Won't You Come to the Ball?

What’s the best reason to come to Fairyland’s “Beauties & Beasts” Gala fundraiser on June 2?

1.       To experience Oakland’s legendary storybook park after hours (adults only!).
2.       To sample food and drink from the East Bay’s best restaurants, wineries and breweries.
3.       Costumes, costumes, costumes ... and plenty of storybook settings for selfies.
4.       To dance under the stars to live music.
5.       To bid on fabulous items in live and silent auctions.
6.    .  To support a great Oakland institution that introduces young children to stories and imaginative play.

Barefoot on the Greens

When Ratka Mira Popovic was a toddler, in the 1970s, her Yugoslavian immigrant parents made a point to explore Oakland’s delights with her and her older sister. Lakeside Park by Lake Merritt was a popular destination: It boasted not only Children’s Fairyland but also gardens, a nature center and a manicured area that Ratka found particularly fascinating. Behind a short fence she observed people playing a game on pristine grass, rolling what looked like a funny ball, and generally having a great time. Her curiosity was piqued.

Lawn bowling in Lakeside Park.

  

Putting the "Bug" in Jitterbug

Every year I look forward to Garden Day at Fairyland. Families throng the park to receive free seedlings; watch Uncle Jer’s Travelling Bee Show; and make troll and fairy houses, pollinator masks and butterfly finger puppets. All of the activities encourage kids to get down and dirty and to appreciate the amazing urban ecosystem around us. 

This year we have something new, and we’re sure it will surprise and delight kids and adults alike: tap-dancing insects.

Dance/10’s Jitterbugs tap troupe will perform this Saturday as part of Fairyland’s Garden Day.

Where Hope Lives

Fairyland’s creators wanted to send a clear message to adults: this park is all about the kids. “A surprise around every corner, and no straight lines” has been Fairyland’s design inspiration for 66 years. We’ve seen first-hand the positive and even therapeutic effect of a whimsical, colorful environment that’s both energizing (as in slides and rides) and calm (as in gardens and the Chapel of Peace).

So we understand the vital importance of the design of a Ronald McDonald House—a place where families live while their loved one undergoes care for life-threatening illness. After all, this is a place that is a temporary home to people under tremendous stress, who’ve had to leave jobs, schools and communities during a medical crisis.

A robot-themed bathroom in the new Ronald McDonald House.

Girls Can Be Warriors

“It’s better to give than to receive.”

As of last Friday, I’m a born-again believer in this adage.

Late that afternoon, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf's office got word that Paul Wong, who heads Oakland’s We Believe Foundation, had an extra pair of tickets for the Warriors playoff opener against the Houston Rockets. Wong was looking to give away two tickets to a deserving Oakland student.

Michael Hunt from Schaaf's office mentioned the incredible opportunity at the close of a meeting with our team at Fairyland. Did we have any ideas?

The Premiere of Puff

This week marks the premiere of an original Fairyland puppet show, and I couldn’t be more excited.

The show is based on “Puff, the Magic Dragon,” a song written by Leonard Lipton and Peter Yarrow and made popular by Yarrow's group Peter, Paul and Mary in a 1963 recording. The lyrics tell a story of the ageless dragon and his playmate Jackie Paper, a little boy who grows up and loses interest in the imaginary adventures of childhood, leaving Puff alone and sad.

The song became a classic. It also played an important role in the early life of Fairyland’s master puppeteer, Randal Metz.

“My grandmother sang it to me all the time,” Randal recalls. “We sang it together, so it’s a special memory for me that I wanted to share with another generation.”

But because this is Fairyland, we wanted to make it our own.

Of Costumes and Characters

This week our Children’s Theatre kids will be measured for their costumes for this season’s three shows. Two of those productions — “Johnny Appleseed” and “Needle and Thread” — will be costumed by a very talented woman who has created a figure for a wax museum, repaired sports-figure heads for the Oakland A’s, and made giant popcorn boxes she rents out as walking movie advertisements.

TonyaMarie, who divides her time between Ohio and Alameda and has an MFA from the Academy of Art University, also divides her talents between her two loves: art and animals. “They’re what I live for,” she says. She’s worked on Children’s Fairyland productions since 2012.

Jacob wore a TonyaMarie costume in our 2012 production of The Tortoise Who Flew.