A Pixie Dusted Experience

J. M. Barrie wrote a brilliant story in 1904 about a boy who did not want to grow up. Peter Pan has been a success ever since, in the theatre, the novel, and, of course, films. From Walt Disney’s animated Peter Pan to Hook and Finding Neverland we have been entertained by Peter, the Darling children, the Lost Boys, Captain Hook and a tiny pixie named Tinker Bell. She may be a feisty little character, but without her pixie dust and our own happy thoughts, how would we fly?

In 1953 Disney‘s Marc Davis hired a child star become teenaged dancer named Margaret Kerry (just one of her many names) to model for the animators for the role of Tinker Bell for the animated film Peter Pan.

For Margaret it was an amazing experience. And then she met my uncle, Robert Boeke. The two hit it off and dated for a while, but his job required him to move away, and she wanted to continue her career. They parted as friends.

Seventy years later in 2019 when Uncle Bob was in Amsterdam on his way to the 75th anniversary of D-Day remembrance in Normandy he saw a shop dedicated to Tinker Bell. He told his friend that he used to date the real Tinker Bell. It must have been obvious that it was a close relationship, so his friend contacted Margaret. Bob hadn’t thought that she would remember him, but upon receiving the email Margaret went straight to her jewelry box and took out the anklet that he had given her at a dance so many years ago. She emailed Bob, saying she would like to meet. She still lived in Southern California, and he lived in South Carolina. She had a reunion of the Andy Griffith Show participants coming up in August in North Carolina. Their schedules meshed, and he drove to meet her. It was love at second sight!

When Bob called his sister, my Mum, to tell her about Peggie (another one of Margaret‘s many names) I told Mum that there would be a wedding in the future. She pooh-poohed the idea. Sure enough, a few months later, January of 2020, Uncle Bob called to say that they would be getting married on Valentine’s Day in the Little Brown Church in the Valley in Glendale California (where Ronald and Nancy Reagan got married). Whoopee!!!

At their reunion, Mount Airy, North Carolina.

As my parents did not feel comfortable traveling to the wedding, Glenn and I jumped at the opportunity to represent them! My brother Mark and his wife Judy also decided to go. Margaret organised a private tour of the Disney Studios for the families, a tour of the Disney Barn, and the Disneyana Fan Club scheduled a luncheon in Margaret's honour. Along with the wedding, it promised to be an exciting series of events!

Stay tuned for the trip...

#TinkerBell #MargaretKerry #PeterPan #WaltDisney