Redford, Clinton County
Antique Carousel
Only one day a year do you get to see it, much less take an enchanting ride or two on it, for this is the treasured heirloom of the whole community of Redford–a once-bustling small mining town on the Saranac River–and it is well cared for.
The center of attention at the Redford Picnic–the annual church festival that once celebrated the mid-August Feast of the Assumption, honoring the patron saint of the village’s Catholic parish–is a rare antique Herschell-Armitage carousel, with its 24 original carved wooden horses and four sleighs (with room for several riders each), all brightly painted and well maintained by a small corps of volunteers. The local story is that the church was given the simple track machine over a hundred years ago, after a traveling carnival went bankrupt and abandoned the carousel in town. In the midst of a typical North Country summer festival–with games of chance, bluegrass music and lots of food–the lines of riders–from infants to octogenarians–wait throughout the day for their few minutes of nostalgia.