SALISBURY — When area students are off during the holiday break, those who oversee the town’s historic carousel are hoping plenty of them will take it for a spin at least once.
To make that wish come true, the Salisbury Beach Partnership’s Historic Carousel announced expanded hours in conjunction with the vacation to provide a family fun experience during the week.
The carousel’s new school vacation hours will be noon to 7 p.m. on Dec. 22 and Dec. 23, before closing for the holidays. Doors will reopen Dec. 27, from noon to 5 p.m., with hours expanding back to noon to 7 p.m. on Dec. 29 until doors shut again on Dec. 31.
“We’re looking forward to seeing lots of families coming to the center over the break, riding the carousel, enjoying a walk on the beach, and visiting the other beach businesses,” Carousel Executive Director Amy Moore said.
Salisbury Beach Partnership President Wayne Capolupo said the hope is to keep the lights on at Salisbury Beach even through the offseason.
“We are maintaining weekend hours and still getting a fair amount of people coming in to enjoy the facility and a lot of volunteers are making it possible,” Capolupo said.
He said he is excited to see children flock to the beach center during school vacation.
“We’re hopeful that the kids will have even more reasons to come to Salisbury Beach and spend a day,” Capolupo said.
In addition to expanding hours, Moore encouraged folks to consider looking to the Salisbury Beach Carousel Gift-A-Brick fundraising effort when thinking of a last-minute gift.
The nonprofit organization launched the Campaign for the Historic Carousel in 2019 with the goal of raising $4.2 million to purchase a 1909 hand-carved Looff-Mangels carousel and build a year-round octagonal pavilion at 7 Broadway for its new home. The Gift-A-Brick program launched as part of its capital campaign to restore and return a carousel to Salisbury Beach.
The fundraising effort allows supporters to create a customized brick with a unique message of love or remembrance for that special someone, which will be printed and installed along the perimeter of the new carousel. To date, there have been over 500 bricks installed. Bricks are $200 each and can be purchased online at the carousel’s official website.
“You can be sure a customized, commemorative brick, which lasts forever, will fit just right, and doesn’t require wrapping,” Moore said.
Capolupo spoke about how much the community’s continued support to the carousel has meant.
“Needless to say, it’s been extraordinarily inspiring and exciting to see the outpouring of support, the amount of enthusiasm and energy, It’s just everything we hoped it would be and more,” Capolupo said.
Bricks purchased this holiday season through March will be installed in the spring.
Matt Petry covers Amesbury and Salisbury for The Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: mpetry@northofboston.com.