Queen Butterfairy’s mother is a fairy. Her father is a butterfly. She says that she can fly, but only once a month, and only under special circumstances. It needs to be during the sunset of a full moon down by the river. She prefers not to be called by her proper name, Queen, but rather just Butterfairy. Butterfairy visits Camp Trudaca once a week to bring the kids adventure, wonder and of course fun.
Butterfairy comes to camp with a different activity each week. One time it was make-your-own ice cream for 80 kids (messy). Another time Butterfairy had the kids each make their own piñata (also messy). Sometimes they work as a group to build something, race somewhere or fool someone. Every time the kids are engaged and excited to have Butterfairy visit.
One of Butterfairy’s favorite activities is giving the kids fairy dust at the end of each visit. She goes around, group to group, with a jar full of the magic dust and spreads it on their face, arms and hair. The best part about the fairy dust is that even the non-believers want some of the magic. In fact, it is usually the loudest non-believer, the one who says, “I know who you really are” or “If you can fly, why don’t you show us RIGHT NOW?!”, that wants the biggest dose of fairy dust. But Butterfairy doesn’t mind. She loves spreading magic and knows that, whether they believe it or not, their day becomes a bit more memorable when they are covered in fairy dust.
Butterfairy was created last year, in the height of the pandemic, when Camp Trudaca was faced with a reinvention of how it did camp. It was a true #MountainForward moment, where staff learned to evolve creatively, to bring excitement and anticipation to a time where anxiety and uncertainty was prevalent. Butterfairy, along with Jolly Malone and Magic Mike (other fictional characters that frequent Camp Trudaca), reminds everyone that there is no age limit to when someone should stop playing. Butterfairy believes that, while everyone grows up (no Peter Pan’s here), you only start to age when you stop playing.
If there are any Camp Trudaca parents reading this, don’t tell the kids, but here comes the spoiler. I, Amanda, am the Butterfairy. And sometimes I am tired and busy and a little overwhelmed to add a visit from the Butterfairy to my weekly job duties. But I do it anyway. And each time I put on my wings and bugg eyes and arrive with my sack full of crafts, I transform both physically and mentally. Because I believe in play and magic and all the good things that come from a little glitter in you hair.