Carousels of Discovery

The convention will begin with an optional pre-convention "tech day" day on Tuesday, September 21st at 9:00 A.M. Hosted by the staff and volunteers of the Spokane 1909 Looff Carrousel, information will be provided on the mechanical renovations, technical operations, ride training, and a history of its restoration and preservation program.

An optional Wednesday Tour will be a bus trip through the wine country and desert plains of Washington (explored by Lewis and Clark) to the Tri-Cities of Kennewick, Richland, and Pasco, Washington. A viewing and luncheon will be hosted by the Three Rivers Carousel Foundation and will include the figures from Dolle-Carmel-Borrelli Carousel. This includes 36 jumpers, 8 standers and 4 classic chariots, 2 newly carved rival Washington college mascots, a cougar and a husky.

The Tri-Cities area of Central Washington is home to over 160 wineries! This area is also home to the Hanford Site, the location of one of the first US Nuclear Reactors built in 1943 and part of the Manhatten project. More information is available at the Tri-Cities and Hanford websites.

Wednesday Evening will be the 2010 Convention Kick-Off Dinner held in the circle of the 1909 Looff Carrousel in Spokane's Riverfront Park. This downtown urban park is on the original site of the World's Fair, Expo '74 and on the crest of the Spokane River Falls.

Thursday will begin our exploration of the big skies of Montana, made famous by the paintings of Charles Russell. The Montana loop begins with a bus ride past Coeur d' Alene Lake and through the historic Silver Valley of North Idaho.

Our first stop will be for lunch with the dragons in Dragon Hollow at A Carousel for Missoula. Click Here for more information on Missoula.

Missoula's unique 1995 community hand-carved 3 row carousel drew national attention and it comes complete with a 1994 Stinson Band Organ housed in one of the most unusual animated medieval band organ facades found in America.

After lunch we continue our travels east to the "Queen City of the Rockies", Helena, the state capital of Montana, for our overnight stay at the new Great Northern Hotel just steps from the newly created Great Northern Towne Center Carousel."

Part of a redevelopment project in downtown Helena, this carousel features 12 jumpers and 16 Montana state animal menagerie figures from antelope to tree frogs, all created by Ed Roth and painted by Bette Largent. It spins on a Carousel and Carvings mechanism adorned with rounding boards of stained glass by Mary Harris. Dinner will be at the hotel followed by a presentation by the Montana Historical Foundation about their Bovey music collection. We will then be treated to carousel rides and Painted Pony ice cream at the carousel.

At the end of our first day in Montana you will better understand why they call it the Big Sky State, it is not just a slogan.

A short bus ride to Boulder, Montana and its Jefferson County Fair and Rodeo grounds will take us to the Boulder River Carousel, the home of the Montana "cooking pot" carousel for a ride. This unique machine is a Montana hand-cast circa 1950 Brill machine.

More information about Boulder, MT is available here and here.

Our trek will then continue through Montana high country to visit Butte, Montana at the foot of the Continental Divide. Butte, where copper was once king, had a large amusement park that was swallowed by the operation of its open pit copper mine. We will stop by the display at the Butte Mall of the hand carved carousel figures that will soon be placed on the Spirit of Columbia Gardens Carousel.

After a lunch break on our return voyage and a chance to catch one more ride on the Carousel for Missoula, it's back to Idaho for our dinner stop at the Theater of Illusion located in the Silverwood Theme Park, the largest theme park in the Northwest. We will have an opportunity to ride their two-row metal 1954 Allan Herschell carousel and hear a presentation about the building of a modern family-owned theme park. Laced with wave pools and water rides, the park also features two newly designed wooden roller coasters and a nostalgic steam train ride.

After our visit to Silverwood we return to Spokane and the Ramada Spokane Airport.

Saturday's travel takes us across the irrigated plains of Eastern Washington to the Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River. Grand Coulee Dam is the largest concrete structure in the United States and supplies hydro electric power to the Northwest, as well as water for irrigation in the Columbia Basin Project and many great recreation sites. It is the largest hydroelectric complex in the Western Hemisphere as well as the supplier of water to the farmers and for recreation in the Columbia Basin.

Our destination for the lunch is Republic, Washington, located in the pines just below the Canadian Border. Their circa 1895-1900 Armitage Herschell carousel now sparkles in the Art and Nancy Morris Pavilion at the Ferry County Fair Grounds. We will return through the mountain passes of Washington, take a break in Chewelah, WA to visit Mistequa Antique Auto Museum, and will be back to Spokane for the convention banquet and Carousel Preservation Fund Auction. (The photo of Republic was taken from Art and Nancy Morris' front deck.)

It is time for farewells to our carousel friends with breakfast at the Ramada Hotel and the NCA's annual general meeting. Our Carousels of Discovery journey will then be complete. We hope you will join us and discover the diversity of the carousels and the scenic area of the Inland Northwest. As we say in Spokane, "it's near nature and near perfect!"

Spokane is the birthplace of Father's Day, which will be celebrating its centennial in 2010. For more information see Fathersdaybirthplace.com.

Here are some ideas for on-your-own visits before and after the conference. All of these are within a day's drive from Spokane. If you enjoyed the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics and would like to visit that beautiful city, it is only a day's drive from Spokane, and there is a Parker Carousel in the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby. (There is also a Vancouver, Washington that is a suburb of Portland.)

Pacific and Inland Northwest plus Canadian Carousels:

1. Columbia Falls, Montana: 1936 Parker Portable Metal.
2. Rexburg, Idaho: 1926 Spillman Engineering Portal Wood.
3. Idaho Falls, Idaho: 1947 Allan Herschell Portable Wood and Metal.
4. Farmington, Utah: 1906 Herschell-Spillman Park Park Wood.
5. Salt Lake City, Utah: 1930's Allan Herschell Portable Wood and Metal.
6. Bickleton, Washington: 1900 Herschell Spillman Track Wood
7. Portland, Oregon: 1911 Herschell-Spillman Park Wood
8. Portland, Oregon: 1921 Parker Park Wood.
9. Portland, Oregon: 1940's Allan Herschell Portable Wood and Metal.
10. Salem, Oregon: 2001 New Carvings Wood
11. Puyallup, WA.: 1917 PTC 43 Wood
12. Federal Way, WA: 1906 Parker Portable Wood.
13. Tacoma, WA: 1917-20 Parker Frame with new carvings.
14. Seattle, WA: 1918 PTC 48 Park Wood.
15. Victoria, British Columbia: Rose Carousel, Brass Ring Entertainment
16. Burnaby, British Columbia: 1912 Park Portable Wood.
17. Calgary, Alberta: 1950's Allan Herschel Portable Metal.
18. Calgary, Alberta: 1904 Hershell-Spillman Track Wood

US National Parks:

1. Yellowstone
2. Glacier Park
3. Grand Teton
4. Craters of the Moon
5. Columbia River Gorge
6. Mt St Helens
7. Mt Rainer
8. Olympic
9. North Cascades

Canadian National Parks:

1. Waterton
2. Kootenay
3. Banff & Lake Louise
4. Jasper
5. Yoho
6. Glacier
7. Revelstoke

Other Points of Interest

1. Virginia and Nevada City Montana and the Bovey Music Collection
2. National Bison Range
3. Hells Canyon National Recreation Area
4. Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area
5. Leavenworth Washington Baviarian Village
6. The 160 Wineries of the Columbia and Yakima Valleys.