By Dennis Smith –
It seems highly unlikely, if not profoundly inconceivable, that something so tragic, chaotic and unimaginably horrifying as an all-out war could ultimately manifest itself in a life-changing creation that would bring untold joy, peals of laughter, peace and comfort to thousands of people from all walks of life. Yet, there it sits in the little Front Range mountain town of Nederland: a whimsical amusement park ride that seems possessed of magical surprises and contagious, laugh-out-loud happiness.
As a battle-plagued U.S. Marine fighting in the jungles of Vietnam, Scott Harrison would try to soothe himself between firefights by holding a tiny music box to his ear, listening to the music of Chopin and imagining himself in a mountain meadow watching a carousel turn. The Marine’s mind trick became a dream, the dream became a vision, the vision became a quest and the quest became a real-life carousel turning in a mountain meadow — just as he had imagined.
But what Scott couldn’t have imagined was the decades-long journey his dream would take him on, the talented and generous people he would meet along the way, the fascinating gifts and historical treasures that would find their way into his carousel and the number of lives that would be touched by the carousel’s infectious joyful spirit. It is a most remarkable story.
Carousel Ups and Downs
The Saltair carousel’s existence seemed alternatively cursed and blessed. It managed to survive three devastating fires — one of which destroyed the Saltair amusement park entirely. Miraculously, though, the carousel survived, thanks in large part to the firemen who focused their efforts on saving it from the flames. But then, after the park was reconstructed, the roller coaster collapsed during a powerful windstorm, smashing into the carousel and causing extensive damage. The thing seemed plagued by disaster.
It was subsequently rebuilt, but with only two rows of animals instead of the original four. Alas, Saltair then went bankrupt in 1958, and the carousel was dismantled and stored in a warehouse before being given to the Utah State Training School for the Developmentally Disabled by the governor. Unfortunately, while there, it was struck by lightning, and its wooden superstructure charred by the resulting fire. Again, it was rescued, only to be stripped of its valuable animals by a well-known carousel animal collector who then retired the frame and mechanism to be sold or abandoned to the scrap heap.
Reduced to a cannibalized frame of charred and rotting wood, its drive gears, motor and steel suspension system seemingly fated to rust and corrode in the wind, it seemed certain the beleaguered carousel would finally fade into the ages. But the young Marine’s vision from long ago and far away was waiting patiently in the wings. It would take many, many more years before it was completely realized, but the crumbling old carousel was destined to undergo yet another unlikely rescue and amazing transformation.
The Circle Continues
In September of 1986, Scott attended a National Carousel Association convention in Michigan with his 7-year-old daughter. There, he met a fellow whose job it was to transport carousels and wooden animals for buyers, collectors and amusement parks. Scott told him of his dream to find and restore an old carousel frame and mechanism, explaining he wanted to carve the animals himself.
A month later the man called to say he had just removed all the animals from a carousel mechanism in the town of American Fork, Utah, and that the frame was likely headed for the scrap yard. He put Scott in touch with the owner who agreed to sell him what was left of the original Saltair 1910 Looff carousel for $2,000.
With the frame and mechanism in his possession, Scott began the arduous task of restoring and transforming the old amusement park ride. By any standards it was a monumental undertaking. The plywood flooring, overhead wooden-beamed sweepers and spreaders, inside and outside rounding boards, huge electric motor, drive gears, steel crank-shafts and crank arms, pinions, bearings, bushings, journals and related hardware were either missing, rotted or in various states of disrepair. Some could be repaired, but much would have to be replaced or completely rebuilt from scratch. To make matters even more difficult, no blueprints, plans or documents came with the purchase, and spare parts were rare to non-existent. Scott would have to figure things out on his own.
During his travels he was able to procure some unused and extremely valuable bearings for his own rig. Scott learned of Mike Alvernaz, the machinist in charge of construction of the community-built Missoula, Montana, carousel. He traveled to Missoula to work and study with Mike several times, then brought him to Nederland once to help with his project. Mike’s expertise was, and remains, invaluable. “He helped me the most during the first 20 years of carving and restoration work,” Scott says.
Several years into the project, Scott located the original 1905 Mangels patent application for the drive mechanism in the online archives of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. This proved to be extremely helpful when he began reassembling and balancing the mechanism and frame.
As restoration progressed, he replaced the old plywood floor with beautiful, old growth southern yellow pine that was originally harvested in the 1890s and used as shelving for whiskey barrels at the Seagram’s distillery in Peoria, Illinois. When the plant was dismantled 100 years later, the shelving went up for sale on the national used-wood market. Scott found it and fashioned it into 18 circular panels of hand-laid, honey, gold and ochre flooring that make up the 39-foot diameter platform for his animals and kids to ride on.
He decorated the carousel’s plywood panels with rounding board paintings created for another 1910 carousel by August Wolfinger, an artist who was known in his time as the “Michelangelo of the Midway.” Scott reframed the paintings to fit his carousel and enlisted the skills of Denver-based fine art restorer Eugene Friedman to repair and restore the 100-year-old, oil-on-tin masterpieces.
Oval paintings of endangered species originally created in the mid-1990s for a carousel in Texas by Russian immigrant artist V. Bavhanov were donated to cover 16 of the 18 inside rounding boards, and local fine artist Dorothy Emmerling completed the series with paintings of polar bears and endangered Amur leopards.
From the beginning, Scott was deeply engaged in designing, painstakingly carving and painting all the animals by hand the hard way: with gouges, chisels and knives. It took him more than 26 years to create the intricate, intensely colored, kaleidoscopic menagerie of utterly fascinating and jaw-droppingly beautiful creatures that now populate the carousel: lions, tigers, frogs, giraffes, peacocks, swans, monkeys, fish and — well, there are more than 50 of them, so I won’t list them all. Besides which, words cannot begin to describe their astounding brilliance.
Many of the animals have internal time capsules holding newspaper articles, poems, stories and period artifacts to be revealed at some point in the future. Scott continues to create and carve even more animals for a new exhibit depicting animals that appear to be on their way to — or from — “Somewhere Else,” which is precisely what the display will be called. It is a work in progress.
An upstairs loft houses an observatory, an event room available for children’s parties and group gatherings and a fully stocked, working children’s puppet theater made from a creatively converted turn-of-the century band organ cabinet. A library of journals, books and magazines provides decades of fascinating research on carousel history and development. Downstairs in the lobby, a gift shop stocked with miniature carousels, carved animals, books, high-quality toys, curios, fine art and souvenirs greets visitors.
Rounding Out Construction
The Energy Star windows enclosing the carousel and its related exhibits were carefully selected to optimize energy efficiency solar gain and enhance interior lighting. Their low-e coatings pass infrared rays but block ultraviolet rays, effectively providing passive solar heating and nighttime temperature retention, while at the same time protecting the natural wood beams and interior artwork from the fading effects of UV exposure as well as the summer’s heat. The resulting high transmission of visible light decreases the need for higher cost conventional electrical lighting. And, in fact, where electrical lighting is called for on the carousel, all bulbs — 396 of them — are super cool, energy-efficient LEDs. Surrounding exterior bi-fold doors can be opened or closed to further regulate interior temperatures and airflow in accordance with the weather.
Scott will be the first to tell you that while the idea for the project owes its inspiration to the little music box he listened to all those years ago on the battlefields of Vietnam, the phenomenon known today as The Carousel of Happiness would not have been possible without the kindness, generosity and outright benevolence of countless others who helped along the way.
Today the carousel is fully staffed and operated by volunteers and sustained by sponsorships, donations and funds generated by sales from rides, gift shop purchases and party room events. A typical weekend may see upward of 500 to 1,000 visitors, and even more during the summer. The premier opening was dedicated to the memory of two of Scott’s wartime comrades, and a plaque honoring their sacrifice graces the entry to the carousel.
If the old saying that “what goes around, comes around” is true, then the little merry-go-round in Colorado known as The Carousel of Happiness will be bringing joy and happiness around for a long, long time to come.
Dennis Smith is a freelance outdoor writer, photographer and columnist from Loveland, who writes the outdoor column for Colorado Country Life. His work also appears in other national and regional publications.