Blue Ridge Country May/June 2022 - 31

The phone lines to the gardens
blew up with requests for visits
and the Fairy Team panicked.
clear a path into the small woodland and
the Fairy Team was assembled.
The completed Fairy Trail leads visitors
to a village where the wee magic folk
live. Along the way, one can spot fairies
practicing yoga, attending church, shopping
and sleeping. Soon, the fairies were
hosting special workshops for children to
create fairy crowns and houses. There was
a small waiting list.
Then, the pandemic hit, Bullington
Gardens grew silent, and the fairies were
left to themselves. Martin says that as a
result of what could only be more fairy
magic, a notice about their village and
Bullington Gardens appeared on a site
called Only in Your State. The phone lines
to the gardens blew up with requests for
visits and the Fairy Team panicked. They
weren't set up for COVID or big crowds.
No matter. A Fairy Tent was added to
the entrance so volunteers could ensure
that people were masked and socially distanced.
Trails were cleaned and the village
polished. The trail re-opened on June 1,
2020, and by the end of fairy season (late
August), over 7,000 visitors had walked
through.
Martin, whom co-workers call " Fairy
Mary, " says, " One thing that makes the
fairy village at Bullington so special is that
the doors in some of the trees along the
path open and there's something magical
behind each one. " Everything on the trail
is handmade by local artists.
Those artists include Martin and her
husband, who create structures from
found and natural materials.
" I married a man who can take my
thoughts and make them into real things, "
she says.
Her favorite? A second-hand shop they
created from an old boot and stocked with
objects like thimbles and marbles that fairies
might find useful.
Martin says that it often seems like
adults enjoy the village even more than
kids. It's not unusual to see a reluctant
husband coming out the other side with
plans to build his own fairy village for the
children or grandchildren at home.
" The fairies have got you, " Martin says.
" People want to take the magic home and
put it in their gardens. "
The most special feature of the trail
is the mailbox where children can send
letters to the fairies. The Bullington Fairies
will answer any that include a return
address. Most young writers ask about the
Tooth Fairy or send greetings to Tinkerbell.
The more curious write to inquire if
fairies are real, and if so, why are the ones
in the Fairy Village made of plastic?
" We aren't plastic, " the Fairies write
back on specially designed postcards. " We
come alive at night, when there's no one
around. During the day, we must be very
still so we can rest. Please don't touch us. "
At the end of August, the Fairy Crew
spirits the village away.
But, Martin says, " it's hard to keep
school kids focused on pollinators and
propagation when there are fairies nearby. "
During the winter months, the Fairy
Crew sprinkles more fairy dust and magic
on the buildings until everything is spit
spot ready for spring.
The fairies have lived at Bullington
Gardens for five years. The 140 volunteers
know that when COVID shut the world
down, " Mary's fairies " kept Bullington
Gardens alive. Yes, Bullington Gardens is
a magical place. Mary knows it, the fairies
know it and now over 7,000 visitors a year
know it, too.
MAY/JUNE 2022 31
Blue Ridge Country May/June 2022

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