Brass Ring Entertainment's Carousel Newsletter: January 2002
Carousel.Com Has A New Look
Come and take a look at our redesigned site. The biggest change are all of the antique carousels for sale. Currently over 10 complete antique carousels!!!! The largest group to be available in one place ever. If you have a city, state or amusement park looking for a carousel, this is the place to look. Visit http://carousel.com/antique/
The Looff Carousel at Seaport Village in San Diego, California
Brass Ring Entertainment will be dismantling the carousel to install all new gears and a hub bearing. The carousel will be closed from January 7th until Easter weekend 2002. After millions of revolutions, it's time to change it.
Bruce Pier has done an excellent job keeping the carousel in a safe running condition for years. Brass Ring Entertainment will be installing exact replacement gears made from precision cut, hardened steel, not cast iron. Come to http://carousel.com/seaport/ and watch as the carousel comes apart and goes back together.
Reopening is scheduled for Easter Weekend 2002.
Herschell-Spillman Merry-Go-Round at Tilden Park in Berkeley, California.
Another carousel's time has come. After years of use, the Tilden Park's Carousel needs new parts. Brass Ring Entertainment will replace all of the gears with new flame hardened, precision cut steel gears. Another problem every carousel in the country has had are their original bent-formed crankshafts. They tend to fail with age. The original bent crankshafts will be replaced with newly engineered, inline-welded crankshafts, which are much stronger. All non-compliant parts will be replaced to meet California State's new Amusement Ride Rules that come into action as of January 1, 2002.
Operator Terri's famous concession stand will also be upgraded. Don't worry though, the overall look will not change. Only the infrastructure. You may not even notice the difference. It is still the best place for a hamburger in Berkeley.
The carousel will be closed from January 2, 2002 until Easter weekend. Watch the changes online at http://carousel.com/tilden/ come back and take a ride with the Easter Bunny this Spring. A little secret, Easter is also Terri's anniversary for taking over the carousel many years ago. It is her drive that has made this all possible. Come up and thank her if your are in the area.
Golden Gate Park Merry-Go-Round in San Francisco, California
Brass Ring Entertainment did an overhaul of the mechanics of the Golden Gate Park Merry Go Round right after the Carousel Convention in 1998. Currently, the roof of the building is being restored. It is being given a brand new Zinc metal roof, the same roof the building originally had. The carousel is currently closed and will open in the Spring 2002.
Brass Ring Entertainment will be doing a complete paint touch-up of the animals before the new Grand Opening. Also, Brass Ring Entertainment has plans in place to get the band organ playing again soon. This is definitely a date to look forward to.
San Francisco Zoo Dentzel Carousel
The whole zoo is a mess!!!! Trucks, concrete and confusion. Don't let it stop you from visiting. The animals are still there. Enjoy the Old Zoo now so you can appreciate the coming New Zoo. Brass Ring Entertainment will be closing the carousel from January 22 until Presidents day weekend to refinish the platform and install the final parts of the interior trim. You can see the latest pictures of the installation by going here http://carousel.com/sfzoo/
Lake Havasu Carousel
OK, Ok, You've heard it all before--THE CAROUSEL IS COMING! Brass Ring Entertainment is the problem now. The site is ready, but we have past contract commitments to finish. The installation is scheduled for February 2002 right after Presidents day (We have to finish the platform at the SF Zoo first).
The State Museum in Albany, New York
Brass Ring Entertainment finished the installation during Thanksgiving Day weekend 2001. Now, the carousel is up and running everyday. We have gotten many emails and frantic cell phone calls asking: Where is the carousel? No, the carousel is not on the main floor with most of the other exhibits. It is on the 4th floor with a few other exhibits the museum has. Ask security personnel, they will direct you to the correct elevator to take you there. Once your there, the rides are FREE!!! The whole museum is free. Come to the museum, see NY history and take a ride on the carousel.
Carousel News & Trader's New Carvers and Buyers Guide issue coming
If you do not subscribe, now is the best time to do it. The new carvers issue in March is followed by the Buyers Guide in April. The Carousel News & Trader is the only source for everything carousel. Subscribe Online by clicking here http://carousel.com/cnt/
Melbourne, Australia's famous PTC 30 is Running Again!
After years of work, Patricia Mullins has gotten the carousel restored. As many of us know, carousel restoration doesn't just happen--It takes years of convincing, fund raising, and politics. Then the actual work starts. We applaud Patricia and everyone in Australia who worked on the project. You can read about the whole restoration in the upcoming January/February 2002 issue of the Carousel News & Trader.
Howdy folks, Ted here with a word about The Carousel Store: Your One-Stop Shop for All Things Carousel.
As many of you know, after a long delay, we officially opened The Carousel Store late last year. It has been one of the busiest 2 months of our lives, but very rewarding. We've sold a large number of carousel horses and carousel miniatures. We have some great prices, with carousel horses complete with a wooden base and brass pole with finial, hand painted in 9 styles starting at $279.95 with Free Shipping in the USA.
Our other popular items include signed copies of Painted Ponies, hard-to-find, out-of-print, signed books by Tobin Fraley and Maurice Fraley, and of course, The Painted Ponies 2002 calendar. Can't live without it. Also popular are our Carousel Music CDs. We have a huge selection available.
Finally, we have a great selection of genuine carousel jewelry: earrings, pendants and brooches with some of the most famous carousel animals represented. They make great gifts. Come on by and have a look.
Visit the site at http://CarouselStore.com, or call us at 818-394-6253. We are here to serve you.
From Dan's Desk
Another year. It is so different then last year in so many ways. As we started work like any other day on 9/11, we were all stunned with the news. Everyone in the shop had a personal connection with someone in the areas involved. For us, we focused on the Albany carousel. It would become the center stage for the first official Twin Tower Memorial at the NY State Museum. No words can ever state what we all lost that day personally or emotionally.
I'm sorry to say for everyone from my generation: our innocence was lost that day. As we're told and try to do, we go on.
At Brass Ring Entertainment we reflect on what was a great year. We completed 3 major carousel restorations. We designed and built one of the most elaborate wooden carousels completed in the last 80 years, upgraded many minor carousels and did maintenance on close
to 20 other antique carousels.
This year we finish the San Francisco Zoo carousel restoration. It will set a new standard for carousel restoration. An 8 year project for me personally. We get to make the carousel at Tilden Park like new after years of paperwork. The carousel in Lake Havasu gets installed after 7 years of political frustration.
We will be closing our shop from Memorial Day until the 4th of July for a way overdue vacation. To my customers, http://carousel.com/911 will still work, and I will have an emergency repair team available 24/7 during that time. I personally will be making a 8000 mile cross-country trip visiting carousels all around the country that I always promised to stop by and visit: some to give my two cents worth and others to visit and laugh with. To all of my friends, past, present and future: I'll see you soon!
Have a great New Year from Brass Ring Entertainment.
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