In 2002, a creative woman named Wendy Kirbey went on a trip to Missoula, Montana. During the trip, as told by Marge Wright, a tour guide and volunteer at the carousel, Wendy visited “a Carousel for Missoula.” She rode the carousel four or five times and ended up getting four brass rings, three of which she gave to children so they could get a free ride. After her visit, Kirbey decided that she wanted to build her own carousel, right here in Albany. Volunteers like Marge now tell this story about Wendy’s trip as a way to show how the idea of the carousel came to life.
Kirbey went to the Central Albany Revitalization Area in 2002 and asked for financial support to build a carousel; but was informed that Salem had another person asking for a similar request. Kirbey started a petition and got 2,000 signatures, as the citizens of Albany thought that a carousel would be a great addition to downtown. In September of 2002, 30 volunteers assembled as a board of directors. In 2003, they became a nonprofit known as the Brass Ring Carousel, which was later renamed the Historic Carousel & Museum.
After Kirbey’s research on the history of other carousels, she decided that she wanted to make hers different. She wanted the Carousel of Albany to have less fancy and jeweled animals, and instead have a more realistic (and in some cases, cartoony) take on the animals. One early sponsor decided that they wanted a fish to be their animal on the carousel, but people were hesitant; considering they have never seen a fish on a carousel. After debating which should make it on, a picture was found of an official Dentzel carousel with a fish on board, and carving began to the heaps of animals.
The original plan was to buy a new mechanical system that would consist of 32 animals, but the great-grandson of Gustav Dentzel, Bill Dentzel, donated an antique mechanical system that currently holds 41 of the 52 planned animals. These animals include a seven feet giraffe, a bulldog, and as the Albany Carousel website states, “even lions, tigers, and bears (Oh my!)” and many more.
On Aug. 15, 2017, the vision of Wendy Kirby and the effort of hundreds transpired. Aside from the animals, the carousel has many other fun and interesting things to offer, including a food court, party/conference rooms, a brick garden, a painting room, and even their museum where you can walk through the history of the carousel and see the highlights of the journey. Now you can experience the fruits of labor that Wendy Kirbey worked hard to bring to our town.