Carousels
for Palestine
Community Building from the Children Up
A Project Created by Port Townsend
Carousel Association
Project
Overview:
Establishing a traditional "Flying Horses" carousel in the West Bank of
Israel/Palestine is the current project of the Port Townsend Carousel
Association, a
federally recognized 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation established in
1984. The
PTCA will donate a menagerie carousel to be set-up in a West
Bank community for the children and families of the region. Advisors living in the USA, Jerusalem and
the West Bank are assisting in our site location process. Also, we
appreciate any assistance from concerned proponents with contacts or
liasons to help us in the primary search for an appropriate site and
group willing to operate and maintain the carousel. We will also help the community in the
design and
construction of
the carousel's pavilion.
The PTCA is
dedicated to the empowerment of children through fun, fantasy and
education via the centuries old and well proven ride of the carousel
and
ring-catch-and-toss game. Common sense tells us that a fundamental
ingredient to life is a joyful childhood; more positive focus needs to
be addressed to all children worldwide. Traditional, hand, foot-pedal
and electric
powered wooden carousel construction and operation in small communities
is the PTCA's specialty. Our motto "Participate and Play for Peace".
It is not coincidental that over a thousand years ago European
crusaders first
saw carousels being used by Middle Eastern warriors as cavalry training
devices. Crusaders
brought the carousel idea back to Europe's castles first as a military
training device, later an amusement ride in towns and eventually to the
burgeoning 1850's USA.
It is high time that this fun energy be returned to the people of the
Middle
East to help sustain healthy and happy communities.
The PTCA is raising money to purchase and complete the construction
of MGR#10 (Merry-Go-Round No.10) which is located in Port
Townsend
WA. With this funding the mechanism purchase and final
building/assembly/prep phase
of this project can be completed in a few months. To do this we now
need US$50,000. Project progress will be posted on this site.
When this prep is done we load the carousel into a container and ship
it to
Ashdod,
Israel. Before shipping the carousel via container
to Israel/Palestine, a PTCA site identification and preparation team
will visit the region to meet the carousel's future community and
prepare the carousel site. At the carousel's site, working with
community members, we help build the
pavilion.
The pavilion will
protect the carousel from the sn and rain
and
help create a relaxed park-like atmosphere; this will also encourage
local economic growth. Before the carousel's official opening we
assist the local families in painting and stenciling the
scenic panels. We set up
the ring-catch-and-toss game with music and teach a local manager and
crew simple carousel operation and maintenance techniques.
Daily operation is simple and fun, the carousel will last
virtually forever. The carousel under the pavilion will be an important
piece of a larger community focus. Generations of children will
enjoy this durable local ride
and ring-catch-and-toss game. Much will be learned from the
setting-up process, the painting process and the operation process.
A
CHANCE TO GRAB THE BRASS RING, THERE IS ONE OUT THERE FOR EACH OF US
80+% of MGR#10 is Now Complete.
Parts Needed and Tasks Remaining
for 100% Completion and Shipping Prep:
1.) 5 swing seat kits with hangers (buy seats on Amazon, make hangers
in PT)
2.) 2 animals for riding (already have, just need some modifications
for this use)
3.) Ring-catch stand (local PT welder puts together base, we finish)
4.) Clownface target (make in PT workshop)
5.) Hand-crank drivetrain and gearbox (buy from Seattle supplier, fit
and install in PT workshop staging yard)
6.) Battery charged with PV cells and LED lights (Amazon purchase)
7.) Sound System, player, speakers (ditto)
8.) Low fence with gate (buy hardware, make on site)
9.) Pavilion Roofing (ship over or buy locally?)
10.) Paints for Scenic Panels etc. (bring along and purchase locally)
11.) Flatbed Shipping/Hauling Trailer (purchase and prepare in PT)
12.) Transportation and Lodging for installation team
Why a carousel for Palestine?...for those
war weary children?
Because...watch video below:
Fundraising Beginning
September 2015
Fund Raising
Goal for Parts
Needed and Tasks Remaining - $50,000.
Funds Raised to Date: $100.
Thus far we have raised 0.2% of our goal.
Funds shall remain deposited in bank until majority of $50,000. goal is
reached, at which time finishing work will begin.
Donating
and Contact:
We need to raise US$50,000. The PTCA
is organizing this project. It is a federally recognized 501(c)(3)
non-profit corporation so
your donation is tax deductible. Documentation for applicable
non-profit tax filing status available upon request. Your donation
helps tremendously, any
size;
$5. $10. $50. $100. $500. $1,000.
$5,000. $10,000.
Please, for the many wonderful, though understandably weary, children
of the West
Bank, donate today. One way is to write a check to Port Townsend Carousel Association,
mail
to PTCA, 843
53rd Street, Port Townsend WA 98368-1504 or use the secure
PayPal button below at left, you don't need a PayPal account to use
this:
Can't afford to donate money?
Help with your time, we need: organizational skills such as; secretary,
web design, graphic artist, photo and video tech, outreach, woodwork,
decorative painting,
logistics, etc. Contact Bill at ptca360@gmail.com
for details, or call: 360-531-2812 Thank You!
FIRST THIS CAROUSEL
PHOTOS: MGR#10 - Semi-portable carousel
with
wooden center pole. 20 foot
diameter. 15 riders.
With expert guidance the scenic
panels will be painted, stenciled and
decorated by the children and adults of the receiving community.
this is a semi-portable carousel with
a traditional wooden centerpole 12
feet tall (3.7 meters).
This carousel needs a 30'+ (9.2+
meters) diameter pavilion, that is, a
roof to protect it from the sun and rain.
See graphic at top of this page, a version of that kind of pavilion
must be made. Lenny and Joe's Fishtale Drive-In
in Madison CT on Long Island Sound is the home of sister carousel MGR
#9.
View of carousel #10
without scenic panels, shows double swan chariot, ring-catch stand is
on far right,
in this photo swing seats are not in place.
View of carousel #10 with
unpainted scenic panels in place, clownface ring-target is on far right,
swing seats shown in this photo.
Why Carousels for Palestine?
Childhood is a forever
experience that comes only once in a lifetime, one needs to experience
and know this wonderful energy in order to share it and carry it
through a lifetime. Childhood, especially early childhood, is the most
influential part of a human's life. Children and parents must be
nurtured and supported by society especially well during this crucial
period. The children and families of Gaza and the West Bank have been
experiencing significant disruption to social order and other human
fabrics which make up a healthy individual's worldview experiences.
The Port Townsend Carousel Association, in concert with the experience
and expertise of other like-minded groups, is reaching out to the
Middle East region, specifically the Palestinian community. We offer a
simple, durable, wooden, traditional "flying horses" carousel, the same
type which has brought hours and days of fun and joy to so many
children here in Port Townsend to do the same thing in a Palestinian
community.
The PTCA and friends will put this together, slowly and surely, make it
ready (except for the scenic panel painting and pavilion which will
happen on site) and ship it across the seas to Israel/Palestine. This
is the message, children and childhood counts, big time! Watch us and
see. Please help and join in on the change this will bring. Thank you.
Helpful Links:
NEWS / VIEWS
1 Mondoweiss
2 Electronic Intifada
3 If Americans Knew
4 Active Stills
5 Fair Observer
6 Jewish Voice for
Peace
7 Council on American-Islamic
Relations
8 Canary Mission
9 International Solidarity
Movement
10 End the Occupation
11 Anti-Defamation League
12 Boycott, Divestment and
Sanctions
13 United with Israel
14 Defense for Children
International - Palestine
15 International Solidarity
Movement
16
Human Rights Watch - Palestine
RELIEF GROUPS
1
Playgrounds for Palestine
2 Palestine Children's Relief Fund
3 Caritas Jerusalem
4 American Near East Refugee Aid
- ANERA
5 Middle East Children's
Alliance MECA
CAROUSEL HISTORY
1 Origins of
the Carousel
2 Carousel on
Wikipedia
3 History of the
Carousel
4 Preferred Text for Upcoming
PTCA Video
5
Ring Catching Game Etiquette
THEN THIS CAROUSEL IS
NEXT:
After
the successful completion of the above MGR#10
project (a semi-portable carousel), it is our intention to proceed
similarly with a new program to introduce
MGR#8
(a
fully portable carousel) within the Palestinian community, preferably
Gaza. It is
complete and ready to go and does not need a pavilion, see video. It
will similarly be
shipped, delivered and set-up, thus making for two new carousels in the
region.
BELOW: MGR#8 - Portable 15 rider carousel
with
steel centerpole on trailer
wheels.
This carousel is mounted on a trailer
and is easily portable.
It has a
canopy top (not shown here) for sun and rain
protection.
View of carousel #8 at PT
Wooden Boat Festival, video link below via Youtube.
October 7, 2015
