The Clarion Call of the Carousel

Many thanks to journalist Dave Bangert/Based in Lafayette for kindly allowing me to use information and photos from his recent article for today's blog post.  Much appreciated, Dave!

Columbian Park is a centerpiece of the Lafayette area. A park and a reservoir were created in the 1870s and then were formally named "Columbian Park" in 1892. A zoo was added in 1908, and the park grew with amenities and various attractions over the years. It is now a destination for both townies and out of towners. 

My Honeywell grandparents brought my mother to Columbian Park in the 1930s when she was a child. She brought us to the park in the 1960s and 70s. I've been bringing my grands to Columbian Park since the 2000s. (I also took my students on field trips there.) And when great grand Elsie Mae visits from Idaho, I hope to take her there. Six generations of our family, all visiting the same park! 

When I was a girl, an appealing reason for going to Columbian Park was the Lafayette Horse Show, held right there on the baseball field of the park.

A day show and then an evening show under the lights, trotting, cantering, parading, and jumping around all over the baseball field. (That would NEVER happen now.)

Our mother would drop Leslie and me off for the day show 

where we would fry under the sun in the bleachers and hope that perhaps we, too, would one day ride our own horses in that show. (And we did.)

Our mom would join us for the more formal evening show held under the baseball field's lights. The evening show ended well after dark, and Leslie and I would go home tired and sunburned but with beautiful horsey hopes and dreams.

The Lafayette Horse Show (also known as The Lafayette Charity Horse Show and The Columbian Park Horse Show) was an annual event. But another horsey something had a permanent home there at the park.

The Columbian Park Carousel.

Only open during the summers, it was a must-do for my sister and me. Several times a trip if we could talk our mother into it. When we arrived. When we got lunch. When we were hot and needed a break. As we were leaving to go home. As many times as we could, we would ask for yet another carousel ride.

That carousel was THE draw to Columbian Park for two horse crazy sisters.

Sadly, as time went on, the carousel was closed. The park needed the space for Tropicanoe Cove, a new waterpark/swimming pool, in 1998.

According to journalist Dave Bangert, calls for its replacement started almost immediately. Local resident Vic Klinker was especially vocal in keeping the need for a carousel alive and in front of the Lafayette Parks Board (of which he was a member) for years. Sadly, he passed away before the return of the carousel and never got to see or ride it. 

But his wife, State Representative Sheila Klinker, did! (All carousel photos are by Dave Bangert.)

In 2019 local residents David and Connie Stevenson offered to donate money for a new carousel and the ball began to roll. Unfortunately, there were problems from the get go.

The first company that was contracted to make the animals went bankrupt partway into the project. The pandemic caused shut downs and delays. Finally a second company, Barrango Carousels, came through and delivered the new carousel animals. 

The animals were designed to echo the style of those made by the Dentzel Carousel Company. To personalize them, Barrango added locally themed decorations to some of the animals. Fleur-de-lis (representing the area's strong French heritage, think Feast of the Hunters' Moon) and stars (Lafayette is nicknamed "Star City") can be found on many of them.

Called "glorious" by many of the folks who attended the opening last week,

I have to agree. It is indeed a glorious sight and my horsey girl heart is singing and urging me to go out to see it - I can hear that lovely carousel music from my childhood as I write!

I'm going to give Leslie a call and see if she wants to join me for a ride or two. (Okay, let's be honest - we'll ride more than just that!)

Stay 'tooned!  And thank you again, Dave, for letting me use your carousel photos.

Old Shows and Show Bills

There used to be many small horse shows around my county in the 1960s and 1970s. Most were fun shows and advertised with the phrase "$2 and ride all day."

Before I had a horse, my sister and I used to beg our parents to drop us off at these shows where we would wander the show grounds, watch the classes, and breathe in that horsey smell all day long, dreaming of the day we might own horses and be in the ring winning a blue ribbon ourselves.

4-H and Purdue University used to sponsor a bring-your-own-horse camp in southern Indiana complete with an end-of-camp show. No entry fee, not even $2! (That was a lot back then, at least to a girl who earned her spending money through babysitting.)

Advertising for the shows was done via word of mouth, by plastering big posters up in grocery stores, and by leaving fliers in farm stores or tack shops.

The annual Lafayette Horse Show was the biggie, the one we most wanted to attend, both as spectators as well as entrants.

 It was held in town at Columbian Park and right on the baseball diamond!

 There was a slick program for it and two shows - a day and an evening show.

Early entrants had their number, horse's name, their name, and where they were from listed in it. Leslie and I would do our best to write down the names of the winners and those who placed as we watched the show.

Our favorite was the parade horse class. Every year we crossed our fingers and hoped that Mabel Gorham would come.

She had the most gorgeous, high stepping Saddlebreds who would be decked out in mane and tail ribbons, glittered hooves, and polished silver embellished parade tack. As this class would proceed, people would stamp and whistle, clapping loudly as the horses strutted around the ring.

When I first began photo showing model horses in 1970, I was puzzled that no one held classes for National Appaloosa Ponies (NAPis); instead, there were Pony of the Americas (POA) classes. No one I asked had ever heard of NAPis, so I shrugged it off and figured I'd see them sooner or later.

I never did. I think what happened is that the Giltners, a local breeder of NAPis, may have tried to begin a registry for them and it never took off despite strong local support in our area.

In addition to their large breeding operation outside of town, they owned a fun western store in town, complete with square dance clothes.

The old Hoos-Yer Square shop as it is today.

Sadly, The Lafayette Horse Show was discontinued years ago. But I found some old photos from it that Leslie and I took with our old Kodak Instamatic cameras (complete with disposable light bulbs! Hah!) They are not very good, but you can still get a feeling for the show and what it was like. 

I'll post those tomorrow.