Stepping into Janai Mestrovich’s house during the month of October is like stepping into a holiday workshop of some benevolent elves. Boxes and boxes of non-perishable foodstuffs are stacked on the floor next to boxes of really good thermal socks, warm clothing, and hygiene items. Large, festive bags filled with clothing, shoes, and toys, perch on the sofa, awaiting yet more items to be delivered to economically marginalized children.
Instead of many elves though, there’s just one ‘fairy’. At its center, instead of a bearded big, jolly man saying, “Ho Ho Ho”, it’s a slight woman in a charming Mary Poppins-type dress saying, “Welcome! Sorry – there’s no place to sit here, we’ll need to go upstairs where there’s room in my sanctuary!”
This is the workshop of the Christmas Fairy and at its center is a beautiful soul whose mission in life is to help the child in all of us and at this time of year, to specifically help underserved children and families.
On the day of the interview, Janai “Grandma Boom” Mestrovich, is wearing her trademark large hat with feathers. Her face is decorated with a cosmetic heart-shaped jewel on her cheek.
Don’t let the frou-frou (and attractive) get-up fool you. Her wardrobe may channel Little Bo-Peep (which attracts children and the child living inside many adults) but she is a woman to take seriously.
Janai, 75, holds a B.S. and a Masters in Family and Child Development with a double focus: Early Childhood Education and Community Service, from Kansas State University. Not only did she teach at the University of Oregon, she created a pilot TV series (with no budget) in Manhattan, Kansas, which caught the attention of NBC. With funding, a new series based on her pilot aired in four Midwestern states and won 2nd place out of 2000 entries at the NY Film and Television Festival. (Sadly, the Executive Producer did not notify her of the award and claimed the Silver Medal for himself stating he created everything. She quit working with him.) Add to all of this is the fact that she was appointed to the Rosalyn Carter editorial board in 1988 because of her pioneering prevention work with preschoolers and social emotional learning. The organization was actually searching for someone to appoint and saw an article in an educational journal that Janai had written on that very topic. At that time, they discovered that she was the only one really doing this type of work.
This is Janai’s professional life, but how did her beloved (but unpaid) work of being the Christmas Fairy come about?
“When I was a child, I thought the best job in the whole world was to be Santa Claus. Being born a girl it wasn’t possible. As I got older, I realized I could create a new Archetype, the Christmas Fairy, and bring goodwill, kindness, caring and magic to others,” she says. “Last year I delivered warming and hygiene items, health products and food, dressed as the Christmas Fairy, to 100 homeless adults. Also I shopped for the specific needs in size/name/gender for 31 children/teens/adults living in poverty.”
Janai insists that she doesn’t do it alone. “Donors are my elves. Collating Elves help me to organize all the different offerings into separate packaging before the deliveries, and I am grateful to all who make this possible through my non profit, tax exempt 501(c)3 Superkid Power, Inc. www.superkidpower.org. Activities continue all year long to help those in need.”
We all have hobbies – for some of us it’s skiing, or watercolors or supporting theater – for Grandma Boom it’s helping un-housed neighbors and people living in poverty. She also has a business to run.
“When 13, I was given a vision to help the world’s children. This has become my primary passion/vision/mission/purpose – teaching children Social Emotional Learning.” The Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation funded her pioneering self-help program in Drain, Oregon, where she taught 113 children, K-3 weekly for several years.
“That work received an award from the State of Oregon with a $2000 check as the most innovative program in education,” she says.
A striking story from that chapter in her life was when a third grade boy shared that his parents were fighting on a bridge one night, and ‘accidentally’ knocked him off. “He grabbed a branch hanging over the cold winter water and said he thought of me and what I taught my students: Breathe, Think and Make a
Good Choice. He brought himself back to safety. He saved his own life. The experience of drumming/marching with the jingle registered in his body AND his mind!”
Grandma Boom’s philosophy in educating children is to make it fun, captivating, and experiential – to use all the senses for a truly holistic approach. Participants in her programs sing, chant, move, and make music and art to help them know for themselves how their thoughts, feelings, body work together as a system with breathing.
“Regardless of age, the child or the inner child benefits from Superkid Power skills,” she says. “When I taught at the University of Oregon, students commonly remarked that they thought they came to class to learn how to teach these skills to children, but noticed how much their own lives changed.
When I was hired to teach at an international elementary school in Peru, the staff, parents, and students were extremely receptive. The U.S. Embassy in Lima heard about my expertise with stress management and commissioned me to teach their Health Department. Not long afterwards, the Surgeon General of the U.S. invited me to represent the rural area at the Children’s Mental Health Conference in Washington, D.C. He actually quoted my opinion in the follow-up report, “We need to prevent unnecessary suffering in the lives of our children.”
The Christmas Fairy has a family of her own. She has two grown children, 48 and 43, and two grandchildren who live in different states. They visit back and forth as often as schedules allow.
“I decided I was tired of feeling sad at parting after having a good time together, so I started a new tradition transforming sad to glad. At the airport, I gave my son’s cell-phone to a stranger requesting a photo as I lay down on the airport floor grabbing my son’s leg like I was trying to keep him from leaving.
I pride myself in being an outrageous grandmother and use my grandmother name given to me by my grandson: “Grandma Boom”, which is stated as part of my identity on all 8 books on Amazon for children.”
We all know Ashland as a place where individualism is treasured. We adore the people and traditions that weave the fabric of our town – and Janai Mestrovich is no exception.
“I love Ashland, with its special people, diversity, its magic, frequent serendipity, Lithia Park’s enchantment and the positivity that exudes from the community with the parades and community-oriented activities. I was guided here in a meditation and felt it was like a calling to live in this amazing community. It has so much to offer to all ages. I LOVE that people LOVE Ashland!”
She leaves our neighbors with this message, “Anyone can be a Christmas Fairy. Reach out, make some magic for others!”
Want to be a part of the fairy magic? Make a donation now.
Janai Mestrovich, M.S., Exec. Dir.
Superkid Power
P.O. Box 1201
Ashland, Or. 97520
