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Date: 5/28/2021
HOLYOKE – The Holyoke Merry- Go- Round on 221 Appleton St. is a historic carousel in town, comprised of 48 hand-carved horses, 864 bright colored lights and 56 original scenic panels.
The ride was built in 1927 by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company, one of the premiere manufacturers of roller coasters at the time. During the late 1920s Mountain Park, on the side of Mt. Tom, was expanding and purchased a rollercoaster from the Philadelphia Toboggan Company. In addition to the rollercoaster, the company also offered one of the merry-go-rounds. The merry-go-round has been a popular spot for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries and retirement parties.
Member Jay Ducharme on the Board of Directors of the Holyoke Merry-Go-Round said, “The company had a deal going. If you brought a roller coaster from them, they would throw in a merry-go-round. The reason they could do that is they had a group of German and Italian immigrants that would be kept on to simply carve merry-go-round horses and make scenery panels.”
Ducharme ran the merry-go-round at the park for many years. After Mountain Park closed in 1987, he was kept on as a security guard at the park. One day Ducharme recalled hearing a noise outside and saw a guy on the midway wearing a long brown trench coat.
“I said can I help you,”Ducharme responded. “The man said his name was John Hickey and he’s with the Holyoke Water Power and he’s going to save this carousel for the city of Holyoke. I had no idea who he was and I said to myself, ‘There’s no way he’s going to do that.’” At that point, Ducharme said the state was in the middle of a recession and the city of Holyoke was hit hard by this recession.
Hickey convinced owner Jay Collins to give him a year to raise the money and Collins would sell the merry-go-round to the city for $875,000. The city of Holyoke came through and raised all the money in a year. The merry-go-round re-opened to the public on Dec. 7, 1993 at Heritage State Park, which is its current location.
Due to COVID-19, the merry-go-round was shut down. Though they don’t have a specific reopening date for the ride, Administrative Manager Maureen Costello said their Holyoke Merry-Go-Round board members are working hard to plan for their reopening this summer and to develop the specific protocols needed to put in place to support their staff and assure a safe and happy experience for their visitors. As part of their planning process, the board members are consulting with their National Carousel Association membership and other Massachusetts and Connecticut carousels to learn their practices.
“We want to assure that we follow state and local health requirements that we’re required to have at the time of our reopening,” Costello replied. “We are taking a great deal of information into consideration to assure a successful reopening as we are anxious to open our doors so that the public can once again enjoy and create special memories on our historic Holyoke Happiness Machine.”
Once the merry-go-round reopens, the group noted they look forward to welcoming and scheduling children’s birthday parties and other special family parties and events.
“The Merry-Go-Round is a part of peoples’ youth. There are still people who have grown up with this ride in Holyoke who have memories of themselves as children riding this ride,” Ducharme added. “Now, they have grandchildren who are riding the merry-go-round and that kind of emotional bond with something when you're a child stays with you for your entire life and you pass it on from generation to generation. That is the magic of the Holyoke Merry Go Round. People want to relive that part of their youth that brought them so much joy.”