A L M A N AC
COUPLE RECLAIMS A CAROUSEL OF SMILES
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Clay Hutchison (right) bought his wife Reno Hutchison (left) her dream carousel and is bringing the horses to Sandpoint for restoration. COURTESY PHOTO
hey bought a 1920s vintage carousel with 36 hand-carved horses, 14 shields and the original mechanism years ago. The antique carousel once toured fairs and festivals around the country but had been packed into two old semi-trucks and parked in a New York sheep meadow since 1952. On Dec. 3, Clay and Reno Hutchison will unload the carousel for its first time in 64 years at a warehouse next to Evans Brothers Coffee. The public is invited to participate in Reno’s childhood dream that she’s had ever since the carousel in her hometown of Butte, Mont., burned in 1973. Now the Hutchisons want to turn Reno’s dream into a reality. They plan to restore the carousel and find a community to adopt it. They hope that community is Sandpoint. To accomplish the restoration they are creating a nonprofit organization and recruiting volunteers and donors. The Dec. 3 unloading event is everyone’s chance - including the Hutchisons - to see the nearly century-old carousel emerge again from its trailers. The public is also invited to visit the warehouse during winter as restoration work begins. It’s a huge project, and begs the question: Why? “There’s just magic in them,” says Reno. –Erica Curless More details at www.thecarouselofsmiles.org.
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