Carousel, ponies headed to new home

SANDPOINT — Everyone loves a parade — especially when "the ponies" are involved.

Accompanied by a "handler," a majority of the Carousel of Smiles ponies are slated to leave the nonprofit's current studio Saturday and head to their new home. After leaving the studio, the ponies will roll along the bike path and travel through Matchwood Brewing's Oktoberfest celebration en route to their new stables.

Carousel of Smiles founders Clay and Reno Hutchison said about 20 to 25 of the carousel's 36 ponies will be on a rolling stand as they roll from the Carousel of Smiles studio at Fifth and Cedar to their new "stable" at 502 Church St. at the old Bizarre Bazaar location.

The parade route will take the ponies through Saturday's Oktoberfest celebration at Matchwood Brewing to give the carousel's fans a chance to get an up-close look at some of the completed carousel ponies. Carousel of Smiles officials will host an information booth at the Oktoberfest celebration and an open house will be held at the Church Street "stable.

The ponies are slated to leave the starting gate of the current studio, bidding farewell to their home of several years, at about 12:30 p.m. Saturday.

Carousel of Smiles officials said they are planning to make the "stable" the permanent home of the ponies, blending the existing operations, studio and workshop into one site, working to transform the former Bizarre Bazaar location into a showcase carousel for the community. The Hutchisons announced in mid-August that they had leased the former Co-Op Gas & Supply Co. building with an option to purchase the facility with the long-range plan to renovate the building into a community carousel.

The move, slated for Oct. 12, will see the carousel come together under one roof, joining Marketplace Antiques and the Pie Hut.

"The property, with its rich history, is an ideal location for the carousel, creating a bridge to the envisioned Granary/Arts District and the primary downtown core," the couple said. 

The block was once home to the Co-Op Gas & Supply Co., built in the 1930s. The site has also been home to a tire and auto repair shop, then a design studio, and more recently, Marketplace Antiques, the Pie Hut, and the Community Assistance League, which recently moved to a Boyer Avenue site.

"The 502 Church Street location will be a great location, and, with Marketplace Antiques and the Pie Hut, great synergy will be created for Sandpoint and all of its residents and visitors," the couple said previously.

The couple bought the carousel in 2000, fulfilling a lifelong dream of Reno Hutchison, who fell in love with carousels after her first ride on the Columbia Gardens' carousel in Butte, Montana. When that carousel burned down in 1973, she was devastated and dreamed of finding a carousel of her own. 

Fast forward to the discovery of the 1920s-era carousel in two abandoned cargo trailers in a Kansas field. When the Hutchisons learned the carousel was up for auction, it was a chance to make that dream come true. They moved the trailers to a storage facility in New York, and in 2016 when city officials envisioned making City Beach a year-round destination for locals and visitors alike, the couple opted to bring the carousel to Sandpoint.

The Hutchisons said they are excited about the building's potential and the future — that after years of unknowns and frustrations, the Carousel of Smiles could have a permanent home.

The fact that the carousel project is where it is a testament to the community's residents and volunteers who have embraced "the ponies," as Reno Hutchison calls them, as their own. They have taken the historic carousel into their hearts.

The restoration is in the home stretch, and the opportunity provided by the lease, and option to purchase, the Church Street site allows them to refocus on the project's location and facility aspects.

Work on the carousel is about 85% complete. Three horses need woodwork completed, and another eight need painting completed. Also, some of the mechanisms that run the carousel need work, as do its floor and some of the gears. They are working with the Bonner County History Museum on ideas on how to paint the 14 murals that will go along the outside of the carousel.

Roughly eight years after bringing the ponies to town and seven years after introducing "the ponies" to the community in 2017, the Carousel of Smiles will be reuniting the herd at a special event at the Bonner County Fairgrounds in November. The Carousel Fun Fair will bring together area nonprofits, activities, and exhibits — and showcase the carousel, expected to be completed and operational by fall 2025.

While the exact amount of a capital campaign to buy and transform the building depends on multiple factors, the Hutchisons estimate it will cost about $2 million. They plan to spend the next several months mapping just what that campaign will entail and what the purchase and renovation of the building will cost.

Fewer than 200 wooden carousels from the golden age of carousels, roughly the period from the late 1800s to 1930, still exist out of more than 3,000. Of those 200 or so, even fewer are in original condition and intact with their ponies and mechanisms. Next fall, Sandpoint will join that list.

Information: thecarouselofsmiles.org

    An artist's rendition of the potential future home of the Carousel of Smiles.
  

    Reno Hutchison, center, talks with Meg Marchiando and Gabe Gabel about the color scheme for some of the ponies for the Carousel of Smiles. Hutchison, who launched the nonprofit with her husband Clay following their purchase of the 1920 Allan Herschel carousel in 2000, announced a parade of the ponies from the nonprofit's existing studio to its new "stable" on Church Street.
  

    The Carousel of Smiles is seen for the first time at a 2017 unveiling of the golden age carousel after it was unloaded from old trailers for the first time in more than 60 years.