Regifting From the Heart: Family Donates Son's Birthday Presents

By C.J. Hirschfield

Every once in a while, I need to stop and remind myself how much good there is in the world. A special Fairyland birthday party gave me a delightful opportunity to do just that last week.

Fairyland is known for making magical memories: 197 birthday parties were held at the park in 2018. Now, in 2019, it’s only April and we’ve already booked about 50 parties. Last week heralded the official opening of our catered birthday party season, which lasts all the way into October. We’re ready—with lots of helium, goodie bags, and sparkly tablecloths.

Children love to celebrate their birthday at Children's Fairyland!

One of our longtime member families held a party on our opening weekend for their turning two-year-old son. They told their guests that any gifts that were brought for the birthday boy would be donated to a local charity. This was a new one to us—what a lovely gesture to acknowledge and support those who have less than us.

After the festivities were over, the family asked us to suggest a worthy organization serving children that could receive the toys.

We immediately thought of Building Futures, who’ve been partners of ours for two years as part of our homeless family initiative program.

Their mission? “To build communities with underserved women and children, where they are safely and supportively housed, free from homelessness and domestic violence.” For over 30 years, they’ve operated programs and services throughout Alameda County to help achieve this mission. Impressively, their residential programs include 127 housing units in total.

Funded by grants, we began offering park passes to them in 2017 for families who are staying in their three housing sites. When we told them about the toys, they couldn’t have been happier, or more appreciative.

The Monday after the party, the Building Futures’ caseworker came to collect the 30+ unwrapped toys for both boys and girls, catering to a variety of ages. Corinna Rezzelle, our program director and birthday party queen, helped transport the four huge Ikea bags to the car, in the rain. The next day, she received an email from the caseworker saying how happy the children were, and that they’d been able to use one gift as a birthday present that same day. “It made my heart just burst,” says Corinna. “It really touched me.”

I have probably witnessed literally millions of parents in action at Fairyland over my 17-year tenure at the park. The main thing I’ve learned is the critical importance of parents modeling good behavior, and the positive impact it has on kids.

And the parents who regifted their two-year-old birthday boy’s presents? That’s what I’m talkin’ about.

Ready to book a birthday party at Fairyland? Great! We host fully-catered parties April through October. Head over to our website to learn more and to secure your date.
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C.J. Hirschfield has served for 17 years as executive director of Children’s Fairyland, where she is charged with the overall operation of the nation’s oldest storybook theme park.

Felicity Hesed Is a Star (Literally) in Fairyland's New Show for Young Children

By C.J. Hirschfield

Felicity Hesed is special. Her idea of a good time is performing complex acts on a trapeze while bantering with an audience. “It is unusual,” she admits.

Felicity is a seasoned clown, aerialist and actor—and a co-star of Children’s Fairyland’s newest Theatre for the Very Young (TVY) production of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” running April 6 to May 26 at the park. 

Felicity Hesed, right, with Valerie Compton and a star-nibbling sheep in "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"

The "Grass" Is Greener: Guests are loving Jack and Jill Hill's New Surface

By C.J. Hirschfield


A week ago, Children’s Fairyland became much greener, and our guests are loving it.

We recently covered three popular areas of the park with what our landscape supervisor Jackie Salas refers to as “a sustainable alternative to regular sod,” also known as artificial turf. But this isn’t your father’s AstroTurf: It had my team so happy that employees made “grass angels” on it (like snow angels, but, like, on the turf). Happy families are now picnicking on it, toddlers are taking their shoes off and running on it, and we’ll soon be holding a sit-down fundraising dinner for 300 on it.

There's new turf on Jack & Jill Hill!

If you’re unfamiliar with artificial turf, here’s a little science and history. Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. Artificial turf first gained substantial attention in 1966, when it was installed in the year-old Houston Astrodome sports stadium. Although it’s still most often used for sports that were originally played on grass, it’s now also used on residential and commercial properties. Contemporary systems feature longer fibers and infills that are mixtures of sand and granules of recycled rubber. Our turf is nontoxic and safe for kids and animals—an important advantage.

Fairyland first used artificial turf seven years ago, when we created our hugely popular Jack and Jill Hill, where kids can grab pieces of cardboard and slide down. The area where we built the hill used to be a beaten-up grass patch that would stay soggy for a good part of the year. Now it’s a popular attraction with dozens of kids playing on and around it any given time.

Recently we started looking at a couple of other locations where grass just wasn’t working because of high traffic. The footprints of 220,000 people a year are fatal to grass: Compaction caused by foot traffic prevents oxygen in the root system from transporting nutrients to the blades. In this oxygen-deprived environment, fungi and bacteria can grow, outcompeting the grass and rotting the roots. Jackie says there’s a good reason why grumpy old men yell at kids to get off their lawn.

A fresh new look for Old West Junction 

Our Old West Junction and Merry Meadow are two areas where foot traffic had defeated real grass. It just couldn’t grow. The grassy area of the Junction had become “a giant mud pit,” says Jackie. The Meadow is used for many of our popular events, including our annual Turn the Page! celebration of children’s book authors and illustrators; our major gala fundraising event of the year; and our annual puppet fair. Real grass stood no chance against the onslaught.

Children’s Fairyland uses bay-friendly techniques in our eight acres of gardens, and Jackie feels good about the fact that the artificial turf represents an efficient use of resources—requiring very little water, no aeration or fertilizer, and no maintenance of irrigation heads. Its permeability makes it a more environmentally friendly solution than other options, such as concrete or paving.

The Merry Meadow looks merrier now 

High-quality artificial grass is not cheap. Thankfully, we have a number of wonderful donors who stepped up to make this major project happen.

Make no mistake: Fairyland remains committed to having acres of natural gardens that foster children’s appreciation for plant life and nature. And our Teddy Bear Picnic Area is still planted in real grass where children can run, roll and play.

The early reviews of our new turf have been unanimously favorable. Guests praise its beauty, vividness, and natural-looking texture. One of our Instagram followers was even inspired to suggest that we install a putting green on the Old West Junction “sod.” We’re not sure how golf would fit within the cowpoke theme. But we look forward to lots of imaginative play there—and throughout our continually revived storybook park.

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C.J. Hirschfield has served for 17 years as executive director of Children’s Fairyland, where she is charged with the overall operation of the nation’s oldest storybook theme park.

Juror #12

By C.J. Hirschfield

On a chilly day in January, the potential jury pool at the Alameda County Courthouse in downtown Oakland started out with what looked to be more than 150 people. Many were let go with hardship excuses; a good number needed to postpone their duty and were assigned later dates. I had already postponed once; summer is not a time when the boss at Children’s Fairyland can get away.

Alameda County Courthouse, 1225 Fallon St., Oakland

I’m old enough to have been required to take a civics course in high school, and I really do believe, as I’d been taught, that jurors are key to the administration of justice. So there I was, still kinda hoping I wouldn’t be called. When we were asked on a questionnaire whether we knew any lawyers, and I honestly answered that I’m married to one, I thought I might be disqualified. But no – I became juror number 12 in a civil case that was expected to last for five whole weeks. (One young lady literally threw some kind of fit in her quest to be excused—tears, muscle spasms and histrionics. It worked.)

Alexa, You're Scary

By C.J. Hirschfield

“Echo Dot Kids: It’s sturdy! It’s safe! It’s kid friendly! It’s transaction free!”

The Boston-based Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) would add another line to that Amazon marketing copy: It’s a marketing device!

Amazon released the Echo Dot Kids Edition, a voice-activated assistant that the company calls “a smart speaker with Alexa for kids,” in May 2018. CCFC, which advocates for the end of child-targeted marketing, is countering with presentations to various groups and conferences around the country. I just viewed one such presentation, geared toward software developers, and I learned a lot.

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.