By Laura Bailey

The galleries of the New England Carousel Museum hold a grand collection of art, history and memorabilia that evoke feelings of nostalgia in visitors.

“When people come to visit the museum, they have a connection to their carousel,” said Morgan Urgo. “We hear: ‘I used to ride with my grandmother’ or ‘My dad used to bring me.’ It’s about trying to identify those childhood memories.”

Urgo has been the executive director of the New England Carousel Museum since 2019.

The museum has focused on education and the preservation of carousel memorabilia since they first opened their doors in 1991. The current staff and volunteers are keeping those traditions alive, as well as growing their audience through mission-driven programs.

“Every Thursday night we have a program,” said Katie Bassett. “We just had our first open mic night; people brought dinner and had fun. We have an adult board game night coming up that I’m excited about, and we’re having a singles trivia night next month.” 

“Some of those programs are just for adults,” continued Bassett, “but we also have some for the kids. Next month, we’re having a ‘Stuffie sleepover.’

“The kids will come in pajamas for a story, then their stuffies will stay for sleepover at the museum. We’ll take pictures of the stuffies doing activities, and they will get picked up in the morning.”

Bassett is the education manager and the newest addition to the museum staff. Since she started at the museum last fall, Bassett has worked to create inclusive programs like “My Grown Up & Me.”

“Toddlers come to the museums with their grown up and explore the museum in a fun way,” said Bassett. “The next one is ‘Animal Find.’ I created a scavenger sheet and when the kids find the animals, there’s a button they can push that makes the animal noise. The interactive things really engage them.” 

“It’s really nice to see young children taking ownership of the museum and being very comfortable,” Urgo added.

The “My Grown Up & Me” program runs every other Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. 

The museum has a fully functional workshop that is currently working to preserve 16 pieces of memorabilia, including three from Lake Compounce. In the golden age of carousels, there were over 4,000 in the United States. Today, they number less than 200. The museum works to preserve these historical pieces and to stoke a love of the artform in the next generation.

“Our previous mission was to preserve carousels for the next generation of carousel lovers,” said Urgo, “and that’s us! We’re the generation that’s going to take carousels into the next phase and keep preserving.”

Laura Bailey can be reached at lbailey@bristoledition.org

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