An organ rally will take place at Gage Park in Topeka, Kansas on
Saturday, June 12.  The rally will be in conjunction with the 100th
Anniversary Celebration of Gage Park.  Members of the AMICA Heart of
America chapter will participate in the organ rally.  Free carousel
and train rides will be offered to the public, along with free
admission to the zoo.

Interested persons are invited to take part in the Gage Park 100th
Anniversary Celebration.  This will be an all day event, but plan to
come early.  Long lines are expected for the carousel rides.

For more information or directions to Gage Park, contact Galen or
Linda Bird at:  OGMBird@aol.com.geentroep  or myself at: brite@ksu.edu.geentroep

See you there!

Joyce Brite
Player Piano and Mechanical Music Exchange
http://mmd.foxtail.com/Exchange/

 [ Please remember to snip ".geentroep" from the e-mail addresses above

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The following article about the Gage Park carousel appeared in the Topeka
Capital-Journal on Sunday, June 6.

   "Riders never go far, except in their imaginations as music
accompanies them on a journey into the past...

  "Dedicated on May 27, 1989, the carousel brought a large amount of
history with it to the west Topeka park.  Allan Herschell was the
manufacturer of the carousel in 1908.

  "The carousel had been at Boyles Joyland in east Topeka for many
years before the city purchased it in 1986 and rebuilt and refurbished
it.  The carousel building was constructed in the fall of 1988.

  "To refurbish the carousel, Will Morton VII from Denver was hired.
It took more than a year for him to complete the task in his Denver
studio.  During a 14-month period, he made 17 trips to Topeka from
Denver, picking up horses each trip.

  "The cost of the refurbishing was $360,000 with the city kicking in
half and the remainder coming from numerous organizations, churches
and schools.

  "At the time of its refurbishing, the wooden carousel was only one of
165 remaining of the 6,000 constructed in the United loopback States.
The ride had 25 wooden animals, 11 aluminum animals, two chariots and
rounding boards, which are at the top of the carousel.

  "The Topeka carousel was originally built as a portable carousel to
be used in carnivals.  That portability makes it even more rare.  It
also houses a 1909 Wurlitzer band organ.

  "During the first day of operation, just over a decade ago, there
were 2,337 people who rode.  The cost usel ride in 1989 was 50 cents.
The price remains the same today.  In 1998, 36,484 people rode the
carousel.

  "The Von Rohr Victorian Carousel Gardens were dedicated in 1991.
The gardens surround the pond just north of Carousel in the Park, and
they feature turn of the century lighting and a fountain."

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