Davidson Inventor Makes Special Appearance at Documentary Fundraiser

Inventor Symington and director Marek

Davidson resident, Aimee Symington, was a special mystery guest at a fundraiser in Tryon for an upcoming documentary called, "PLAY ON! Will the Fun Survive?" The feature-length, independent film aims to follow up on a handful of independent inventors – including Symington – who gambled everything they had when they debuted their new toy or game at New York City’s Toy Fair in 2008. 

Back then, director Alison Marek and her team filmed the inventors for the five days of set-up, pitching, and breakdown at the largest toy convention in the U.S.  

“Shortly after the show, the Great Recession wiped out our funding,” noted Marek, who organized the event, which took place on September 17,  at the Tryon Depot.

The film was originally sponsored by Marek’s employer at the time, ToyDirectory.com, and TDmonthly Magazine, a B2B business that united specialty toymakers with independent toy stores.

“Once I moved to Tryon – whose town mascot is a giant fiberglass replica of a wooden hobby horse called Morris – I knew it was time to raise the money myself and  finish the toymakers’ stories.”

Tryon’s history is inextricably linked with Tryon Toymakers and Woodcarvers, a pioneering 1915 Arts and Crafts enterprise founded by Eleanor Vance and Charlotte Yale. The women's enterprise revitalized Appalachian economic self-sufficiency and gained national acclaim for its hand-carved, European-style wooden toys. 

“What could be a more perfect place to launch a movie that celebrates independent toymakers, especially women toymakers?” asked Marek.

Chapter One of her film focuses on Symington, an etiquette expert and mom who invented the boardgame BLUNDERS! to teach children manners in a fun way. BLUNDERS was sold all over the country and was carried by major retailers at the time, including ToysRUs.

“I’m doing a short film based just on Aimee’s story,” explained Marek, “The short will exist as a separate film and also help to raise funds for the feature. So many independent toy companies are founded and run by women;  I’d like to celebrate the unique challenges that Aimee faced and how following her dream changed her life, and her children' s lives.” 

At the event, Marek showed a trailer for the feature film, as well as a short scene from Symington’s 2008 footage that captured her and her husband George in their hotel room after a hard day of pitching. Symington had never before seen that footage.

During the scene, Symington and her husband discuss New Yorkers’ dismissal of manners as a “southern” thing that didn’t really concern them. Ironically, by the end of the scene with an encounter that had audiences laughing, Symington seems to forget her own manners.

“I don’t remember any of that!” Symington admitted after the screening. “I do remember we were exhausted from having to walk back to our hotel in the pouring rain.”

The funds she raised last week will help Marek finish editing Symington’s 2008 footage and follow up with Symington and her family in 2026. 

“'PLAY ON!' Is a love letter to the specialty toy industry – which is always under threat due to giant toy corporations and mass-market retailers,” said Marek. “I hope the movie will encourage  other potential inventors to take a risk on their dreams. I also hope it will remind the audience to support their local toy stores and independent inventors.”

Independent toy companies that donated to the event and upcoming fundraisers included Maple Landmark, Harvest Time Partners, Wiggles 3D, Successful Kids, Scramble Squares by b. dazzle, Hugg-a-Planet, and Fliptomania flip books. 

Local merchants who supported the event included O.P. Taylor’s toy store, Wild Petunias, The Curious Caldron, Mountain Trail Soap Company, Tryon Toymakers and Woodcarvers, Nature’s Storehouse, Tryon IGA, and All Good Things Bakery. The current Tryon Toymakers and Woodcarvers donated a tiny version of Tryon’s Morris the Horse. 

“It was hard to let that little Morris go,” Marek admitted. “He’s adorable.”

All donations are tax-deductible thanks to PLAY ON!’s 501C3 fiscal sponsor, From the Heart Productions. Learn more or donate to the movie or to the short film.