OLD LYME—This carousel is turning 100.
On Saturday, Carousel Shop proprietors Dee and Jerry Vowles will ring in the centennial summer with free rides, 100 cent ice cream and hot dogs, t-shirt raffles and a celebration of the simple pleasures in life.
“The carousel just brings happiness to a lot of kids and families,” Dee Vowles said.
The merry-go-round at Sound View Beach has been spinning in its current incarnation since 1976, but the Vowles said the origin of the 20 painted horses goes back about a century.
The Allan Herschell carousel was outfitted with a Coney Island brass ring dispenser when the horses first came out of the gate around 1925, according to specifications laid out by Jerry Vowles. A diesel engine propelled them while the steam-powered whistle of a calliope provided a soundtrack that would last for generations.
While the amusement ride still boasts original parts that helped the couple narrow its date of origin to 1924 or 1925, the circular march of time is evident in a soft-start electric motor, teflon bearings and digital music.
Jerry Vowles said the couple disassembled and restored the carousel from 2008 to 2009. That’s when they used parts newly manufactured from original molds to replace some elements of the carousel.
The Vowles bought the carousel operation in 1987 from Paul Bennanato. The merry-go-round had arrived in Old Lyme just over a decade earlier to replace the late 1800s-era model that had been there since 1948, according to Jerry Vowles.
The couple’s daughter, Jennifer Lathrop, was an infant when they purchased the carousel.
“It is her carousel,” Jerry Vowles said. “We bought it for her when she was two-months-old, kind of on a crazy whim.”
Dee Vowles said Lathrop and her brother Jay help out their parents while nephew Tommy Logio serves as manager.
“So it’s definitely been a family affair,” she said.
She said other family members and friends who help the couple open and close the shop every year—including sister Ree and honorary sister Roe—will make the trip to Sound View for the carousel’s birthday celebration.
“We’ve seen in the 37 years we’ve been here a real following,” she said. “People appreciate us being here, and having a good time at the carousel.”
The Carousel at Sound View Beach 100th Birthday Celebration will be held on Saturday, June 14, from 2 to 4 p.m. at 75 Hartford Avenue.
This old gal remembers riding it as a little tyke in the 1950’s and finally getting big enough to catch the brass ring. Congratulations on 100 and on continuing its operation.
I appreciate Dee and Jerry and the whole family for keeping this family friendly activity in Sound View Beach. It’s a beautiful attraction that exemplifies the love that Dee and Jerry put into it all these years. Congratulations!!
An absolute favorite destination for all ages!
Shout out to Dee and Jerry for putting their heart and souls into the carousel! It’s been a treasure and delighted for its continuation ! Thank you !