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Hand-carved animals begin to take shape at Mansfield company
By Kathy Antoniotti
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Sunday, Nov 29, 2009
David Barnhardt, director of marketing and guest services for the zoo, is at a loss to explain why in a city that idolizes the University of Akron's marsupial mascot, no one has stepped forward to adopt its carousel equivalent.
''How ironic. Apparently, Akron does 'Fear the Roo,' because it is the only one not sponsored,'' Barnhardt said recently at the Carousel Works in Mansfield, where the $500,000 family ride is being crafted.
There will be no traditional horses on the zoo's carousel.
The 38-foot structure will have 33 animals, some exotic ones such as an okapi, snow leopard and capybara, and a handicap-accessible chariot carved in the shape of a peacock.
Barnhardt said zoo officials see it as a way to educate guests about some of the animals the zoo doesn't have in its collection, as well as some of its current residents.
They expect the carousel will be delivered in early July and estimate it will take five to seven days to get it ready for riders.
The carousel will be placed in the center of the zoo between the Komodo Kingdom Education Center
and Tiger Valley, Barnhardt said.
Plans for the expansion include closing Perkins Park Drive to the north of the zoo so zoo patrons can reach the property more easily and to make the area contiguous with current zoo attractions. The property will be fenced in starting next spring, but will be part of the next phase of the zoo's development, he said.
''After talking with many other zoos and researching carousel locations within these facilities, we decided to relocate the carousel to a more central and convenient location for our visitors. It will now be closer to animal exhibits and our cafe, making this location a wonderful focal point of the zoo,'' said Michael Stark, chairman of the Akron Zoo board of directors.
''One of the things we found in the feedback after we announced we were doing it is how nostalgic carousels are for people,'' Barnhardt said. ''It seems like almost everybody has a story about a carousel from their childhood.''
The carousel will replace a retail and picnic area, Barnhardt said.
''Everyone we talked to at other zoos told us to go with Carousel Works. It worked out nicely they are in our backyard,'' Barnhardt said.
The Carousel Works, which moved to Mansfield in the late 1980s from Connecticut, is the world's largest maker of hand-carved and hand-painted wooden carousels, said Kate Blakely, director of marketing and daughter of Art Ritchie, one of the founders of the company.
Ritchie formed the company in 1986 with Don Jones and a staff of five or six employees, Blakely said. Ritchie, a furniture and sign maker, got into the business when someone asked him to make a horse for a private carousel and found that the price was astronomical.
The family business also employs Blakely's husband, Don Blakely, the company's head woodcarver, and her mother, Marilyn Ritchie, who is a painter.
Art Ritchie is a woodcarver and responsible for the overall designs of the projects, Kate Blakely said.
Today, the company has 28 employees, including Jones' son, Ryan Jones, who last week was turning two-inch pieces of basswood into the initial box that will become a poison dart frog featured on the zoo's carousel.
While most carousel animals today are made of molded fiberglass, the company boasts it is one of the few that can create unique animals in wood from start to finish. The prices of the wooden and fiberglass carousels are comparable, Blakely said.
But unlike one made of fiberglass, ''a wooden carousel will appreciate in value,'' she said.
Carousel Works has produced 46 carousels and has six in the works, she said.
The company has designed 150 animals, making it a favorite of zoos around the world. Employees have created an insect carousel for the Bronx Zoo and stylized rattle and king snakes for the Los Angeles Zoo that will open in March.
When the Salt Lake City's Hogle Zoo asked whether the company could make a peccary, Blakely responded, ''Sure, we can do that,'' before she had even seen a picture of the animal, which is member of the swine family found in the southwestern United States and points south.
Unique creatures
Two of the Akron Zoo's animals are already finished, a clown fish and a zebra. The rest are in various stages of production, she said.
''They are all handmade, so no one will have another zebra exactly like yours,'' Blakely said.
The company also refurbishes wooden carousels, and is restoring pieces from the Central Park carousel in New York City. The horses are more than 100 years old.
''There are only about 150 antique carousels left that are made from the turn of the [previous] century,'' she said.
During a recent visit, Justin Cranmore of Mansfield placed the wood box that will be the Akron Zoo's penguin on a cut duplicator, a carving machine that takes off excess wood that would take a carver a week to remove, Blakely said.
''This machine is over 30 years old. We've rehabbed it and retrofitted it for our needs,'' she said of the machine, similar to one used more than a century ago by furniture makers. Because of the small number of wooden carousel makers, there are no manufacturers who produce the machines the company needs. As a result, employees are working on a machine that will replace the decades-old duplicator.
Aaron Schroeder of Shelby, who is also a metal sculptor, was stripping leather from a 100-year-old chariot from the Central Park project. It can cost anywhere from $3,000 to $7,000 to complete one antique horse, Blakely said.
''Sometimes, they come in a box in a lot of pieces,'' she said.
Colorful mural
The animals on the Akron Zoo's carousel aren't the only works of art that will be featured on the carousel. Every inch of the structure will have something beautiful to look at, Blakely said.
''We decorate everything so that no matter where you are sitting, you get to see something,'' including a 50-foot hand-painted mural that will surround the center of the carousel. It was created in seven weeks by artist Leslie Chaffin of Mansfield.
Chaffin, the only mural painter in the shop of seven artists, is a graduate of Santa Monica College and the Otis-Parsons College of Art and Design in Los Angeles. She has completed the seven panel mural that will wrap around the top of the carousel. The mural features animals to represent each of the seven continents that fade from one to the next then connect end to end with a coral reef.
As guests ride the zoo's carousel, they may search the mural for a hidden design that Chaffin added amid the panda, emperor penguins, bighorn sheep and giraffes.
The mural contains an inspirational quote by Mohandas Gandhi, ''Be the change you want to be,'' that is also printed on a wall in the zoo's education center.
For those who look very closely, a small dragonfly can be seen resting near the quote.
Sponsorships of the carousel animals range from $2,500 to $15,000, depending on the size, unique nature and placement of the animal. The price reflects the expected lifetime of the animal it represents of eight to 10 years.
Benefits of the tax-deductible gift include a recognition plaque, an invitation to an exclusive preview party and free carousel rides for one year.
Kathy Antoniotti can be reached at 330-996-3565 or kantoniotti@thebeaconjournal.com.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Posted 06:59 AM, 11/29/2009
Come on, Proenza ... step up to the plate and sponsor the Kangaroo ... Lord knows you've got the money. Can't wait to see the Carousel when it officially opens! Another plus for the Akron Zoo!
akron, oh
Posted 08:26 AM, 11/29/2009
And to think the zoo couldn't pay their water bill just a couple short years ago.
Can't wait to see the carousel.
Posted 08:53 AM, 11/29/2009
jimdandy: Get off that water bill kick ... it's getting old! The Zoo is owned by the City of Akron!
Canal Fulton, Oh
Posted 09:24 AM, 11/29/2009
I cant wait to see this either.Im anxious to take my grandson there to ride it:-)
ProChoice, OH
Posted 10:24 AM, 11/29/2009
Nice story. Not much is handmade anymore & a wooden carousel sounds nice.
Posted 11:21 AM, 11/29/2009
Thanks for the update and beautiful pictures. I can't wait to see it. I am surprised there is no kangaroo.
Atlantic City, NJ
Posted 11:51 AM, 11/29/2009
@ Dragon lady; re-read the story!
akron, oh
Posted 11:52 AM, 11/29/2009
@retired - Actually they don't. Akron, in a sense is a landlord of the zoo, but it is owned soley by a non-profit organization.
Next you'll tell me that the Summit County Fairgrounds isn't in debt to the County because the County owns it.
