Rekindling Sarah's Love of Carousels

In yesterday's 140510 MMDigest Kip Williams reported that his family
now lives in the Rochester suburb of Pittsford, New York, but that his
daughter, Sarah, seems to have outgrown her love of carousels or has
become disenchanted by the modern double-decker fiberglass machines
that pass today for merry-go-rounds.  He mentions Seabreeze Amusement
Park, with its carousel and band organ, lying just the other side of
Rochester, in the suburb of Irondequoit.  But Sarah has never been
there!

Seabreeze Park is an old family-operated amusement park, in the
tradition of the best old-fashioned parks like Knoebels Groves and
Hershey Park, and it will be opening for the 2014 season this Saturday,
May 17th, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.  [ Visit http://seabreeze.com/ ]

(The weather may be a bit chilly on the edge of Lake Ontario, as it
often is on opening day, but a good warm sweater or jacket will allow
everybody to have "a mile of fun a minute" riding the Jack Rabbit, the
oldest continually operating roller coaster in the U.S., and dozens
of other thrill rides, including two rides new this season.)

I am bursting with pride as our carousel and band organ will make their
2014 debut Saturday, with the band organ resplendent in its beautiful
new façade.  The carousel has been spruced up for opening day by
painter Dan Robinson, so that it looks factory-new, although four of
the horses date back to 1915.  The band organ is operating flawlessly
and will be playing [Wurlitzer Style 165] roll 6535-A, which was a
favorite of Seabreeze Park patriarch George W. Long, and a modern roll
arranged by the late Rich Olsen, roll 6843.  Selections from those two
rolls can be heard on my Wurlitzer roll website:

  http://wurlitzer-rolls.com/ 

Anyway, enough of this advertising.  What I want to do is to revive
Sarah's love of real carousels and amusement parks by having Sarah and
her family be my guests on Seabreeze's Opening Day.  So if Tip will
bring his family to my house at 3902 Culver Road, Rochester, New York,
just a mile south of Seabreeze Park on Culver Road, I will take them
to the park for a fun-filled day and plenty of riding a real carousel
while a real band organ plays -- a day that hopefully Sarah will always
remember!

Matthew Caulfield - Seabreeze Park Archivist
Irondequoit [Rochester], New York

 [ New façade, September 2013
 [ http://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/13/10/01/131001_134526_completedfacade.jpg 
 [
 [ See also Dan Robinson's slide show of Wurlitzer 165 band organ façades:
 [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoD8TFggQsE 
 [
 [ -- Robbie