Xavier Fairley waited patiently, staged on Old West Point Road with his horse and carriage.
It was mid-December. After a while, a car pulled up, and two gentlemen escorted a young lady to the carriage.
“You”re carriage awaits, ma”am,” Fairley said, offering a hand to help her into the carriage.
The woman was uneasy, no knowing what to expect.
“I have no idea what”s going on,” she told Fairley after she loosened up a bit, probably hoping he would shed some light on the mysterious carriage ride.
It wasn”t long before they approached a small church on Old West Point Road, where the young lady”s boyfriend was minister. The building was illuminated in candlelight, and her beau was waiting inside.
“When he came out, she had said yes, so I though that was pretty good,” Fairley recalled.
He then took the newly engaged couple for another carriage ride, their first as an affianced couple.
“And hopefully they”ll live happily ever after,” Fairley said.
Fairley, 51, recalls fondly being at the center of this Cinderella story, and he hopes to be involved in many more. Starting a new career as carriage driver after being laid off from Domtar, Fairley is a bit of a Cinderella story himself.
Fairley worked at Domtar for 24 years before he got the news the paper mill was closing its doors for good, last year. For Fairley, offering carriage rides through historic downtown Columbus was a dream that now could be realized. He and his wife, Vernita, went on carriage rides during visits to New Orleans. Fairley thought a horse and buggy would be a nice addition to Columbus.
“I always wanted a carriage,” he said. “I talked with my wife about it, and I decided I wanted to try it.” He already had the horses. In August 2010, he found a carriage.
Fairley bought his first horse 30 years ago, for his youngest daughter. Then, he bought himself one, so he could ride with her.
“I found out then, that a lot of people loved horses than had places to put them, so we built some barns and started stabling horses,” Fairley said.
Though he doesn”t stable other people”s horses anymore and his six children are all adults, Fairley still keeps about 14 horses at his New Hope home.
In September 2010, he began parking at Leadership Plaza at College and Fifth streets, offering rides and handing out business cards.
“People that come downtown to take advantage of our fine restaurants, people shopping, even people just riding through. They”ll pass by, and they don”t believe what they see. So they make a block and come back,” Fairley said, illustrating how many of his moonlit carriage rides begin.
Normally, Fairley offers carriage rides on Fridays and Saturdays, from 6-11 p.m. This week and next, as a part of the Columbus Spring Pilgrimage events, Fairley will be offering rides from the Tennessee Williams Welcome Center at 300 Main Street, all day, beginning at 9 a.m.
Fairley hopes others will see his little addition to downtown Columbus as he does — elegant, fun, romantic and a view of Columbus they might have otherwise overlooked.
“When you”re moving slow like that,” he said, “you can see the area and you can really appreciate it a little bit more.”
CARRIAGE RIDES
· During Pilgrimage: $5 per person, up to four people
· Regular price: $25 per couple or $15 per person, up to four people
· More info: Fairley Carriage Service, 662-386-2317 or 662-386-6013
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