Our beloved antique carousel has delighted our young friends of Little Theatre School for over 60 years. Just ask any Little Theatre School alumni, and they will tell you riding the carousel was one of their fondest memories. Younger siblings who attend Little Theatre School in recent years are not able to experience the same joy because the carousel stopped operating in 2014.
The carousel is also believed to have a history in the City of Lynn prior to its retirement at little Theatre School. Mary Dimanbro, 94 years old, the once neighbor of Little Theatre School, remembers the carousel arriving at the school in the 1950s to 1960s, towed by a Hostess Cake truck. It was also believed that Hostess Cake Company towed the carousel around the City of Lynn to offer rides to young children while promoting Hostess cupcakes. Refer to the Daily Item interview on Mystery Revolves Around Carousel on August 30, 2017. https://www.itemlive.com/2017/08/29/mystery-revolves-around-carousel/
Restoring an antique carousel is an expensive undertaking, we need all the help from Little Theatre School current and alumni families, and from kind-hearted folks who would want to keep our historical gem delighting many generation of young children. Our goal is to raise $15 thousand dollars based on the latest project estimate.
With this tall order, Little Theatre School kicked off fundraising with a lobster raffle, with all proceeds to benefit the Carousel Restoration Fund. Thanks to the generous donation of a dozen live lobsters by the Rader/Markos family, and support from Little Theatre School past and present families, raffle sale was beyond all expectation. The Lobster Raffle event sold 685 raffle tickets and raised $2,350. A GoFundMe page has been set up to accept your continued support and donation. Please go to https://www.gofundme.com/carousel-restoration-fund.
On December 6, Yianni Markos, grandson of the Rader/Markos family who donated the lobsters, did the honor of picking out the raffle winner. We are one step closer to making the horses fly again!
Lobster raffle winner Jessica Leach, showed off her prize with his nephew Braedan O’Keefe, a student of Little Theatre School.