New book showcases the artistry behind Albany's carousel (2024)

If you're looking for a local stocking stuffer, or just a fun coffee-table read, you're in luck this holiday season.

That's because a former Democrat-Herald reporter has partnered with the founder of to produce a book on the city's popular tourist attraction.

The book, "The Miracle on First Avenue," not only dives into the history behind making the museum a reality, but takes a deeper look at the carousel's animals and the skilled artists behind them.

It was an opportunity co-author and journalist Jennifer Moody couldn't resist, having been an admirer of carousel design and craft since the late '90s.

Her interest began when she took a wrong turn at a mall in Salem and observed artists working at a carving studio, creating animals for that city's own carousel.

She was taken with the artistry.

"So, my first thought was, 'I got to do a story on this,'" she recalled.

Of course, Salem isn't in the Democrat-Herald's coverage area, but luckily for Moody, a couple of the carvers were from the mid-valley.

As a reporter for the Albany paper for more than two decades —she's now a journalism adviser at Oregon State University— Moody closely followed the development and eventual opening of Albany's own carousel, which has proven to be one of the city's more popular tourist destinations.

Granted, that was during a much-hyped opening day celebration. But when this reporter came to meet Moody and museum founder Wendy Kirbey, along with the museum's board of directors' secretary, Dianne Neglay, to talk about the book, children were still riding the ornately decorated animals right up to closing time at 4 p.m.

There are currently 43 expertly crafted creatures, including horses, dogs, bears, unicorns and even a dragon, but the plan is to add 10 more, and to have a total menagerie of 62 animals.

After many years and countless hours of carving, restoration and fundraising, the museum opened its doors to the public in 2017.

"We were always going to do a book," Kirbey said during our evening conversation at the museum.

The Democrat-Herald and Gazette-Times published its own hardbound book after the grand opening, compiling the articles written over the museum's 15-year production span.

"But it wasn't the book I wanted to write," Moody said. "The book I wanted to write had the stories of the animals."

Moody and Kirbey's book was a two-year effort and dedicates most of its chapters and pages to the artists and sponsors behind the carousel's animals, and the animals themselves, while also showing how the museum came to be.

For, Dianne Neglay, who also wrote entries for the book, the project adds a personal touch to the carousel's history.

"Jennifer worked magic," Neglay said. "She spent hours finding people and doing these wonderful interviews and weaving a story just about the carvers."

The carousel's animals are supported by sponsors. These are folks who "adopt" an animal to help fund its creation and influence its design.

For example, one couple described in the book, Gail and Bob Johnston, sponsored the creation of Summit the Burro, who's named after Summit Lake, a favorite camping spot of the Johnstons.

Kirbey herself sponsored the creation of Fredrick the Hare, a leaping figure, as a tribute to her son, Donald Fredrick Wagner, who loved animals. The wild rodent has the C.S. Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia," one of Donald's favorite books, strapped to his saddle.

The revolving mechanism on which the animals and creatures sit has its own story.

According to Kirbey, it all started as a seemingly overwhelming pile of junk parts, such as rusty gears and motors.

But with the aid of local carpenters, machinists, electricians, welders and more, those pieces were soon restored into the functioning, balanced mechanism at the museum today.

It helped that everyone who contributed to the restoration loved the work, Kirbey said, like seasoned mechanics working on old cars in the shop.

"Every time we needed something, somebody came along who knew how to do it," Kirbey said. "And if we needed money, someone came along and ponied up."

It's one of the reasons Kirbey calls the museum a miracle —hence the title of the book (the museum is also on First Avenue, for those unfamiliar with its location).

"The Miracle on First Avenue" is expected to be released later this month, according to Moody.

It's a book for all ages. That was confirmed after our conversation at the museum, when we departed the premises to make way for a wedding photo shoot.

We exited the doors just in time to see a young bride, followed by a groom and presumably other members of the wedding party, enter the museum to find their own animals on the carousel.

Evidently, the miracle hasn't waned.

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