Democrat and Chronicle from Rochester, New York • Page 11

DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE, ROCHESTER, N.Y., FRIDAY, APRIL 1,1994 1 1A, EmbD if airea teton as oine em REACTIONS 'My father is 74 and he rlik" iiwiifrnrffrrm-TOfnuniKW Juil Library of the famed carousel at Seabreeze Park. 1 1 i 1 ii i "ii. WWW' mml 'S Carousel's loss widely noted By Janet H. Cho Staff writer The 78-year-old merry-go-round had thrilled thousands of youngsters clinging to the giant horses, enthralled their shutter-snapping parents and impressed hardcore carousel buffs nationwide. Now, No.

36 is gone forever. "This is a major loss," said Terry Blake, executive secretary of the National Carousel Association in Evansville, Ind. "I've got goose bumps." The 36th of 85 carousels made by the Philadelphia Toboggan Co. was brought to Seabreeze Park in 1926. There were three circles of wooden stallions 28 prancing, 20 posing and two drawing regal chariots.

Each steed was painstakingly hand-tooled and painted by master carver Frank Carretta in 1915. The carousel also bore its original oil-painted panels, and no two horses were exactly alike. "It was like a moving painting, that's what it was," said Philadelphia Toboggan Co. chief executive Bill Dauphinee, who used to ride the carousel as a boy in Rochester. It was the ninth-oldest Philadelphia Toboggan carousel still around, and the first lost to flames since the early 1970s.

"Fire is unfortunately one of the big hazards, because you've got a lot of old wood and layers of paint," Blake said. "It's an endangered species. It's so sad to have one that was so carefully preserved lost to fire," said Richard Flint, a former curator at Strong Museum, now director of museums for the University of Maryland at Baltimore. The merry-go-round was the oldest existing ride at Seabreeze, which opened in 1879 as Dreamland Park. The carousel replaced an earlier one built by late owner George W.

Long's grandfather and uncle. The merry-go-round that burned yesterday revolved to tunes from a Wurlitzer Band Organ model 165. Long also carved hundreds of his own horses and had replaced two of the original 75- to 100-pound carousel horses with two of his own. He also whittled a 36-steed, miniature model of the grand carousel, copying even the animals' expressions and decorations. The model, too, was destroyed.

The Long family had paid $7,800 for the carousel and $2,000 for the Experts say it would now be worth more than $1 million. "It's really priceless, because so many of those things can't be replaced," said Cyndy Hennig, editor of the National Carousel Association's Merry-Go-Roundup. "It's irreplaceable," said Mary Fritsch of the American Carousel Society in Ridgewood, N.J. "To replace it would be hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars. "You can buy new animals, but they won't be like those," said Irondequoit Town Historian Patricia Wayne.

Charlotte Dinger, owner of Carousel World in Lahaska, and founder of the American Carousel Society in Morristown, N.J., called it "a real treasure." "There's really nothing like sitting on a wooden horse. I think it's one of everyone's favorite childhood memories." Nine companies manufactured carousels, but "Philadelphia Toboggan carousels were the finest," Dinger said. "They held up beautifully and were very well engineered." The carousel was one of 85 the company custom-made between 1902 and 1937, but the only qualities they shared were craftsmanship and durability. "They were all individual and they had all their own characteristics," Dauphinee said. There are only 60 grand park carousels left nationwide, and their numbers are quickly dwindling.

A 1938 hurricane destroyed 12 on the East Coast alone, Dinger said. They're also increasingly broken apart and sold at auction, where a Se- was a Seabreeze kid. -I lies going to be crushed. Janet Mele, 40, who lives on a street across from the park. 'Its not the passing of an era.

Its a different -era. It's steel and wood. They'll be 1 replaced and rebuilt. There'll be a vacancy there until we figure out what to do: Robert NoniSf president of George W. Long the company that -owns the park.

'One of my responsibilities was to walk around and check for cigarette butts. Fire was one of their biggest fears. That probably waxA one of the finest merry- go-rounds in the country. No doubt that was the finest organ. Gary DaviS of Irondequoic.

He 3 said he worked at the merry-go-round from' 1941 to 1950. 'You couldn have given this area a bigger disaster. I grew up on that merry-go-round. Loused to go around and pick up the brass rings that people dropped. All of us have some fond memory of that place.

George Long built it. was his legacy. Now gone and the carousel gone. Its a sad, sad FlO Caldwell of Irondequoit, 'This is a piece of here. My two daughters are not going; to be happy when I get home tonight.

Vince Pratt, assistant chief of the Sea Breeze Volunteer Fire Department. 'Its a major loss. Its a death in the family. It's" irreplace- Peter Heinrich of irondequoit. We came here and felt bad the merry-go- round was in danger.

It's all up in smoke. It's so sad to watch it. I wonder, what it's going to do to the park. Mildred Schram 'It's just history. Many years of history.

It can't be replaced at Mary Hilburger, 49, of Irondequoit if rm The Jack Rabbit ride is seen in photo of Seabreeze Park taken about 1920. A symbol of simpler days Residents: Demise is loss to all About the carousel George Long in 1984 posed in front Stationary horse on carousel Old carousels Only eight carousels made by the Philadelphia Toboggan Co. are older than the Seabreeze carousel: Kit Carson Carousel (1905) in Burlington, Colo. Puente Hill Mall (1907) in City of Industry, Calif. Riverview Carousel (1908) at Six Flags Over Georgia, Atlanta, Ga.

Carousel Center Mall (1909) in Syracuse. Palace Playland (1910) in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. Six Rags Magic Mountain (1912) in Valencia, Calif. Cafesjian's Carousel (1914) Town Square Park in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Six Flags Over Mid-America Park (1915), in Eureka, Missouri. (Source: Charlotte Dinger, American Carousel Society, Morristown, N.J.) single horse can fetch about $125,000, Dauphinee said. The National Carousel Association held its 1987 convention here so members could enjoy Philadelphia Toboggan No. 36. "PTC numbered all their machines, and there aren't many of the lower numbers left," Blake said.

"It's such a unique machine, the fact that it's stayed in the same family for all these years." Now most carousels are made of fiberglass and mass-produced, and carousel aficionados say they're poor heirs to the originals. "It's a real loss for your community," Dinger said. Rochester Public LibraryRichard Flint Collection Built in 1915. Brought to Seabreeze Park from Seneca Park in 1926. One of two Philadelphia Toboggan Co.

carousels in Rochester area before the Roseland Carousel (No. 18) moved to Syracuse in 1990. "Rochester was very fortunate to have two of them," said Cyndy Hennig, editor of the National Carousel Association's Merry-Go-Roundup magazine. Horses: 28 prancing, 20 posing. Two chariots.

"The outside row didn't move, but the two inside rows were jumpers," said Terry Blake, executive secretary. "Sixteen of the 48 horses were stationary." "That's more of a historic monument for Rochester," Rochester resident Janette Nieves said of the carousel. "It's a shame." City resident Edmoun Smith used to take his nine daughters and one son to Seabreeze every weekend in the summer during the 1970s. The carousel and the park were important places because families could gather there to enjoy each other in a safe atmosphere, he said. He called it "a place I could take my kids and watch them grow." family' Breeze Park, spent a portion of his youth at the park.

He used to pick up the brass rings from the carousel. "This is a shame," he said. "All them poor horses and stuff." Sea Breeze neighborhood businesses aren't sure if the destruction at the park will hinder their trade. "It's too early to tell if it will have any affect on business here," said Rick Colvin, owner of Sea Breeze Food Market, just a few blocks away from the park on Culver Road. Jim Barn ash, co-owner of The Reunion, a restaurant across the street from the park, also said it's too early to assess the effect.

"It's just a big loss to the whole community, he said. Includes reporting by staff writ er Greg Livadas and staff photogra pher Darcy Chang. community. "It's going to be a great loss to all of us," said the "baby of the bunch," 63-year-old Michael Arengi. His favorite memories of the carousel were listening to its soothing music while rocking in the chairs scattered around the merry-go-round.

"It was very, very relaxing," he said. "That's the only place we used to go," Sutera said. "Where else did we have down here on the east side?" As a place for people to gather, the carousel and Seabreeze Park were "just like the mall is now," said Arengi, who was spending time with his friends at Irondequoit Mall. John Lesio said he was unhappy to see the carousel destroyed because his 4-year-old son Jake, who visited the merry-go-round a few times, won't be able to continue enjoying it. "To think of all the simple things we used to get a kick out of when we were kids," said Lesio, who was shopping for a video game for his children.

"Now, it's got to be electric. It's got to be wilder; it's got to be scarier." The feelings of loss spread beyond Irondequoit's borders. ny that owns the park, said 800 summer employees still will be hired. Interviews, which were scheduled to start today, are postponed until Thursday afternoon. They'll continue on Thursday, Friday and Saturday afternoons through May.

Mahoney and her classmates followed the smoke from their school bus which couldn't get through the area to their usual stop. Gary Davis, who has lived in the area for all of his 62 years worked at the carousel from 1941 to 1950. He used to shimmy up the poles every Saturday and pour oil down them to lubricate the ride. "One of my responsibilities was to walk around and check for cigarette butts," Davis said. "Fire was one of their biggest fears." Eugene Wirth, 70, of Lake By Erika Rosenberg Staff writer In the midst of squabbling over who owned the old dance hall and ice rink at Seabreeze Park, they paused to remember the carousel.

"The girls used to like to go on the carousel," said 82-year-old Carl Momano, recalling why he and his friends hung out there about 65 years ago. Although they tried to find dates that way, "it didn't happen too often because you had to pay for their ride," which cost a nickel back then. They remembered the rings that merry-go-round riders would grab from a metal arm and toss at a bell. Those who completed the task won a free ride. "We used to cheat," said Joseph Sutera, also 82, explaining that he and his pals would try to grab more than one ring as they swung past the metal arm.

"You had to be quick to do that." The gathering of Irondequoit men who had ridden the carousel as children, taken their children to ride it as fathers and brought grandchildren there as grandfathers agreed that the carousel's demise in a fire yesterday was a blow to the year-old son rushed to the park from their home on Pemberton Road when they saw the smoke and heard the sirens. "We just have a lot of great memories," Coleman said. Their worst fear, too, was destruction of the carousel. "There are so few carousels like this left in the country." In the end, the carousel stood like a charred skeleton, with tendrils hanging like a weeping willow. Eileen Mahoney, 14, who lives on nearby Breezeway Drive, threw her arms in the air, then pulled them down in disappointment.

"There goes my job!" said the 14-year-old Eastridge High School freshman. But John Norris, vice president of George W. Long the compa 1 Loss of carousel like 'a death in the By Shirley Salemy Staff writer She saw the wooden horses burning as if they were living beings, silhouetted in the fire. Carol Paul grew up at Seabreeze Park. Her father worked for George Long before World War II.

Her mother took tickets for the amusements. "I'm sick, truly sick," said Paul, 51, standing behind the police tape as fire boiled over the arcade building and engulfed the carousel. "All things change, I guess," she said plainly. Paul and scores of Irondequoit residents followed the slate gray smoke to the amusement park, fearing for the worst and finding just Peter Heinrich of Irondequoit called it. Local public officials poured to the area Monroe County Legislature President Arnold Eckert, R-Irondequoit, Irondequoit Town Board member Don Deming and Irondequoit Supervisor Suzanne Masters.

"What a shame," said Masters. "There goes a big piece of history." Penny Schnurr of Irondequoit ran to the scene when she saw the thick black smoke. She knew the park was on fire, but she was devastated when she saw the flames devouring the carousel. "I rode it when I was a baby and I put my kids on it when they were babies," said Schnurr, 40. "It's irreplaceable." Bill Coleman, 40, and his 13- that a death in the lamiiy, as i.