Dear Friends,

June has been another busy and successful month. The carousel mechanism looks like new. Hatton Painting has done a class A job. The engine room mechanicals have been restored and painted under the direction of Tommy Burhyte, Tommy Erle and Carmen Zito. All paint for the project has been graciously donated by Todd at Twin Tier Paint in downtown Elmira. Members of the Lions Club: Mary Rich, Dave Barton, Nancy Zito and Henry Hineman painted trim around the new security doors.

On June 6th-14th, Mary Rich, Dave Barton, Tom Burhyte, Tom Erle, Andy Avery, Rich Hurley, Chris Paul, Walter Kowalski, and myself installed the beautiful structural brass poles to reassemble the carousel. Mary Rich and Mary Lyon had applied wax to the poles the day before. All of the original brass is being stripped of its 1950s chrome and restored to original by John Short of Surface Technologies. His talented staff, headed by Stacey Brink and Hal Benjaman, are polishing the brass, a very labor intensive process. Once assembled we turned this fastest carousel in the world to full speed to check all systems. Everything is perfect!!

We are excited about the 4th of July when we will be displaying this freshly restored gem along with the lead horse, John Kolanach carving his bear, the chariot crafted by John Kolanach and Paul Morss, the giraffe, some of the jumper horses, the Victorian memorial benches available for sponsorship and much more.

The fundraising will kick off full force in the Fall... but I must tell you that word of mouth and this website have resulted in the sale of over 1/4 of the 440 brass rings and we will not advertise them locally until Fall. All ring holders will be the first riders to ride the completed carousel on Opening Day and they will do so in numerical order, one rider per ring number. The names of the 440 original ring holders will be printed behind glass for future generations to enjoy. The profits from the sale of these beautiful rings, one for each of the light bulbs on the carousel, will help to establish the endowment which will guarantee the carousel's maintenance indefinitely. There will also be a $95.00 tax deduction for all who purchase a ring. Attached to rings will be a brass tag about the size of a 50 cent piece.

The brass rings and blank tags were donated by Bulk Head Hardware. Rip Doud and staff have been wonderful. The tags are being completed by Byron Wright and his Co. Wrightcut EDM and Machine Inc. The tags will be engraved with the EPCPS logo on one side and on the other, hand numbered 1-440. The rings will be placed in red jeweler bags provided by Deister and Butler Inc. and Max Pack. The bags will be screen printed in the gold with the logo which has been touched up by Quicker Printer in downtown Elmira. Bob Lavarnway and Becky Serosky, of the Quicker Printer have also been working hard to provide us with banners and signs as we are all gearing up for fundraising. In short, the rings are going to be highly collectible and even if they are transferred on the secondary market, ONLY THE ORIGINAL 440 RING HOLDERS WILL BE LISTED ON THE PLAQUE.

Bruce Perron and his wife Diana have donated and professionally installed a new state of art sound/P.A. system. Frank Messina has acquired, from all over the world, the original music played at Eldridge Park Carousel. Wayne King, Hammond Organ etc. are being digitally mastered and put on CD's professionally.

The commercial electricians headed by Blaine Overacker and Mark Embree continue to log in hundreds of hours wiring the beautiful, old, carousel building.

Many thanks again to area restaurants who have kept our workers fed for free. We are indebted to Applebees, TGI Fridays, Langdon Plaza Subway, Pietro and Son, Campus Pizza and to the individuals who stop by with coffee, baked goods etc.

John Travers has graciously allowed his Komer Center on the corner of Main and Water Streets in Elmira to showcase various animals, signs etc.

Larry Foor and Associate Rob Fell-DeWalt are the talented architects who are transforming, on paper, the current carousel building into an 1890s Victorian palace. Their 2 and 3 dimensional renderings should be on display during the July 4th showcase. The Art and Frame Gallery on Hoffman Street has professionally framed the signed and dated initial architectectural elevations which will also be available for viewing.

The City will be formally/legally turning over the ownership of the carousel and all building improvements to the Society. The community will thus have a vested interest in not only this beloved machine, but in the future development of the entire Park. I am humbled and proud to be apart of it.
That's most of it for now. I'll update you after the 4th of July showcase.





P.S. A very special thanks to webmaster Bill Cook who has tirelessly provided this website as a home for the Eldridge Park Carousel Preservation Society. The Star Gazette, Corning Leader, WETM, WENY and many others must be given credit for keeping the public informed and providing this project with the inertia that it needs to become a reality.