The Carousel of Happiness

“Love and magic have a great deal in common. They enrich the soul, delight the heart, and they both take practice.” – unknown


Do you believe in magic?

I do and I was just reminded of how real magic can be when my dad and his wife insisted the one thing we had to do during my recent trip back home to Colorado was ride on “The Carousel of Happiness.”


“Carousel of Happiness?” I thought, “that sounds a little hokey.” I couldn’t have been more wrong and it turns out there is a wonderful story involved.


“The Carver,” as a person who carves carousel animals is called, is a Viet Nam vet named Scott Harrison who set out to honor his two best buddies, fallen in combat, with a carousel he envisioned building in some magical mountain place. Apparently the young Marine machine gunner had always loved the mountains and his sister had given him a music box to listen to when he needed to escape the stresses of war. The song it played, he later said, was “as sad as it was beautiful” and it put him in the mind of riding a carousel – a universally happy experience.


Some 20 years after he came home from the war, Harrison began carving carousel animals, 56 in all, and a little later, a carousel mechanism in need of animals and a new home came his way. The carousel was originally made by Charles Loof, one of the great carousel makers of the 19th and 20th centuries. It was delivered to Saltair Park, just outside of Salt Lake City in 1910 and operated there for 49 years, but fell into disrepair after the park closed and the animals were sold to collectors.


One amazing part of this carousel story is that my dad remembers riding a roller coaster at Saltair Park during a trip he took as a boy with his dad around 1949. I really wanted him to tell me he rode on the carousel – or at least saw it – but he said he got so sick from the roller coaster he has no memory of the carousel at all.

 took Harrison 22 years to restore the carousel frame and all the original bearings, gears and metal work, as well as carve the 38 animals kids of all ages now ride. He carved 18 additional creatures who populate the carousel rafters, supports and all volunteer-built, completely “green” solar pavilion in Nederland, Colorado, high in the Rocky Mountains, where the recently finished carousel now spins for $1 a ride. Harrison even found a 1913 Wurlitzer band organ to provide authentic music for the carousel, which is rapidly becoming a “must do” for residents of the Denver-Boulder metropolitan area and tourists, alike.

In addition to all of the time Harrison spent turning his dream into a reality, $675,000 in private donations, ranging from $1 to $100,000, was involved. And, the result, which he calls “a simple outpost of joy,” is no less than amazing.


My dad (now in his early 70’s), my little sister (in her late 20’s), my college-age nephew, Mr. Clark and I made a pilgrimage to ride the carousel on the last day of our visit. It was cold, snowy and the mountains were beautiful. I remained a little skeptical about this whole “Carousel of Happiness” idea until I walked into the pavilion, heard the music and saw the huge, friendly-yet-a-little-bit-sad face of the carved walrus keeping the guest book.


My dad paid for rides all around and away we went, choosing our steeds from a fine selection of animals that included a solemn-faced bear, a many-horned deer, a jumping dolphin, a proud and colorful peacock, a kangaroo with a Joey in her pouch, a zebra with multi-colored stripes, a friendly-faced dragon, a frog, an elephant, a great blue heron and an alpaca in ballet shoes. The only horse on the carousel was a painted Indian pony brightly festooned in feathers; my favorite animal was a moose whose sad eyes made me think of all the veterans Harrison honored in building his carousel.


We took one ride after another, changing animals every time, laughing, smiling, waving and taking pictures of each other - enjoying that carousel in such a child-like way it was obvious the name, “Carousel of Happiness” didn’t even begin to describe the fun.


I don’t remember the last time I felt that happy in such an easy, uncomplicated way. It was like being five again – only with my five-year-old dad, sister, nephew and husband all there laughing with me.


Harrison said he made the carousel to honor his buddies – to “keep those guys alive in my heart in a happy way.” I can’t help but think they smile down at him from heaven every time they hear that Wurlitzer fire up or see those animals start to spin.

Simple, happy, magical moments are so rare, so precious, so hard to achieve - in turning his crazy-sounding idea into reality, “The Carver” gave everyone who rides his carousel that wonderful gift.


If you are ever out West, put “Carousel of Happiness” on your “must see” list and when you’re having a bad day, Google Carousel of Happiness and just imagine you are there – magic, it’s real, indeed.