona's wine of choice: Sweet Liberty
Ken Neighbors Wine Assistant
Ken retired from the winery in 2006 but still drops in to
assist with the bottling and filtering.
Ken's wine of choice: Elderberry
Ron Green Wine Assistant
Ron enjoys stopping by to help with the bottling and
filtering.