Antique carousel finds a home

Associated Press

TACOMA — A handful of local folk have been carefully crafting wooden animals for an antique carousel since 1994, though for years it was not clear they’d ever find a spot for the elegant old machine and its parade of fanciful steeds.

It was a labor of love for members of the Washington Antique Carousel Society. At the Tacoma workshop of Dale and Joanne Sessions, they’ve done the delicate carving, the installation of a bright red heart inside each animal, the paint and other final touches that ensure each one is distinct.

The volunteer workforce comes from Seattle, Lacey, Federal Way and all around Pierce County.

"It’s like an addiction, I guess," said Tom Allen, who drives down from Seattle with his wife Linda to help.

And now, the carousel has a home.

By 2004, the restored carousel will be installed in the new children’s section at the Port Defiance Zoo &Aquarium.

"I hope it’s going to be loved," Joanne Sessions said. "Who realizes when you start out how big something’s going to be?"

"It’s a dream come true," Dale Sessions said. "We are finally getting together with some people who are enthusiastic about it. We are really starting to get close."

The carousel crew is insisting rides cost no more than a dollar.

"We want the kids to be able to ride lots and lots of times," Joanne Sessions said.

The dream began when Tacoma businessman Keith Stone bought the elderly, horseless carousel in Montana, planning to put it in a local indoor mall he then owned. When that didn’t work out, Stone handed off the circular wooden frame and mechanical operating device to the carousel society. Its members believe the carousel was made by C.W. Parker, a famous carousel maker, between 1917 and 1920. But there’s no proof of that — it arrived with no history, Joanne Sessions said.

The carousel was built for the road — designed to be dismantled and folded into flat stacking sections that could be moved from town to town.

So it was dismantled and moved to a shelter behind the Sessions’ home. Society members went to work carving new horses and restoring the mechanics — confident their work would eventually find a home.

Several possibilities were considered, but they all fizzled until last summer, when Metro Parks Tacoma planners suggested the zoo.

Zoo officials decided the carousel would be a great addition to the kids’ zone, which is being built over the next few years.

"We … decided that if they could donate the labor, we could raise the money," said Kathleen Olson, director of the Zoo Society.

Some of the carousel’s nearly 40 animals have already been carved, but the zoo’s mission is adding a new twist. Plans now call for everything from an Asian elephant to a golden frog, a clouded leopard to a walrus.

Northwest critters will also be featured — there’s already a giant slug, and plans for both a Husky and a Cougar.

More than a dozen animals are on display at the aquarium. Each has a name.

"When I move them around, I sometimes talk to them," Olson said. "These animals have personalities."

Seaweed, a fanciful horse with a mermaid’s tail, is the project’s official mascot. Other characters include:

_Destiny, an Appaloosa whose saddle blanket features the Washington state flag, state flower (the rhododendron) and state bird (goldfinch).

_Starbrite, whose front half is decorated with the moon, stars and night sky, with a sunburst on his hindquarters.

_Sir Dukbayte, an armored slug whose saddle is decorated with a salt shaker inside a red circle with a slash — the international symbol for "no."

_Hoppy, a white horse with a tail of real horse hair, designed to resemble the carousel’s original animals.

A carousel had been on the zoo’s long-range wish list, Olson said, but estimates for starting from scratch had ranged from $1 million to $2 million for factory-built versions.

Instead, it’s getting hand-carved and painted works of art — and saving money.

So far, the zoo society has raised more than $430,000 of the estimated $850,000 needed to set the carousel in motion.

Associated Press

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