April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
WATERFORD
Pilot takes student's stuffed animal around the world
It didn't seem like her stuffed animal, a bear named Golden, was coming home.
"I spent a lot of time on that project," Madelon, now a fourth-grader, told The Evangelist. She had created a journal with photos of the bear before mailing it to a family friend in Florida. "I felt kind of sad."
Golden was supposed to travel the country, shepherded by about 10 different adults - chronicling adventures with diaries and photos and getting its "passport" stamped along the way - before making it back to the student.
Much to Madelon's delight, she learned that her furry friend had fallen into the hands of an airline pilot and embarked on a 17-day tour of the world in August.
Her teacher, Victoria Donnelly, heard from the pilot, Tyler Darby, mid-trip. He had even set up a website (http://whereisgolden.weebly.com) with maps tracking the duo's travels, photos and a log of the journey from the bear's perspective. He also sent currency from each of the countries they visited.
"He really did take it to the next level," Mrs. Donnelly said. She started the project with her classes three years ago and has seen toys travel to Germany, Japan and all over the U.S., returning with the requirements of the project, plus DVDs and trinkets. Close to 100 pupils have participated; not every child sees his or her stuffed animal again, so the teacher requests non-favorites.
Mrs. Donnelly's goal with the project, which doesn't get a grade, is to teach the kids that "there's a whole world outside of what [they] know. I just want them to see the world. It opened up way more than I ever imagined."
Team effort
Golden's first destination was Disney World, where the bear received a Minnie Mouse pin. Next, Golden traveled by mail to nine different U.S. states, touching the fin of a shark at an Indianapolis zoo and visiting a gold mining museum in Goldvein, Va.
Now, Madelon can talk knowledgeably about hornet balls, seven-ton devices used to crush rocks to retrieve gold.
All of Golden's helpers took photos with the bear - and even got some strangers in on the act. "I have no idea who these people are," said Madelon's mother, Kristin, with a laugh.
Ms. Swinton had initially wanted to plan Golden's route, but decided to throw caution to the wind. By summer, Golden fell into the hands of a pilot, who messaged Mr. Darby, a friend and fellow pilot, with a request to take on the project.
Mr. Darby, who has flown mostly corporate planes for 22 years, recently did a stint flying cargo planes. He decided to take the bear on a typical tour to India, Hong Kong, Germany and the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Mr. Darby taught his new companion about Boeing 747 aircraft, even photographing the bear inside of an engine ("I thought that was funny," Madelon said).
Bear on tour
The bear seemed to enjoy plane travel: "We went super fast. Soon after we lifted off the ground, we were going 250 miles per hour!" Golden "wrote" on the way to Germany. "When we climbed up really high to our cruise altitude, we went even faster! 600 miles per hour! I must be the fastest bear anywhere."
Golden spent the next few weeks touring cities, seeing art, marveling at foreign modes of transportation and sampling foreign cuisine - and there are pictures to prove it, shot with help from Mr. Darby's co-pilots. Madelon's favorites involve locals - hotel workers or cab drivers, for instance - posing with her bear. She was curious about other photos, like the picture of art on a wall in New Delhi or a woman kneeling to pray in Hong Kong.
Madelon has done some research. She took the money from Hong Kong to a Chinese restaurant to get a lesson from the staff about it, for one thing, and she says she may do some more as she gets older.
Her biggest takeaway: "Be grateful for what you get, because some kids didn't get [their animals] back. I learned that a lot of people are very creative.
"[Mr. Darby] put a lot of effort into everything," she added. "I'm very thankful for him."
The pilot, meanwhile, said he "had more fun doing it than I think the kids had reading it. It kind of broke up my normal routine, but I was really doing it for them. I thought it would be nice to show the kids the diversity of people around the world."
Left behind
The only glitch in the trip occurred when Mr. Darby accidentally left Golden on a computer desk in a German hotel room. He realized when he got to Bahrain.
"I was freaking out," he said. "I felt so horrible because I had a daughter of my own, and she had gotten to know Golden."
He made some calls and arranged for another pilot to retrieve the bear and fly it to Bahrain. Once the pair made it to Mr. Darby's North Carolina home, Golden made some friends in the three-year-old triplets waiting there. "I really like Lily and she is going to be so sad when I have to go home," Golden noted in one message.
Although Golden became a favorite of Madelon's when he returned to her on the first day of school this fall, the student decided to send her bear to live with the Darbys.
Saying goodbye
"I know she really had to think about it because she loves this bear," Ms. Swinton said proudly. "She said, 'I'm a big kid now. I have my pictures of Golden. I'll be fine.'"
Madelon admitted she cried when her mother first suggested the gesture, but changed her mind: "I thought about it for a little bit, and I said, '[Mr. Darby] did a lot of stuff for me. I should do a lot of stuff for him.'"
Indeed, Ms. Swinton said, the project taught her daughter about generosity and hope in humankind: "I just can't believe what all of these different people did. For her to see that total strangers will go out of their way to do something for her - I don't even know how to describe it. The whole world would be such a nice place if everyone was like this."[[In-content Ad]]
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