https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/carousel-saved-albany-oregon
"Entering the octagonal brick building that houses Albany, Oregon’s carousel is
like stepping into a children’s picture book. Tinkly, tinny music flush with
cymbal and piano strikes fills the air. Lights dance off the mirrors that
decorate the carousel, reflecting swirls of color as a fantastical menagerie
spins on the platform: a grizzly bear sporting glasses, a fierce Chinese Foo
dog named “Friend,” a Pegasus carrying fairy passengers. And the people who did
it all—those who built this carousel and crafted all its animals by hand over
the course of 20 years—are there too. They’re smiling, handing out tickets,
beaming with pride.
Wendy Kirbey first conceived of building a carousel in Albany after a vacation
in Missoula in 2002. There, she delighted in a carousel and wondered, if this
childhood treasure could revitalize Missoula, why couldn’t it do the same for
her hometown? Albany, with a population of 53,000, lies in the Willamette
Valley 70 miles south of Portland. Like many small towns, it had lost its local
restaurant and retail traffic to a suburban mall. One downtown business after
another was closing its doors, and as Kirbey remembers, “It was becoming
seedy.”
Kirbey talked the idea over with her husband, Gordon, and declared, “I know
what this town needs!” She was going to build a carousel in Albany."
Via Muse, who wrote "What a brilliant story!"
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
