A magical post office: How Yew Dell's fairy forest gives people hope one letter at a time
Yew Dell Botanical Gardens' smallest occupants review some of the biggest requests that come through the 60-acre nonprofit in Oldham County.
"Can you help the Packers win the Super Bowl this year," one letter reads.
"Please bring me good luck and help me to become a gemologist," a 12-year-old wrote.
"I just want to not be stressed," a 30-something man said.
The hopeful pleas tucked into the stump-turned-mailbox at the edge of Yew Dell's fairy forest seemingly have no limits. Shuffling through the letters can only be described as catching a glimpse of each writer's soul. For the past seven years, Yew Dell has invited guests young and old to leave messages for the mystical creatures that are said to live in a neighborhood of shoebox-sized houses made of natural materials.
Some letters are funny. Some are sincere.
Others bring tears to the eyes of the humans who help maintain the fairy post office.
"Thank you for letting me visit your garden. You've saved my life today," one says.
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It was just about a month before the botanical garden's annual Fairy Day on June 25 when three of the humans, who help care for the fairy forest, welcomed me into that miniature, whimsical neighborhood. Yew Dell staff members Amanda Barnett and Susan Lucas manage most of the fairy-related activities, but I first heard about the wonder inside the fairy post office last autumn from Paul Cappiello, Yew Dell’s executive director.
He vividly remembers the first time his staff checked the fairy’s mailbox seven years ago. It was the end of the week, and someone went out to grab the fairy mail as an afterthought.
"She started reading through them, and by the third letter, everybody was bawling their eyes out," he recalled. "Not just at kids' letters, the adult ones, too."
Someone missed their dad.
Someone else hadn't talked to their childhood best friend in a while and wanted the fairies to say hello to her.
Many children just scribbled, leaving the adults to guess what deep wish those lines and curves might mean. (The fairies, of course, would understand that whimsical language immediately.)
"It’s self-therapy," Cappiello marveled. "It's spontaneous and pretty amazing."
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The fairy forest is the most successful thing the garden never planned to do, Cappiello told me. Seven years ago the volunteer coordinator at the time pitched the idea of building fairy houses out of natural materials as a way for aging volunteers to stay involved when pulling weeds became too much for them.
Cappiello expected the project would have just four are five cottages, and then they’d be done.
He obviously underestimated the power of fairy magic.
When Yew Dell hosted its first "Fairy Day" that June, more than 1,500 people showed up.
Now there are dozens of tiny cottages and another 20 or so new ones on the way for this year’s Fairy Day. The forest has expanded over time to include a play area for visitors to build their own temporary structures out of pinecones, twigs, rocks and other natural materials. They’ve also added a "fairy kitchen" for pretend cooking. On a recent morning, a four-year-old girl came darting up to Cappiello and offered to make quiche for him.
There were no eggs or even any obviously edible ingredients in sight, but somehow with the help of that playful fairy energy, the child figured out a recipe.
"Kids always know immediately what to do with it, but we have a sign to teach the parents how to play," Barnett explained. "To teach people like Paul how to play."
“It seems to just strike a nerve with everybody,” Cappiello said, admitting he has had to learn quite a bit about fairy culture over the years. "It doesn't matter how grumpy a person is. They come in here, and there’s just something that kind of magical about it."
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And while you certainly won’t see the fairies that are said to live in that forest, you can absolutely feel their magic in the 20 or so letters that funnel into the fairy mailbox each week.
Perhaps, eight-year-old Penelope wrote it best.
"I can’t wait to come back here with my kids when I grow up."
Features columnist Maggie Menderski writes about what makes Louisville, Southern Indiana and Kentucky unique, wonderful, and occasionally, a little weird. If you've got something in your family, your town or even your closet that fits that description — she wants to hear from you. Say hello at mmenderski@courier-journal.com or 502-582-4053. Follow along on Instagram and Twitter @MaggieMenderski.
Want to go?
WHAT: Fairy Day is a celebration of new houses placed in Yew Dell's fairy forest. There will also be a gnomes adventure on the Woodland Trails, fairy and elf crowns making and a hands-on activity in the Horticulture Center
WHEN: June 25 from 12-4 p.m.
WHERE: Yew Dell Botanical Gardens, 6220 Old La Grange Road in Crestwood
COST: Fairy Day is free with the cost of admission to Yew Dell Botanical Gardens. Garden members get in for free. Adults' admission is $9. For adults 65 and older, and children ages 6-17, admission is $5. Children 5 and under as well as veterans, active and retired military with an ID may visit the garden free of charge.
MORE INFO: yewdellgardens.org/event/fairy-day-2023
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Inside the miniature world of Yew Dell Botanical Garden's Fairy Forest
