A Sprite Alights

By C.J. Hirschfield

I often tell people that there really is magic at Fairyland. As proof, I observe that the people who work here seem to have been destined to do so.

And as a case in point, I give you Jacqui June Whitlock, our new program manager, who at a recent meeting of the Children’s Fairyland board of directors entertained a roomful of adults with her balloon-twisting talents.

Fairyland's new program manager, Jacqui June Whitlock, in fairy costume at our park.

June’s responsibilities include birthday parties and summer sleepovers, and assisting with producing our events. But that sounds too mundane to give her full credit. June has been wearing wings for a decade, and it was only a matter of time before she landed at Fairyland.

June’s family moved to Oakland when she was 7, so she missed the Fairyland experience as a child, but she’s clearly committed to making up for lost time.

Her theatrical path began when she studied drama at Bishop O’Dowd High School, where she competed in short performances of “Alice in Wonderland” and other classic tales. “I was a theater and A-V [audio-visual] kid,” she says.

June says she first started “princessing” right after high school, when she began working for a party-planning company. (For the record, June is the first person I’ve known who uses “princess” and “fairy” as verbs.) Armed with a map of the Bay Area, June traveled from Santa Rosa to San Jose, doing three or four gigs each weekend. Her car filled with magic tricks, puppets and costumes, she transformed into Tinker Bell, Snow White, Cinderella—all the important storybook ladies. During her three years at this job, June learned how stressful kids’ parties can be on parents and she learned how to calm parents’ fears – knowledge and skill that we value highly at Fairyland, as it turns out.

June as Snow White.

She went on to study child development and photography at community college before entering UC Santa Cruz, where she earned a degree in film and digital media.

It was during college that she began working for Happily Ever Laughter (“Giftable fairytale experiences for children”) and started fairying, which she prefers to princessing. “I like the magical connotation,” she says. “You have to justify that you’re a magical creation and have your backstory ready—details about flying, for example.” In other words, you have to be good at improvisation, another skill that’s useful at Fairyland. She was still doing three to six shows each weekend—at parties, corporate events, schools.

After college, June moved back to Oakland—still fairying, and also creating a puppet- show video series for children.

About a year ago, June asked us whether we had any staff openings. We did not. Undeterred, she volunteered for our popular Friday Toddler Storytime, which requires hours of training by our local children’s librarians. She was a hit. And, smart fairy that she is, she made sure to get to know Fairyland staff members during her visits.

June leading a Toddler Storytime session at Fairyland.

A year later, our program manager position opened, and there she was.

She wore a Fairyland Magic Key necklace for her interview, and we were surprised to learn the depth of her transferable skills: face painting, puppeteering, event and video production, social media management, photography, budgeting—and of course, parties and fairying.

But it was when I saw that her website was called “Literary Fairy” that I knew we’d found a match.

In the months she’s been here, she has already worked to streamline the process of booking parties and added a “party animal” add-on for parents who want to feature one of our small animals to delight a crowd of kids. She’ll soon roll out a monthly video series that highlights different areas of the park.

Once upon a time, Miss June the fairy was featured at a little girl’s surprise party. She performed a magic show in which she discovered the child’s enchanting birthday present, made up special spells and turned sticks into magic wands. After everyone’s faces were painted, Miss June said good-bye and received a hug from the birthday girl.

One week later, June was at Children’s Fairyland, reading at Toddler Storytime. A little girl called out “Miss June!” The birthday girl from the previous week ran up and sat front and center for all the stories and songs.

Afterward, she came up to June and said, “I didn’t know you lived in Fairyland!”

“She didn’t once question my lack of wings,” June recalls. “It was pretty magical.”

Magic: it’s what Fairyland’s all about.

Want to experience June’s special birthday-party magic for yourself? Book one of our catered parties! We’re taking reservations for April 7 through Oct. 21. 

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C.J. Hirschfield  has served for 15 years as executive director of Children's Fairyland, where she is charged with the overall operation of the nation's first storybook theme park.