Every summer, we Brooklynites take advantage of our nearness to Coney Island--that legendary Working Man's Riviera on the Atlantic Shore in our hometown--and make a "pilgrimage" to the historic Gebruder Bruder carousel organ on Stillwell Avenue. Ed Radonic, whose grandfather punched rolls for the instrument years ago, gave us a stimulating presentation on our August 28 visit.
We also rode (inter alia) the Wonder Wheel, the Spook-O-Rama, and the Cyclone! (Well, some of us rode the Cyclone. Yours truly did it once and finds that sufficient.) We finished the day at Nathan's eating their famous hot dogs and clam strips and drinking Rheingold beer.
The core of the day, though, was to visit the B and B Carousel and witness to its present ownership, whose interest is less than keen, about the importance of its antique organ. Though the poor thing was out of tune and the percussion traps didn't all fire correctly, it still sang gaily as we dropped our organist dignity and rode the merry-go-round! |
