By Patrice Emmerson
Special to The Carousel News & Trader
ST. JOSEPH, MI. – Benjamin and Mary Purnell gaze pensively from one of the rounding boards that will soon grace the new Silver Beach carousel in St. Joseph, MI. In 1903 the couple founded The House of David, a Christian religious colony in Benton Harbor, MI, that drew thousands of tourists for decades to play in its pre-Disneyland amusement park and to watch its baseball team players with their signature long hair and beards. Those facets of the colony are also clearly depicted on the rounding board, not as painted scenes, but as a unique montage of computer-colorized historic photographs that preserve those moments in time.
“We have installed 36 carousels that we either created or restored,” said Kate Blakley, marketing, The Carousel Works in Mansfield, OH.
Silver Beach rounding board in place on the carousel.
“Each is unique to its community. To my knowledge this carousel is the first to use photographs to create its rounding board scenes. Typically our artists use reference photos when painting the rounding board scenes, but on these boards the actual photos bring the community’s history realistically to life.”
Bringing the community’s past to life was important to the Silver Beach Carousel Society (SBCS) members. “Our area has a very rich history,” said Daryl Schlender, noted local historian and author of Silver Sands and Golden Memories, a review of Silver Beach Amusement Park from 1892-1971. “Our schools don’t have the time and resources to teach all of our local history to students. So the SBCS saw the carousel as an entertaining way to engage students and adults from around the country with our past. It’s more than a magical ride, it’s a journey into our history.”
Identifying what history to share was the task of the SBCS committee. Among the members are Al and Dagne Schoenbach, longtime carousel figure collectors, and Schlender. They were charged with capturing more than three centuries of stories on 18 rounding boards. The committee determined that one board would tell the history of the territory. Another would capture the history of the century-old lighthouse. A third would capture scenes from Silver Beach Amusement Park. Another would paint the story of The House of David and so forth.
The committee enlisted the help of graphic artists Beth Mandarino and Elisa Broihier at Perry Ballard Incorporated (PBI), St. Joseph, to design the first board, “The House of David.” When the committee members saw the dramatic realism of the photographs in the montage they wondered if the board could be printed instead of painted. PBI worked with The Carousel Works and Kal-Blue Reprographics in Kalamazoo, MI, to produce a long-lasting print that could be trimmed and mounted to fit the rounding board frame.
The Silver Beach Carousel Society broke from tradition when designing the rounding boards for its new carousel. Members opted to use a montage of computer-colorized historic photographs to turn its carousel into a whirling history museum.
“The decision to use photographs really opened possibilities to what we could show on the boards,” said Suz Schalon, SBCS president. “Fortunately, Daryl Schlender has a remarkable personal collection of photographs and knows where other historic prints are available. His input has been invaluable in this project. Other long-time community residents and the local Heritage Center shared a number of prints that they have preserved through the years. This combination of public and private collections offered us access to the widest possible selection of photos to create the most memorable montages.”
Schlender said showcasing the historical photographs on the carousel is a novel and exciting way to teach and preserve local history. He is writing descriptions of each rounding board and publishing them in a handout so visitors can read about the events and people that are represented in the photographs. There will also be a curriculum guide available for teachers conducting field trips to the Silver BeachSM carousel and its partner, the Discovery Zone by Curious Kids’ Museum.
Schalon advises other carousel committees that are considering using photographs instead of paintings to look at the quality and breadth of the photos available to them. She also recommends working with professional graphic designers to do the design and colorization. Although Schalon says the decision to use photographs was not cheap, the results are so outstanding that SBCS has been able to attract sponsors to help underwrite the costs.
Besides the realism of the photographs, creating the design using computer techniques has editing advantages, too. “The committee is able to visualize how the rounding board will look,” said Beth Mandarino. “If they want to replace a photograph or change the color, we can make the edits before it goes to print. To make those changes on a traditional board would require the artist to repaint it.”
Blakley said that the SBCS rounding boards are one example of the different styles of rounding boards The Carousel Works has been asked to do. Artists are now painting animals in their natural habitats, designing boards with large animal faces and using brighter paint colors. “We did a carousel for the Kansas City Royals that integrated children in scenes playing with the team’s professional ball players,” she said. “Our artists love the variety they’re now seeing in their work.”
But for the Silver Beach Carousel Society the satisfaction runs much deeper. A part of the community’s past will soon have a prominent new place in the present.
The Silver Beach Carousel opened on Jan. 2, 2010. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Mayo Studios, www.jmstudios.com.
Carousel Summer Hours: Monday - Saturday, 10 a.m - 10 a.m.; Sunday 12 noon - 10 p.m.
For information, visit www.Silverbeachcarousel.com and www.Curiouskidsmuseum.org.