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 We're
just an average family of four...if there is such a
thing. We live on our four-acre farm in Green
Hills, just outside of Reading, PA. That is,
except for our oldest son, who is now pursuing an
apprenticeship in violin making in Beacon, NY.
I'm Len Smith, Video Producer by profession, and
gentleman farmer by choice. I produce TV
commercials and corporate video for a variety of small
and large businesses in the Southeastern PA region.
I run my own production company-
Turning Point Media
from our home studio here on the farm. Having both
a high-tech and a low tech business presents an
interesting combination of challenges and opportunities.
In fact, the name of the business
Take2 Alpacas arose as
an homage to our video business, which has made this
adventure possible. The high-pressure, fast-paced video
business is counter-balanced with the more casual,
slow-paced lifestyle of raising Alpacas. As a
result of raising Alpacas, I've also taken up weaving,
using the fiber from our herd to create scarves, Shawls
and rugs.
My wife, Jo Griffith, takes on the lead role in managing
our Alpaca business. She handles the research,
medical records and breeding program. She also
manages our fiber processing, manually cleaning and
combing the fleece. She hand spins much of the
fleece into yarn, then hand-dyes the white yarn to give
us a broader color palate for weaving. When she's
not doing all that, she's the assistant controller for a
local industrial company, an accomplished quilter, quilt
appraiser, and instructor. And she
cans and freezes the bounty from the garden. So...then you
say, hmm, what do you do with your spare time?
Our youngest son, Dylan, serves as our all-around ranch
hand. He has also learned to weave scarves and
shawls from the alpaca fleece. You can find much
of his work in our
Handworks by Take2 section of our
on line farm store. His main interests are video games
and music, but does enjoy getting out and helping manage
the animals at feeding time. And he loves riding
the mowing tractor, keeping our four acres of peace and
tranquility, very well-groomed.
Our oldest son, Max is a 2014 graduate of Millersville
University with a double major in Music Education and
History. He now lives in Beacon, NY and is
pursuing musical interests there. Even though he's
not physically here at the farm, this is where his heart
will always be.
To find out more of "how we got here", check out
"The Back Story".
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