By, Darlene Mae O’Connor
There are Ferry’s that Float and Fairies who Fly
We may all have pontificated over the idea of fairies when we were children, but as a lifelong believer in Elves and Fairies the opportunity to meet other dreamers of their fancy, proved to be irresistible for me. Sunday, June 11th was a warm sunny day in Stow and I ventured out to meet the creators of a recently published children’s story, Fairies on the Ferry; Ella’s Best Day, Jay Kuntz and Chris Flanders. Their fantastical tale tells the story about a young girl named Ella and her encounter with the mystical creatures she’d always dreamed about meeting and their journey together on a ferry ride over the “narrows” of Chautauqua Lake. Read it and you may become a believer too.
The Bemus Point ~ Stow Ferry is an important aspect of real Chautauqua history and most of us having grown up around the lake have a story or two of our own to tell. This tale combines real ferry heroes with a child’s flight of fairy fancy to bring history and mystery together. Fairy Godmother, the real Betty Lou Cheney and her late husband John, led the charge to save the ferry from imminent dismantling and permanent dry dock in 1982 when the construction of the mile long Rt.86 bridge began. While practical minds could find no reason to preserve the ferry and its service to dreamers on the lake, they did. While John is no longer with us, Betty Lou is living her best life giving us all reasons to believe in the impractical and the promising. I am 58 years old and can’t imagine not having the choice to gently float across the water, enjoy the view and swap stories with Captain Wagner and the other characters who enjoy a relaxing ride on the cable drawn floatation device.
Many local talents have contributed to this imaginative story. Ella and her mother Katie Ireland are actual people and believers and the Fairy Dancers. They too are real and we can thank Tiffany Heintzman for teaching her daughter Eden and the other fairies to dance like they have wings to fly. Martha Anderson is Betty Lou’s daughter, costume designer, one of the photographers and trusted keeper of the Fairies Light. Photographer’s; Dan Swackhammer, Rick Shick, and Jay Kuntz also helped illustrate this tale with their unique approaches to using the camera lens. Together with Chris Flanders and her knack for spinning webs about such fanciful friendships, they have given us a gift to treasure. I hope all who love our Chautauqua home will “Treasure Forever” this story along with the real Bemus Point Stow Ferry, and contribute to keeping her story alive and flying across her tranquil waters.