Dragon Slide Pioneer: How one boy got to test drive it first

by C.J. Hirschfield

A trip down Children’s Fairyland’s 32 feet high Dragon Slide has been an exciting rite of passage for millions of Bay Area kids for over half a century. You need to be at least four years old to go down, and it’s fast and fun.

Then-Oakland Park Commissioner Frank Ogawa is one of the first to go down Fairyland’s Dragon Slide when it opened in 1963. No adult is currently allowed to use the kids-only attraction.

I recently received an email from a man who claims to be the first kid to ever test drive the slide — even before it was installed at the park. It didn’t go well, but let’s start at the beginning. 

In 1962, then-five-year-old Sil Krevocheza loved to spend time with his dad at his workplace, Macri Iron Works on Eighth Street in West Oakland. Originally from Russia, Silvester Krevocheza was forcibly conscripted by the Germans in WWII, later escaping to fight for the British. After the war, he met his wife and worked in London as a blacksmith. Sponsored by a local couple, he and his family immigrated to Oakland in 1957, where he joined Macri as an ironworker. Macri may be better known for fabricating the “Mid-Century Monster” sculpture that is currently being refurbished on the beach at Lake Merritt, but in 1962, they were hired to work on the Happy Dragon Slide.

William Everritt’s 1962 designs for Children’s Fairyland’s 32 feet high Dragon Slide.

The slide was underwritten by the Shoong Foundation, both to honor Joe Shoong, creator of the National Dollar Stores, and to celebrate Chinese heritage and the beauty and grace of Chinese folklore. It was the last, and greatest, set designed by William Russell Everritt, who is responsible for most of the earliest park sets. The only way to access the tall slide is by way of a floating pathway past a fierce guardian dragon — in whose mouth kids go for a giant slide down. R.H. Cooley was chosen as structural engineer, and Macri for steel fabrication. Thirteen tons of cement and many tons of steel were used for this treetop-height marvel.

Young Sil got to see the steel frame come together, up-close. “I would jump out of our Hudson (automobile) and run into the shop to see what was going on,” he recalls. “It was one of the most exciting things in the world, watching this thing being built.”

Sil's vintage home photos of the Dragon Slide in progress.

His father would show him the drawings, and demonstrate how things were going to come together. At one point they decided to hoist up and test drive the slide at the shop, tacking it together on a flatbed truck, prior to the plaster being applied. Young Sil happily volunteered to be the first to slide down. Unfortunately, a rivet had not been removed, and Sil soon required 18 stitches.

Did this setback change Sil’s love of the slide and/or deter him from future rides? “Heck, no, I wasn’t scared,” he says. The stitches came out in a week, and were forgotten.

Once the slide had been moved to Fairyland and his dad was doing the installation, he and his siblings “were always there. Watching him weld in the park was the bees’ knees,” he says.

“Back then, things were so simple,” he recalls. “Everybody we knew went there.”

Sil also loved the puppet shows, and our Magic Keys. None of his four grandkids have ever visited the park (Sil was last here with his four kids in the eighties), but he intends to gather them all together here this summer, and he’ll be sure to tell the story about how their great-grandfather built an Oakland icon.

“My dad didn’t leave the best mark on this earth,” says Sil, referring to the tough life of his immigrant father. “The best things he left were his kids and the Dragon Slide.”

We can’t wait to welcome Sil and family back to “his” magnificent slide.

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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.

Act of God Strands Bunny

By C.J. Hirschfield

For the last decade, Twilight the purple bunny has charmed little ones at Children Fairyland’s Bunny Weekend with his one floppy ear, and big smile. But not this year.

“It took an act of God to keep me away,” says a deeply disappointed Jimmy Chin, the man who created, and wears, the costume. Because of horrible storms in the Southeast, Jimmy’s flight home from Florida was cancelled, along with 25 other flights out of Fort Lauderdale that day. He could not get a flight until late Easter Sunday, when all six of his fellow Critters By the Bay costumed characters will have already gone home after performing at the park all weekend.

Critters By the Bay at Fairyland's 2018 Bunny Weekend. image via

The Critters have been part of the Fairyland family since 2004, performing at our various themed holiday events, and always creating an air of excitement and whimsy. Kids love them, and photos taken with Critters create family memories that are cherished.

Formed in 1997, the Critters’ website describes them as “part hobby, part business, part true calling.” They’ve appeared at a wide variety of venues, including parades, ball games, corporate parties, zoos, theme parks, racetracks, grand openings, trade shows, children's hospitals, and even as background extras in a few TV shows (including a segment of Parenthood, filmed at Fairyland).

Jimmy first performed at Fairyland fifteen years ago at the opening of our Old West Junction, playing Yippee Coyote, the most popular of the 18 costume suits that he has created. The strangest? “That would probably be Blip, who I describe as a little lost alien, or a short-tailed space mouse,” he explains.  His Walden the reindeer is always a hit during our holiday festivities.

As a youngster, Jimmy says he was a shy kid who loved cartoons. “Creating and wearing costume characters seemed like a fun way to express myself,” he recalls. “Anonymity gives you courage.”

Costumer/mascot Jimmy Chin has performed at Children’s Fairyland for 15 years.

Jimmy’s day job is as a computer consultant in Silicon Valley, but he has also been Bugs Bunny and Wile E. Coyote at Six Flags, Rikter the Cyberdog, the husky mascot of the San Jose Earthquakes, and the mascot performer for the now-defunct Cyber Rays professional women’s soccer team.

Jimmy built Twilight the purple bunny for an Easter party, and the color and name were inspired by that special time of day when colors and stars inspire. Twilight’s head is made of upholstery foam (“Clean, not used,” Jimmy points out). Plastic struts were used for the ears, and patterned fur is laid over the foam. Trimming, sewing, gluing—all are part of the creative process.

Jimmy Chin, in his popular Twilight the bunny costume, at Fairyland.

But the costume isn’t everything. I’ve observed Jimmy and other Critters as they use techniques to put nervous kids at ease; lowering themselves to kid level, and earning their trust. “Kids have a safety bubble,” Jimmy says. “When you get their trust, the bubble shrinks.”

Jimmy says that his heart sank when he realized he couldn’t be with us this year. “Fairyland is such a magical place, and it’s an amazing feeling for me to perform there,” he says.

This would have been Jimmy’s eleventh Bunny Weekend, and was proud of the fact that he’s never skipped one.

“I’m gonna miss you,” he told me on a phone call from Florida.

We’re gonna miss you, too, Jimmy, but we look forward to seeing one of your many faces at the park real soon.

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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.

Rx: Print Books

This month, a study entitled “Differences in Parent-Toddler Interactions With Electronic Versus Print Books” was published in the journal Pediatrics. Its conclusion? “Parents and toddlers verbalized less with electronic books, and collaboration was lower, and that pediatricians may wish to continue promoting shared reading of print books, particularly for toddlers and younger children.”

At Toddler Storytime, held every Friday at Fairyland, librarian-trained storytellers read aloud and lead families in song and movement.

Also this month, my city of Oakland -- thanks to the passage of a recent bond measure -- announced that it will extend its operating hours for all public library branches. I am overjoyed—we can now visit libraries six days a week, and on two evenings.

I connect these two events in my mind, especially as someone whose job has me observing toddlers every day. The academic study reinforces what many of us have intuitively believed, that for very young kids, real books have advantages over electronic books or tablets.

Foremost in my mind is the fact that toddlers can access books without help, or electric power-- and the library is a great place for them to explore books that look, feel and are illustrated differently. They can have the autonomy to browse, and pick out books that interest them, that can then be read to them.

At home, whether it’s library books or others, kids can have access to a pile of books whenever they wish to engage, or re-engage. They can show you want they want to read. Toddlers are typically locked out of tablets, so can’t get to books without help.

At Fairyland, Alice’s Reading Room is a cozy space to discover new books and old favorites.

And once toddlers learn the words or plotline of a favorite book you’ve read them, they’ll sit and “read” it to themselves (and you must not laugh). Can’t do this with a tablet. They can skip ahead; go back—what a powerful feeling! A love of reading often flows from here.

There are many other reasons why reading real books to toddlers is a good thing. But the tactility of real books and the opportunity they provide for toddlers to make their own choices about what—and when-- they want to explore, really resonate with me. And the look of toddlers when they see a row of books at the library that they can choose from? Priceless.

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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.

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.)