Republican-Clipper photo, Angela Ragan
Popular ride comes home: Bethany electric Superintendent Kenny Robertson, right picture, lowers the park’s venerable merry-go-round onto the center post at Memorial Park. The ride was taken out of service several months ago while park personnel made repairs. The Pettijohn Auto Center’s paint shop added a coat of bright yellow paint to the ride. Michael Lykins, park caretaker, left picture, adjusted the merry-go-round after it had been reinstalled. The merry-go-round has provided rides for many generations of young people since it was first placed at the park early in the last century. Parks officials worked to get the carousel ready for the Fourth of July weekend. Robertson said layers of paint on the ride indicated that it had been various colors over the last century. According to parks and recreation Director Michelle Thomas, the ride was manufactured by a long-gone company in Fairfield, Iowa. Park officials have been unable to locate the original papers indicating the date of its manufacture.