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Passing of Will Morton, Artist/Carousel Restorer
By Matthew Caulfield

When editing yesterday's 18.05.23 MMD, I was floored to learn from Ian

Gillis' posting "Treasures From The Past" that the well-known carousel

horse restorer Will Morton had died.  I was also saddened to find that

Will's death just a half year ago went unnoticed by the MMD, although he

was only peripherally involved in mechanical music through his carousel

work.



Art Reblitz, who was also discussed in the "Treasures From The Past" video,

did for the Burlington, Colorado Kit Carson Carousel's Wurlitzer Monster

band organ what Will Morton did for the carousel, making it play and sound

like it originally did.



The only thing a Google search produced for me was this undated picture of

Will:



    https://www.kitcarsoncountycarousel.com/blog/dear-friend-will-be-missed-and-remembered 



Dan Robinson, the National Carousel Association's editor, was kind enough

to send me a scan of Jo Downey's write-up from the Spring 2018 issue of the

NCA's "Merry-Go-Roundup" on the life and work of Will Morton (April 16,

1929-November 9, 2017).  Jo had a close association with Will because of

her connection with the Kit Carson Carousel (PTC #6), which Will was

instrumental in restoring, returning it to its original glory at a time

when carousel restoration was in its infancy as an art form.



It is sad to see the graveyard claim so many talented people from our

midst.  We must not let them pass unremembered.



Matthew Caulfield,

Irondequoit, NY




(Message sent Wed 23 May 2018, 23:51:55 GMT, from time zone GMT-0400.)

Key Words in Subject:  Artist/Carousel, Morton, Passing, Restorer, Will

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