Carousel musings
Can it be a decade since the carousel came to be? It’s now a Missoula landmarkfor all posterity. A legacy to those who worked and carved and have now moved beyond. A joy to all the little ones born since the carousel’s first song.
Happy Birthday, dear carousel.
May Missoula continue to support you well.
– Jeanne Brabeck,
Missoula

TOM BAUER/Missoulian When it comes to making memories, kids of all ages make A Carousel for Missoula a destination spot.

Priceless experience
The opening of the carousel in Missoula was an exciting event for my second-grade class in St. Ignatius. In order to give the students an understanding of the magnitude of the project, we studied each horse, its history, discussed the design, and learned about planning and woodcarving. The students made pop-up books, decorating their favorite horses and writing about them. Finally, class trip day came. As we lined up to listen to the presentation, one of my quietest, very artistic little girls slipped over to her favorite horse. She sat caressing the flowers, tracing her fingers over each line. The love she had for the horse and the art was palpable. She was the only one in this magic world. She was so enthralled, she never heard a thing said to her. The look on her face was pure love and wonder. It was a look I’ve seen only on the face of new mothers and paintings of the Madonna and Christ child. I’ve always wished the carvers could have watched her. They would know that every hour they spent carving was priceless.
– Linda Werdin, now retired and living in Lewistown

Birthday central
Our family has enjoyed the carousel on numerous occasions but most notably for two of our grandchildren’s birthdays which were complete with ice cream and cake provided by the carousel. In addition, our family rented the entire carousel for two family celebrations: Dorothy’s 60th birthday in March of 1997 and for the 40th wedding anniversary of Dorothy and Glenn in August of 1999. Both occasions were attended by family and friends from Missoula and from out of town and out of state. The wedding anniversary was combined with a family reunion of both our families and we had most of our original wedding party attend along with our two daughters and eight grandchildren.
– Dorothy and Glenn Kinsley, Stevensville

Youth revisited
My special memory of our Missoula Carousel dates back to the late summer of 1997. The carousel had been completed and in operation for about two years, and with my parents, Chet and Betty Ostberg, coming to visit for a few days, I wanted to share with them our newest Missoula “treasure.”

My father, then in his early 80s, had problems getting around easily because of his stiff, arthritic knees, but I thought I might be able to talk my parents into riding on the carousel on one of the chariots, where he could sit on a bench seat more easily. Instead, my father’s eyes lit up, and he swung his leg up and over onto a pony, and rode to the music. He then told me it brought back memories of when he was a boy living in Butte, and riding on the carousel at the Columbia Gardens when it still existed. I had never heard that story until that moment, nor had my mother, and I had no idea that seeing our Missoula Carousel would have brought back special memories for him.

My father was diagnosed with cancer later that fall and passed away the following January of 1998. He wasn’t able to take another ride on our carousel, but I’ll always have my special memories of my parents taking a ride one warm summer day, and the special memories it brought back to my father.
– Sherry Deaton, Missoula

Ashley’s horse
My daughter Ashley and I moved to Missoula in late August of 1995. We visited the carousel the first week we were here. Ashley kept trying to ride the same horse. After a few rides on “her” horse, a man came up and asked me if he could give me some tokens so she could keep riding that horse. He seemed to be thrilled that she kept choosing the horse named “Evansgone.” He asked why she liked it so much and she said it is because of all the different colored stones on the sash around its neck. He then told us about how each of the stones represented each of his 11 children, and the reason the name of the horse is Evansgone. He and his wife raised their children in a house on Evans Street and since they didn’t live there anymore it is Evansgone.

My daughter is almost 22 and we still go to the carousel so she can ride “her horse.” When my best friend’s family comes to visit with her daughters Emily and Sarah, a trip to see Ashley’s horse is always a highlight. Each of them tries to get to it before the other. I often wonder if the families who adopted these horses in the first place know what an impact the carousel has had on so many of us. I would like to say thank you for such a great attraction for Missoula.
– Carol Berg, Missoula

Mother’s love remembered
Dec. 4, 1996, in the early morning hours, my mother drew her last breath. It was my birthday. The day was spent calling siblings, nephews and other family who all lived out of town or out of state to start the process of final arrangements. This December was typical, chilly, cloudy, foggy mornings. Nothing terribly unusual, making it possible for family to arrive safe and sound. It was not, however, a time to linger outside.

The funeral was in the afternoon with a gathering at the funeral home afterward. It was an unusual gathering as Mom’s kids, grandkids and great-grands gathered in winter coming from diverse directions of Minnesota to California. Mom was just short of turning 97. It was the last opportunity for Mom to bring us all together. She was dearly loved and many, many happy memories were shared that afternoon. So, why not make new memories?

We headed to the carousel and rode the ponies. Few people were there on this cold December evening. We had our choice of pony to ride. There we were, a bunch of adults going round and round, laughing, snapping photos, getty dizzy. I know Mom was watching and enjoying every minute, just as we were, her family together.

That was light years ago. Rarely a day goes by she isn’t thought about and always with happy thoughts, even after her funeral. The carousel will always bring special memories of Mom and her family doing the unusual and memorable celebration of the life of Karen Bloomquist, best mom, grandma and talented artist.
– Barbara Millhouse, Missoula

Merry-go-round magic
My husband, Jerry, was one of that group of die-hard carvers. I couldn’t help noticing on opening day that it was a bittersweet experience for all those volunteers. That night I wrote this “toast” expressing the choked-up feelings of so many who bonded so closely to the ponies and each other. “It was a dream come true. A dream that tapped many fanciful souls and took breath. On this day of awakening, feel the sadness amidst the excitement. Tears of joy share a melancholy akin to other losses. If ‘Love isn’t Love till you give it away,’ then each of the stir-fry of ponies galloped out of the womb that created them, and into an arena of love even greater than the carousel, far greater than Missoula, ever greater than the world.” Wait. Wait! I spit on my hanky – dab off the little milk mustaches – and let go. Wish them God speed. May each ride light the spirit within each heart that believes in the magic of the merry-go-round.”
– Lois Covault, Missoula

Party on the ponies
On March 4, 1995, my daughter Liz Ashworth celebrated her 8th birthday at the carousel. Although the carousel wasn’t officially opened yet, she was able to have the first birthday party ever held there because of our good friends Beth and Chuck Kaparich. Beth served cake and ice cream and Chuck gave the girls a tour telling them of the history of each of the horses. The carousel wasn’t up and running yet but the girls got the first ride by us manually pushing them round and round, Each of the girls also received a token so they could have another ride when it opened in May. The girls had a terrific time. Ten years later at the age of 18 the carousel is still one of Liz’s favorite places.
– Colleen Cooper, Florence

Hello,
Prairie Rose
Prairie Rose still looks back at me. I check every time I go to the carousel. My best memory is how so many wonderful people in Missoula came together and worked for many years to create something so beautiful, and of Mac and his crew, without whom it would not go around. I’m hoping the younger generations will help and eventually take over protecting and enjoying what their elders created. From this project I have had the pleasure of sanding many other ponies for public and private carousels and for show.
– Ione Briedlander, Missoula

Riding across time
have ridden carousel horses for all of my 84 years starting around age 4. It pleases me so much to ride the Missoula Carousel’s wooden, not plastic, horses. I grew up in Massachusetts, and my favorite carousel was just over the border into New Hampshire on the coast. Many years later when I moved to California and San Diego imported the New Hampshire carousel to be in their new park on the bay, they invited me to ride on it on opening day. Shortly after I moved here, I went every week or two to watch the carousel horses being made, and on opening day, I rode on the carousel. I received cards with your Missoula Carousel horse on them, and since they were too good to give away, I cut them out and placed them around a poem I made about horses. It is framed and hangs in my dining room.

A gentle touch
is all one needs
to make a friend
of these noble steeds
Who run with the wind
with heads held high
and tails spread out
like a butterfly
And if you look them
right in the eye
they’ll read your mind
don’t even try!
Just give them some love
and a gentle pat
and they’ll respond
and give it right back.
– Margaret E. McNamara, Victor