Carousels in Need - Reprinted from the August 2006 Merry-Go-Roundup

The NCA Helps Carousel in Need

	A night shot of horses on the Hanau-Wilhelmsbad karrussell in Hanau, Germany.

Each year, the NCA receives calls and e-mails from carousel supporters seeking help and/or funding for repairs and carouselrelated projects. And we respond to every request, with advice, referrals to funding sources, and even hands-on and monetary assistance. The recipients report that the NCA's help has made a big difference; in some cases, all the difference.

The next issue of Roundup will highlight several carousels that recently received NCA grants and tell how the funds were used. In the meanwhile, here's a "nutshell" of what's been going on, both to keep you informed and to encourage you to also approach the NCA for your carousel's needs. Remember, too many carousels have been lost for lack of attention; our mission is to keep them turning.

The Summer Roundup announced that five carousels would celebrate grand openings during the 2006 season: the Eldridge Park Carousel in Elmira and the Empire State Carousel in Cooperstown, both in New York; the carousels at Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma and at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, both in Washington; and the carousel at Fort Edmonton Park in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada . and that the Bartholomew & Murphy carousel at New Orleans City Park will soon reopen for its 100th anniversary year, despite the ravages of Hurricane Katrina.

This is cause for celebration. It's also worth noting that the NCA has awarded grants to four of these carousels - those at Elmira, Port Defiance, Woodland Park, and an immediate, unprecedented grant of up to $10,000 to repair the New Orleans carousel - and another to the Spillman Engineering "Over the Jumps" ride at the Little Rock Zoo.

We awarded additional grants to the carousel at Cheyenne Mountain Zoological Park in Colorado Springs, and, most recently, to the Hanau- Wilhelmsbad karrussell in Hanau, Germany (probably the oldest carousel in the world).

Is yours a carousel in need? Is your platform sagging, are your gears grinding, is your ceiling leaking or paint peeling, or worse, are your horses under water? Perhaps we can help.

Give us a call. In many cases, you'll find one of our carousel experts willing to assess the extent of the damage and recommend a solution. Or even make the needed adjustments. If additional repair is needed, or assistance that your community or Friends group cannot afford, we'll help you find funding sources or recommend you submit an NCA grant application.

Whatever your carousel's challenge, you can be sure others in the NCA have been there, done that, and are willing to share their experience. Such sharing is a highlight at the NCA technical conferences and conventions, where pens are busily writing down tips, shortcuts, best products, successful new approaches, and contact information, as well as what's been tried and didn't work.

The biggest surprise to most of our members is the friendliness and availability of our experts. So take advantage of all this - contact one of the board members listed inside the front cover of every Roundup issue, and get the ball rolling!