A visit to the Lakeside Park Carousel in Port Dalhousie, St. Catharines - 5 June 2011

I had a chance to visit Lakeside Park in Port Dalhousie this past Sunday morning. It was a wonderful day, sunny and not too warm with a pleasant breeze.

 It was still early, 10:30 a.m. or so when I arrived and there were relatively few cars in the park's spacious parking lot. Families and young and older folks were walking about as I wandered over to the carousel. As you can see from the photos, this historic carousel is protected from the sun and elements by a special purpose, human scale structure.

As I walked up to the young lady at the ticket station, I was shocked and delighted to see that the ride was still only 5 cents. This is largely due to the volunteers who maintain the carousel, The Friends of the Carousel. And friends they are.

 The carousel is in wonderful condition. The colours on the carved figures are bright and the entire facility is in a wonderfully welcome condition.

 As you can see in the video and photos, there was a wide age mix of very well behaved people who rode the carousel and all were enjoying themselves.

 For more information on this wonderful human-scale attraction, please visit the City of St. Catharines' carousel web page (http://www.stcatharines.ca/en/experiencein/LakesideParkCarousel.asp).
The carousel is available for parties and special events, call 905-688-5601 ext 1926 for details.
I encourage residents and visitors to visit the carousel when they can. The carved animals need to be ridden and the trip down memory lane will be wonderful for the older among us and the youth can make some memories. Go have a ride or just watch people have a really good time. You will find that you are grinning from ear to ear. I was.
Last but not least, if you are able, please donate to the donation jar. I am sure that your donations will be put to good use. If you have comments or would like to have a review of a feature here in the Niagara Region, please email us.