Boomer Bye-Byes

By C.J. Hirschfield

It’s public: After 17 years at the helm of Children’s Fairyland, I will be stepping out of my ruby slippers, hanging up my big wings and finding out what other magical adventures await me beyond our beloved park. And I am not alone. Over just the past few months, four other executive directors of high-performing local nonprofits have announced their departures.

Get ready, because there will be a wave of Baby Boomer retirements from the nonprofit sector, representing a remarkable opportunity for younger—and more diverse—leaders to rise.

"Welcome to your staff meeting!" C.J. Hirschfield and team in a 2005 photo

The Rotary Nature Center Is Back!

By C.J. Hirschfield

“I spent many happy hours here when I was growing up, trying to find the queen bee at the Rotary Nature Center’s hive,” said Oakland’s own queen bee, Mayor Libby Schaaf. She was referring to the hive that fascinated generations of kids and adults at this treasured institution in Lakeside Park. The center was closed for two years, but it’s back now, along with many new exhibits and programs, as we learned at the grand reopening last Saturday.

Inside the reopened Rotary Nature Center

For the last year, I’ve been honored to be part of a core team working to restore, reimagine and reopen the center. On Saturday we joined civic officials and center supporters to welcome the community back in – with some fanfare – to see some of the  changes that have been made, and to celebrate the 66-year-old institution that has meant so much to so many Oakland kids and adults.

Making Fairyland More Accessible

By C.J. Hirschfield

Tory Rose Full will graduate from UC Berkeley this year with a double major in psychology and social welfare. But we think it’s her minor – “education and the developing child” — that led her to become Fairyland’s UC Berkeley Public Service Center intern.

When she arrived, she took on a project we’ve long wanted to implement: increasing Fairyland’s accessibility for guests with special needs. We want to create more opportunities for guests with special needs to connect to the park – not just by removing barriers but also by delivering active benefits. We’re delighted about the work she’s doing, and thought you might want to hear about it.

Tory Full in Fairyland's Chapel of Peace, a spot we've identified as a quiet space for kids with special needs

Heartstrings: Remembering Larry Schmidt, Master Puppeteer

By C.J. Hirschfield

Commercialization and gore are key components of American Halloween these days. But one Oakland artist was committed to providing an alternative experience: a free, site-specific, Halloween-themed, family-friendly marionette show in the driveway of his family’s triplex in the Glenview District.

Larry Schmidt’s whimsical “Driveway Follies” has delighted many thousands of people over the last 11 years, and, I’m proud to say, has employed the talents of at least eight Children’s Fairyland puppeteers. We are all mourning Larry, a kind and generous soul who died at 66, of cancer, on January 18.

Larry Schmidt, founder of Driveway Follies. Photo by Rick Paulas.

Food for Thought

By C.J. Hirschfield

Over the course of a week, two Fairyland staffers attended two very different food events.

One was work related: Café manager Amber Swanson perused the annual Winter Fancy Food Show held in San Francisco, where we scout for new and healthy options for our café.

The other event—thankfully—was not work related: Our communications manager, Nancy Friedman, journeyed to Los Angeles for the Disgusting Food Museum exhibition.

Where do these worlds meet? Possibly in a product we’re considering for sale in our gift shop.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Owed to Volunteers!

By C.J. Hirschfield

Finding caterpillar eggs. Helping kids make fairy houses. Handing out treats on Halloween. Making popcorn for a family sleepover. Pulling weeds. Leading a Toddler Storytime.

These are just a handful of the many volunteer opportunities that Fairyland offers.

As we enter the new year, I want to take a moment to thank the 540 awesome Fairyland volunteers who contributed a total of 3,700 service hours in 2018. I’d like to reflect on the amazing work they helped us accomplish — without them, we simply would not have been able to serve as many happy kids as we did.

26 volunteers recently helped us take down our Fairy Winterland lights. This helper came to us from One Brick.

Who are these fairy godparents? A snapshot:

4 volunteers contributed more than 85 hours each
7 new inspiring Toddler Storytime readers were trained
10 Monarch Magicians saved more than 500 monarch butterflies
 

An Ice Rink Glides into Old Oakland

By C.J. Hirschfield

Last Friday I witnessed something in Old Oakland that I'd never seen in our city: dozens of kids, teens, and adults gliding, laughing, and occasionally stumbling around an outdoor ice rink.

Magic? No – just the latest creative idea born of creativity and civic determination. It was the grand opening of the Old Oakland Holiday Ice Rink – Oakland’s first outdoor ice rink in 63 years – in a space formerly occupied by a parking lot.

Skating in the Old Oakland Holiday Ice Rink. Photo: Visit Oakland