Clark's Elioak Farm

 Remembers The Enchanted Forest

The Fairy Tale Begins:

            Once upon a time, there was a wonderful storybook park in Ellicott City, Maryland called

The Enchanted Forest. Opened in August 1955, it thrilled and delighted generations of families

from far and wide throughout the next 30 years.  The Harrison family

created this magical land to delight children of all ages and it was an

important part of many families' lives for years.  The imagination of the

creators and the people who ran the park throughout the years made an

indelible impression on generations of families. Sadly, it closed to the

public in the early 1990s, leaving a void for all of us.

            In the summer of 2004, we were able to obtain the very large and orange Cinderella Pumpkin Coach and display it

at the farm. It was a big hit! It was so much fun to see the faces of parents and their children as they explored the magic

of the Cinderella pumpkin coach.   We thought how wonderful it would be to have the other items from the Enchanted

Forest and be able to share them with a new generation of families.  The owner of the Enchanted Forest Shopping Center,

Kimco Realty Corporation, very graciously agreed to give us the items as long as we made every effort to remove all of

the items from the park.  So we started the process of moving the items to the petting farm and restoring them to

their former glory.

            In 2005 we moved and restored a number of items including

Mother Goose and her Gosling, the Black Duck, the six Mice that

pulled Cinderella's Pumpkin Coach, Papa Bear, the giant Mushrooms,

the bell-shaped Flowers, two giant Lollipops, a number of Gingerbread

Men, a large Candy Cane, the Little Red Schoolhouse, the Crooked

House and the Crooked Man, the Easter Bunny's House, the Beanstalk

with the Giant at the top and the beautiful Birthday Cake.

.                     

          We continued to work hard in 2006 and restored Snow White,

Sleeping Beauty, Robin Hood, the Three Little Pigs' straw, stick

and brick houses,  the Rainbow Bridge, and Little Boy Blue, the Old

Woman's Shoe and the Three Bears House.  We are also delighted

to report that the Leonard Hartman family of Essex, Maryland

has donated Little Toot to the farm. 

                     We really appreciate their generosity!!!!

The two major projects of 2006 were moving and restoring the Old Woman's Shoe and the Three Bear's House.  As you can see from the

photos, we had to cut the Old Woman's Shoe in half and put it on two separate trailers to get it down Centennial Lane under the telephone

and electric wires.  It is a short distance from the Enchanted Forest on Route 40 and Clark's Elioak Farm on Route 108, but every time we

made the trip moving a major structure from the Enchanted Forest to the farm, it was an amazing adventure!   

We also had to cut the Three Bear's House in half to bring it to the farm.  Then we put it back together with loving care and lots of

work.  All of these efforts were undertaken by some incredible friends:  Marty Levine and Excel Tree Experts,  Expert House Movers,

and George Miller and his crew.

The last major acquisition was the wonderful gift to Clark's Elioak Farm of Little Toot (and other great items---Papa Bear, the Pig who lives

in the Brick House, and two tea cups) by Leonard Hartman and his family.   We thank him so much for his incredible generosity.

          In 2007, Mark Cline helped us restore Humpty Dumpty and

Willie the Whale, and George Miller (along with his wife, Sharon)

donated and built a beautiful wall for Humpty Dumpty.  We also

restored the Merry Miller’s House and Little Toot and built a new

white Enchanted Castle entrance for the farm. 

           Our 2008 projects included repairing the Wishing Well,

and the creation of the characters we needed to complete

many of the Enchanted Forest attractions.  We added over 22 

characters, including a dragon and Rapunzel for our Enchanted

Castle, a Baby Bear and Goldilocks for the Three Bear’s House,

the third Little Pig, the Merry Miller and his Mice Band, Prince

Charming, Cinderella and her Prince and her Pumpkin Coach Driver,

more children to keep the Old Woman in the Shoe busy,

the School Marm and more. 

          Our 2009 projects were exciting, too.  We created an a"mazing" new "The Enchanted Forest

Pine Tree Maze."   This is a fun maze in our 1 1/4 acre pine tree forest filled with twists and

turns and characters and attractions from the Enchanted Forest.  Enter the Maze and see

Hickory Dickory Dock.  Before you have completed your adventure, you will find Little Boy

Blue, Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater's wife, Hansel and Gretel and Little Red Riding Hood.  

To enhance your adventure in the Maze you'll want to use our "Maze Guide and Activity Book" 

to search for and find all the highlights in the Maze.  Follow the Gingerbread Men to the Maze. 

You won't want to miss it!!  

            Among our plans for 2010 are the restoration of the Card Guard which was very generously donated to the farm by Bob Bretz of Beltsville.  Monica McNew-Metzger is doing the restoration work.  Bob also donated several more items he purchased on our behalf, including a salt and pepper shaker set, a souvenir plate and a pennant.  Thanks very much to Bob for his generosity. 

How we got it all done:

             Many Clark's Elioak Farm staff and a wonderful group of dedicated volunteers work in the cold of winter and the terrible heat of summer to restore these items. It is a massive job that has taken the talents of staff and volunteers and monetary donations.

             Please look at the LIST OF INDIVIDUALS AND BUSINESSES that have donated time, talents and supplies to our efforts so far. 

 We want to honor them for their generosity.  We could not have done so much so quickly without them. 

What you can do:

            And we still need help.  The Enchanted Forest has so many friends who remember it with great fondness. We hope that you might help us by making a monetary donation to help pay for supplies and equipment needed to complete the task.  We also welcome volunteers to assist in repairing and refurbishing the items already at the farm.  Also, we appreciate very much those generous friends who donate to the farm items that they own that once came from the Enchanted Forest.  If you have a item in you garage or outbuilding that once lived at the Enchanted Forest and would like to donate it to the farm so it can once again  be displayed for our visitors, we would be honored to give it a new home.  We also have very generous friends who purchase Enchanted Forest items at antique stores, flea markets and on eBay and donate them to the farm.  We welcome all such donations.

To make a monetary donation, send a check to: 

           Preservation Howard County

              P.O. Box 6512

              Ellicott City, MD  21042-6512 (The donation is tax-deductible)

        Be sure to put on the memo line of your check: The Enchanted Forest Fund

To volunteer or donate services, equipment or Enchanted Forest items:  

              Please E-mail:   clarkselioakfarm@hotmail.com or nan@nanalee.com 

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ENCHANTED FOREST,CLICK HERE: 

For a photo gallery from the Enchanted Forest, click here:  

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