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THE NATIONAL CAROUSEL ASSOCIATION'S 2005 CONVENTION Trolleys, Trains, and Ethnic Picnics The National Carousel Association (NCA) is going to hold its Thirtysecond annual convention in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from August 24 to August 28, 2005. This year's gathering is stressing the role of trolleys, trains, and ethnic picnics played in the history and development of amusement parks in western Pennsylvania. Four of these amusement parks, Kennywood Park, Idlewild Park, DelGrosso's Amusement Park, and Conneaut Lake Park, still house one of the finest hand-carved carousels in the world. Today not-for-profit groups or governments own the majority of historic hand-carved wooden carousels. Normally the NCA schedules its convention in September or October, but this year the group has arranged to have its meeting in August so that the members and their families can visit these four carousels while the amusement parks are still open. The fifth carousel the NCA is going to visit is an early primitive carousel (one of the oldest in this country) that is owned and operated by the farm community of Albion Borough in Erie County, Pennsylvania. All of the merry-go-rounds the NCA is visiting this year are located in western Pennsylvania within about a two-and-one-half-hour drive of Pittsburgh. Kennywood Park is the largest and most well known of the parks the NCA is visiting also has the biggest and most elaborate carousel. Kennywood, which was founded in 1898 by Andrew Mellon, is celebrating its 107th birthday. Over the years it has had three different carousels. Kennywood Park's first carousel was actually built by G. A. Dentzel the father of William Dentzel. William Dentzel built the current four-row merry-go-round was for the Sesquicentennial that was held in Philadelphia in 1926. He did not complete it in time so he offered it for sale. Kennywood purchased the 72 figure carousel for $25,000. They had to build a new carousel building (a steel-domed structure) in 1927 because the old building wasn't large enough for their new merry- go-round. The old carousel building still exits and sits not far from the "new" building and is used as a snack bar at the park. Kennywood this year has completely restored and mechanically overhauled their carousel. In addition to the historic carousel, Kennywood features about two dozen other historic rides and sites in the park. Idlewild Park located near Ligonier, Pennsylvania in the Allegheny Mountains, is actually older than Kennywood. It was founded by Judge Thomas Mellon in 1878. The park got its start when a railroad was built through the park, which connected to Ligonier. The railroad park attracted thousands of blue-collar workers from the steel mills around Pittsburgh. This historic park, which is now owned by Kennywood, has been voted one of the most beautiful parks in America. The park's merry-go-round or carousel was one of the last machines built by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company of Germantown, Pennsylvania. For one year it ran at Atlantic City, New Jersey and then was moved to Idlewild in 1932. PTC #83 is a real gem. It has 48 hand-carved horses and two chariots. Three of the horses carry the special PTC lettering. Even the building that houses the carousel is something special. It was built by T.M. Harton the man who developed West View Park near Pittsburgh. At one time both Kennywood and Idlewild had carousels that were built by Harton. DelGrosso's Amusement Park, formerly called Bland Park in Tipton, is- located in the Allegheny Mountains of central Pennsylvania midway between Altoona and State College, Pa. The DelGrosso family purchased the park in 1946. In 1924 the Rinard brothers, prior owners, purchased the park's carousel from the Herschel Spillman Company in North Tonawanda, New York. The merry-go-round, which has been beautifully restored has 12 horses on the outside row, 12 horses in the center row, and 12 horses on the inside row. There are two magnificent hand-carved chariots. One shows Mother Goose carved in relief and the other has an American Indian with a bison head also carved on its side. The carousel has been housed in a wooden, dome- shaped carousel building for more than 55 years. The last amusement park the NCA will visit this year is at historic Conneaut Lake Park. The park located on the shore of Pennsylvania's largest inland lake, got its start as a railroad park along Andrew Carnegie's Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad in the 1880s. The park's carousel was owned and operated by T.M. Harton of Pittsburgh for many years. The Muller Brothers of Philadelphia, PA carved the animals on the carousel. The park's carousel and wonderful old Hotel Conneaut are truly the soul of this park. Some of the original carousel animals were sold to collectors in 1988. However Conneaut Lake Park had the Carousel Works of Mansfield, Ohio, carve new one-of-a-kind figures to replace the ones that were removed. The carousel with its new animals was rededicated June 25, 1989. The Albion carousel is located in the borough park in the middle of town. The machine was built by the U.S. Merry-Go-Round Co. of Cincinnati, Ohio, before the turn-of-the-century and was brought to Albion in 1947. It was originally a portable machine, but it operates in a wooden merry-go-round pavilion in the park. The two- row carousel has 14 horses and four deer, four zebras, and four chariots. During its convention the NCA generally spends part of one day in a non- carousel activity and this year the group is going to take a tour of the Nationality Classrooms in the Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh followed by attending an organ recital in Heinz Memorial Chapel. Although the University of Pittsburgh and Kennywood would not seem to have much in common, they both owe much of their early growth and success to the trolley. Kennywood was founded as a trolley park and from the turn-of-the-century to the 1940s Pittsburgh, was a trolley school. There were almost no dorms on campus until the late 1950's. Most students got to the university by street railway or a combination of trains and trolley. While the Nationality Classrooms at the University of Pittsburgh show the pride that different countries had in their culture, another sign of that same pride was the hugely successfully nationality picnics held at Kennywood Park. This year's convention gives NCA members- and others- the chance to almost take a trip back in time to enjoy a park and its merry-go-round in full operation as you could have fifty or even one hundred years ago. All four of these amusement parks and- Albion win serve us an outdoor picnic lunch or dinner similar to those still enjoyed by ethnic groups. The National Carousel Association was organized in 1973, thirty-two years ago, to support, preserve, research, and- ride wood-en carousels in America and the world. This year's convention hotel will be the Radisson in Monroeville, P A. There will be a sales and display room at the hotel during the convention where individuals and carousel preservation groups will have carousel related items and memorabilia. For more information contact Charles J. Jacques, Jr. Chairperson of the 2005 Convention, P.O. Box 478, Jefferson, OH 44047. Email: [email protected] Telephone: 440-576-6531 Fax: 440-576-5850 .

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