Winter Wonderland Carousel History

Winter Wonderland Carousel History. . , The Winter Wonderland Carousel was instigated by the North Bay Carousel Carvers. As the North Bay Heritage Carousel came close to completion it became apparent that the carvers would soon be out of work. However, this stalwart band of volunteers was not ready to quit. , Enter Edna Scott who was already busy planning a second carousel, this time with a uniquely northern twist. Instead of traditional horses this carousel would feature animals of our northern forest. It would be a first since no other menagerie carousel in the world was made up of animals from the wilds of Canada. So, by the time the carvers mentioned their need for another project Edna was ready for them. A complete miniature carousel was created at 1/7th scale. Each animal intricately modeled from polymer clay, hand painted and embellished with miniature jewels. , The late Barry Jacobs began work on getting the animals adopted and former Mayor, Stan Lawlor was the first to step forward to adopt. Since this was to be a menagerie carousel it seemed fitting that tradition be followed and a Hippocampus, a creature that is half horse half fish be included. At first it was to be named The Trout Lake Monster but such an exquisite creature could not be called a monster and so it was renamed Cheval de la Truite, "the Trout Lake Horse." The beaver was the first animal to be tackled by the carvers. , Since the new carousel would be smaller and have fewer animals there were too many artists so the solution was to hold a lottery. Artists signed up and names were drawn. Once again, our artists and carvers proved themselves totally committed to another long-term carousel project. A call was made for art work to grace the rounding boards and scenery panels., By chance, and one well timed phone call, Dan Pigeau was able to find a small, almost new carousel mechanism that had once been in a mall. The animals were already sold so it was perfect for the project. Within days it was shipped to North Bay and the team of mechanics, carvers and artists were able to see what they had to work with. The artists came up with a new colour scheme, Edna and the carvers designed Old Man Winter to replace the inappropriate shields and the rest of the crew had all that neat stuff to tinker with., But lest you think this was all easy, consider this. Some animal shapes do not easily lend themselves to being on a carousel. There were important considerations such as size, weight and balance. The pre-manufactured stirrups are made for horses not bears and moose. The project had many technical and financial challenges but all were solved and the result is the wonderful carousel you see before you.