It was an ordinary day. About two weeks ago there appeared a story in my local newspaper's "Lancaster Watchdog" section. They were once again writing about the efforts to bring new life to the Rocky Springs Park carousel. And...as usual they were getting nowhere. The story began by telling about the earthy smell of the wooden rides at Rocky Springs Park some 42 years ago and what can be done to return the wooden Rocky Springs carousel back to life once again. I can still remember heading to Rocky Springs with my grandfather during summer vacation to ride on many of the rides. I had many favorites, but I guess my most favorite was the carousel. The horses seemed to come alive as the huge carousel came up to full speed. My friends and I all had our favorite horses that we liked to ride and pretended to race against each other as the ride took us around in a circle. We had such great times riding all the rides until one day the park closed. When I turned 35 years old, the park in West Lampeter Township on the edge of Lancaster City came back to life. By that time the only rides that I enjoyed were the roller coaster and the wooden carousel. Seems that the carousel never lost its charm with all the brightly painted horses and carriages that filled the spinning circle of music. Then two years later the park closed once again and sent the beautiful carousel first to Michigan and then to Dollywood in Tennessee. So many fought to bring back the carousel and finally, in 1999, Lancaster City Mayor Charlie Smithgall and a group of supporters successfully reclaimed the carousel. Only problem is...the carousel hasn't seen the light of day since that time. Oh! how I would love to hear the organ playing and breathe in the smell of the wooden animals. But, nothing has happened yet! Seems that the problem is poor leadership in the Rocky Springs Carousel Association. The association raised $1.3 million to bring the ride back to Lancaster, but has made little progress since then. The wooden horses, dogs and roosters have remained in a secret location along with all of the mechanisms that make it go around. Perhaps some new blood is needed to get that carousel back in service. There is a Facebook group that has over 2,000 members who share daily pictures, videos and memories of the park. But...that's as far as it has gone. The group was reformed in 2020, but that's as far as it has gone. Seems the goal at present is to find a suitable spot to place the carousel. Eileen Gregg self-published a book on the carousel in 2022 in hopes of getting enough interest and donations to get the carousel turning once again, but nothing has happened. Many have lost faith that anything will ever happen to the carousel. Everyone thought that when Lancaster changed their downtown so they would have space for the carousel, but it never materialized. Pretty soon I'm going to have to write a letter to someone downtown and tell them I only have so long to be able to see the carousel downtown so they better get with it. I'm sure that would do the trick! But, then again, I'm probably the only one who feels that way. Well, here's hoping that one of my favorite Rocky Springs rides will open soon so I still have a chance to ride on it before I get too old to fly around the outside edges and try and grab the rings from the grasp of the animal holding it. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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