What was once a towering maple tree has turned into a gathering place for a West Lampeter Township neighborhood.

Jane and John Weigel had to cut down a three-decade-old maple tree in their front yard. The tree had grown sick and was out of control, but Jane did not want to get rid of it entirely.

Instead, she instructed her son, Luke, a woodworker, to leave just the stump of the once-imposing maple tree. Luke and a friend then built Jane a fairy house and mailbox before she did some gardening in the area where the tree once stood.

Thus, a fairy garden was born.

In the Weigels' front yard sits a fairy garden, consisting of six unique fairies, Frederick, Felicia, Fiona, Felicity, Faith and Flora. All six have different unique traits and distinct personalities.

The fairy garden is now a hangout spot for kids in the neighborhood. It started in the pandemic, during the era of isolation, but has now become the epicenter of the neighborhood.

"They could come down here and play," said Jane, who is known as "Mrs. Fairy" to the kids. "See what's in there, move the fairies around, move the rocks and just kind of have a good time. They weren't going to school, they weren't going to preschool, so that's how it began."

Located off Millport Road across from the Turkey Hill and Pie in the Sky, the garden's attendance has rapidly grown via word of mouth from family to family. On any given week, 20 kids come by to play and see what is new.

Each week on Sunday, one of the fairy friends leaves a small surprise in the wooden mailbox. Sometimes the fairies leave a packet of seeds to plant, a glow stick or art supplies. There are always small notes attached to the items with a message of hope and a task of kindness for the kids to try.

Sometimes, the mailbox is cleared out as early as Monday.

"I think it's a good place of nurturing," Jane said. "I have such a hatred of screens for kids. It takes kind of my two passions that I want kids to be healthy, be social, be physically active and not be hauled up in the house on the screen. Combine that with a little curiosity and imagination, they come out and play."

Jane tends to the fairy garden, but the kids leave their own impact. They leave rocks, decorated pots and more. The garden has a loving vibe, with a do-it-yourself mindset that leaves the kids free to move things around and rearrange as they please.

"I just want it to be more earthy," she said. "Kids make gnomes and different things, and people make donations."

Sometimes, the Weigels host garden parties in their front yard, where kids are formally invited to come and hang out. There's also a new bench that was just installed near the garden.

In an era of closing community pools, screens and attendance dropping at recreation centers, the fairy garden serves as an all-important third space for the children, outside of school and home.

"I think they need to know that somebody else cares about them," she said. "They think that the world is this big scary place, but here's this place that's full of imagination, beauty and delayed gratification."