Along the fairy trail: The N.J. woman behind the tiny homes

MILLBURN -- Therese Ojibway laced up her boots and threw on her backpack. It was time to tend to the fairy trail.

The 60-year-old special education teacher pulled out of her driveway at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday after a full day of work. She had tiny, magical homes she had

been meaning to refurbish.

Cruising in her Toyota Camry, which displays stickers at the rear calling for autism awareness, Ojibway made two lefts and two rights -- hitting three red lights -- before arriving at her final destination: the Rahway Trail in Locust Grove, near the intersection of Glen Avenue and Lackawanna Place.

Or the South Mountain Fairy Trail, as it's known to some.

At least once a week for about five years, Ojibway has put out, fixed up and replaced about 20 to 30 little pieces of furniture she has created for the local fairies. She sets ladders near roots that stretch up tree trunks, nudges doors into cracks and constructs swings that hang from branches.

And until earlier this week, when she was outed in a story by The New York Times, very few people knew Ojibway was behind the artwork.

"As a child I was enthralled by stories about fairies," said Ojibway, who lives on Meeker Place with her 25-year-old son Clinton, who has autism. "So I started making little fairy houses ... and I think it's great when I see kids out here that still have that sense of wonder."

To design the miniature living spaces and accessories scattered along the trail, Ojibway uses natural and biodegradable materials, such as wood, twigs, pebbles and even fungi. If it's found on the ground of the reservation, it's fair game.

Ojibway pointed out her creations as she hiked through the woods Wednesday, adjusting some that had fallen and replacing those that had become old.

She remembered items people have left for the fairies over the years. There was the child that put out a pink shell, so Ojibway made it into a bed. Another left little boots, so she glued them down inside one of the homes. One little girl even left her tooth with a note.

"'Here's my tooth. I really hope to see you around,'" Ojibway recalled the girl writing, explaining that she then wrote a note back, though the girl never returned to see it. "I said, 'As a forest fairy, I'm honored. Only tooth fairies usually get teeth.'"

Donning a light green and blue tie dye shirt, Ojibway briefly stopped to listen as a woodpecker drilled into a tree. She halted in her tracks to admire deer crossing the path.

She also noted left behind trash, and rocks now tainted with graffiti.

"It's just a shame," Ojibway said of the spray paint as she dusted off a little chair, realizing that someone must have stolen a teacup that was no longer at the scene.

Within the last several months, more people have contributed to the fairy trail by adding their own decorations, such as dolls and toy Smurfs. The problem, according to Ojibway: They're not biodegradable.

"I'm sorry kids, but nice try," she said, picking up toys left off the trail, which she places at the front of the path so children can reclaim them. "We really discourage people from using plastic toys [or] plastic furniture because this isn't a doll house. This really is nature."

Some structures made by others are not as visually appealing either, said Dennis Percher, chairman of the South Mountain Conservancy's board of trustees. Percher described Ojibway as having "great craftsmanship and creativity," which is not even comparable to the recent "copycats."

Still, Percher said he is pleased people are enjoying the trail.

"If you can get people outside, especially young children, it's a wonderful thing," Percher said. "And if it happens to be under the pretense of an imaginative thing, that is just fine."

When she isn't managing the tiny buildings, Ojibway spends her days traveling the Garden State, visiting the homes of children who need early intervention for development disabilities. She's worked as a teacher for Rutger's Douglass Developmental Disabilities Center for nearly 20 years.

Ojibway first came to the woods when her now adult son was just 3 years old "to let him roam." It was therapeutic for him, as it's therapeutic for her to work with her hands on the peewee homes.

One of 11 siblings, Ojibway recalled how her mother used to tell them stories and poems of "little people in little places." She said she is thrilled when others feel that same sense of magic.

"Mommy, come here," 6-year-old Mia Lambert shouted to her mother Jen as they ventured the trail Tuesday afternoon. "Follow me, I want to show you the fairy house. Look! There are three over here."

The 40-year-old mother from Elmwood Park took cell phone photographs while Mia and Jen's niece, 5-year-old Amanda, posed in front of one of the pocket-sized structures. They "came equipped with notes" to leave for the minuscule, imaginary human beings.

"It's just so adorable," Jen Lambert said of what Ojibway has created. "This is just really, really great fun."

Luke Nozicka may be reached at lnozicka@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @lukenozicka. Find NJ.com on Facebook and Twitter.

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