Misfit toys find home in Arboretum

Tucked behind Davie Hall, UNC’s very own island of misfit toys hosts a modest arrangement of toys, from a small plastic dinosaur to a My Little Pony figurine.

Resting inconspicuously on a drain in the heating and cooling system in Coker Arboretum, toys have been stockpiled for a few years by UNC’s grounds crews.

Since its discovery, the spot has been shared on the Facebook group “Overheard at UNC” and has been posted on Yik Yak several times.

“Of all the weird things I’ve seen on this campus, this might be the weirdest,” one Yik Yak poster said.

Senior Connor Elledge said he came across the spot accidentally.

“I stumbled upon it one day with a friend when taking pictures in the Arboretum,” he said.

Elledge said he asked a University groundskeeper about the enigma. He said the groundskeeper seemed when delighted Elledge asked, describing the site as if it were a hidden gem on campus.

Elledge said the groundskeeper told him that his fellow crew members place toys at the site whenever they come across them. He said the spot has been in the making for a few years.

While most of the toys come from groundskeepers’ campus finds, Elledge said the groundskeeper he met brought a My Little Pony toy back from the U.S. Virgin Islands to add to the collection.

Elledge said he has returned to show a couple of his friends the masterpiece.

Geoffrey Neal, assistant curator at the Arboretum, which is part of the N.C. Botanical Garden, said the drain where the toys are kept, despite being in the Arboretum, lacks aesthetic appeal.

“It’s not a particularly attractive part of campus,” he said. “We find stuff all the time, and if it looks like it’s not going to be claimed, we stick it there.”

Neal said the collection began after finding a small toy on campus one day.

“I found a plastic dinosaur in the wall along Raleigh Street, picked it up, and put it there,” he said.

“The steam coming out of the pipe over the drain makes it quite ‘Jurassic Park’-esque.”

What started with a plastic dinosaur a few years ago has turned into an ongoing habit, Neal said.

“It beats throwing them in the trash,” he said.

Neal said the toys sometimes get shared with younger visitors at the Arboretum.

The spot is somewhat hidden, although not intentionally — which Neal said might be a good thing.

“The location it’s in right now is far enough away where the average drinking, stumbling student won’t walk by and kick it,” he said.

He said although the grounds crew is primarily responsible for the toy collection, anyone can participate.

“It started with Margo and I, but we certainly have no objections to anyone else doing it,” Neal said.

When asked why they do it, Margo MacIntyre, curator at the Arboretum, had a simple answer.

“Why not? It’s just fun.”

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