"It all depends on who I marry," she said. "If he's a doctor and he makes a lot of money, then I'll be a writer. But if he doesn't have a lot of money, I'll have to be an actress to support the family."

Well, I heard from her mother, Vivian Barron, who says Anna is starting her senior year at the University of Michigan. She hopes to do HIV work in Africa through Peace Corps after graduation, then return to get a master's degree as a nurse practitioner or medical social worker.

"Thus, she will become neither a writer nor an actor!" says Barron. "She says she does not currently consider the size or the potential size of a boyfriend's wallet when she dates."

Alas, Anna won't be able to make it to the storybook personalities reunion Sept. 10. But plenty of others will, including Stephen Isom, who was Raggedy Andy in 1978.

"My Fairyland Lifetime Pass was lost when my home was burned in the '91 Oakland firestorm, so I haven't seen the park in many years," he says. "But with two kids of my own now, I'm really looking forward to stopping by to see how things have changed since the late '70s."

In 1972, 11-year-old Jodie Prola Russi became the first dark-haired Alice in Wonderland. When she told her mother she was going to audition for the part, her mom said, "Why not Red Riding Hood? Jodie, I don't think they've ever had a Hispanic Alice!"

But she went for it anyway, thanks to Burton Weber, the man who invented the storybook personalities program.

"I asked him if he thought I had a chance. He told me that the original Alice that Lewis Carroll wrote about had dark hair, but when it came time to complete the illustrations for the book, the illustrator portrayed her as a blond. He said if the original Alice could be dark-haired, so could I."

Speaking of Alice, I erred when I said the first one was Beth Warschaw.

"It was spelled 'Wershkul,'" says Karen Noel. "Beth graduated from Oakland High with me in 1968, and she reminded us daily that she was the first Alice."

Incidentally, Noel has her own claim to fame: She was the first child to ride the Jolly Trolley.

"My grandfather, Ed Spring, did the electrical wiring for the Jolly Trolley, and I got the very first ride (unbeknownst to Fairyland) before it was christened. Ah, the good old days!"

In 1953, Fairyland held a writing contest. Here's Judith Kuhlman Weitzner's grand-prize winner: "Have you heard the story of Willie the Whale?/Well, I'm here to say it's a mighty fine tale./You can get in his mouth and slide down to his tummy./You feel like his lunch, and he thinks you're just yummy."

"I was a student at Bella Vista Grammar School and won a slide projector, screen and several sets of slides for the school," she says. "They were presented to me by Mr. (William Penn) Mott. I still have the newspaper photo, and I just had my 64th birthday!"

It would take several columns to print all the delightful reminiscences I've heard from former storybook personalities. Suffice it to say, it's going to be a great reunion.

Suesan Grabia, who still has her Raggedy Ann costume from 1977 -- "the most exciting year of my childhood life" -- asks, "Can we bring family to the reunion? Or is it exclusively for storybook characters?"

By all means, bring the family. They were a big part of your Fairyland experience when you were little. Why should it be any different now? RSVP by calling 510-452-2259 or e-mail development@fairyland.org.