Another peek at the ponies
(Photo by MARY MALONE) Clay Hutchison removes the first carousel pony during a Dec. 3 unveiling event. The ponies hibernated for 64 years before Hutchison and his wife Reno freed them to be restored and find a permanent home in Sandpoint.
SANDPOINT — For anyone who missed the grand unveiling of the Carousel of Smiles last month — or for those who just can't get enough — an open house is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Granary Warehouse.
"We are just looking forward to showing it off again," said project coordinator Jan Griffitts.
On Dec. 3, carousel owners Clay and Reno Hutchison invited the public to the unveiling of the Golden Age machine after it spent more than six decades in the dark, cramped quarters of two cargo trailers. Since then, all the parts have been removed from the vintage trailers, including all 36 hand-carved wooden ponies and Griffitts said it is "absolutely complete."
"We couldn't believe it, everything was intact," Griffitts said. "Even the mechanism moves. It will have to be worked on, of course, but it moves. It completely shocked us."
She said the only things that weren’t any good were a couple pieces of canvas destroyed by mice.
The Hutchisons purchased the 1920 Allan Herschell carousel after discovering it 16 years ago and saving it from auction. The carousel was stranded in the Midwest after a traveling fair shut down for the 1952 season in Kansas and never reopened. In 2000, Clay Hutchison's sister-in-law called him from Kansas City when she was helping a friend, who happened to have an antique carousel in a collection of Americana and folk art going up for auction.
The Hutchisons then moved the trailers to a storage barn in upstate New York where they remained until recently making the long trip to Sandpoint where the couple, along with help from the community, will restore the old machine and find it a permanent home.
During the open house, the public will get a chance to see the entire collection of ponies, artwork, rounding boards and more. Griffitts said the public will also get an update on information regarding the restoration, including the fact that they are still looking for a place to restore it. The Hutchisons hope to find a bigger place than the Granary Warehouse because when the carousel goes together it will span about 40-feet in diameter, comparable to the Looff Carousel at Riverfront Park in Spokane.
Bette Largent, president of the National Carousel Association and curator of the Looff, said in a November statement that between 4,000 and 5,000 carousels existed in the United States from the late 1800s into the 1960s. Today, only 152 operating classic wooden carousels remain.
"The National Carousel Association is really excited about it because this is one they didn't know existed," Griffitts said.
Information: thecarouselofsmiles.org or facebook.com/thecarouselofsmiles.org