Home Is Where the Heat Is

By C.J. Hirschfield

The decision to locate Children’s Fairyland in downtown Oakland was made long before my time here – in 1948, to be exact. Ever since we opened in 1950, being in the heart of the city has had its up and downsides. It certainly is never dull.

Last Friday was one of those not-dull days.

Early in the morning I was awakened by the sound of helicopters over my Adams Point neighborhood – the same neighborhood in which Fairyland lives. There was a fire a few blocks away from the park, at the site of a building that was to include market-rate apartments and retail shops.

The Valdez fire as seen from across Lake Merritt early on the morning of July 7.

Book Us for the Holidays

By C.J. Hirschfield

You’ve seen them at local bookstores, popular public attractions, even at hardware stores: those sepia-colored, photo-rich paperbacks that feature hometown history and the people, places and events that celebrate elements that define a community.

They’re the work of Arcadia Publishing, a 20-year-old company that has found a winning formula in a very crowded and competitive bookselling space. As of Dec. 5, one of Arcadia’s newest Images of America books is Children’s Fairyland. The author is Randal J. Metz, who is the director of our Storybook Puppet Theater – and who has worked for Fairyland for 47 of our 66 years. 

Proud author Randal Metz in our gift shop with the new book about Fairyland.

The pre-holiday timing of the publication is no coincidence. After making 66 years of memories, we think our new book is the perfect present for anyone who’s grown up in Oakland — wherever they now call home.