On Friday of Memorial Day Weekend, Appleton City resident Linda Lampkin opened a new attraction that was familiar to many residents— the carousel that children rode every year at the Appleton City Fair.
Since then, she has had visitors from surrounding communities, including Clinton, and from 12 states.
“It’s kind of fun to keep track of,” she said. “I have a small map that I’m coloring.”
Linda wants people to know if they want to see the carousel in action this year, they should plan to come this month.
Linda acquired the carousel after learning that the traveling carnival that brought rides to the Appleton City Fair every year had closed, due to the death of the owner.
This year, the fair will be Saturday, August 19, at the park. A family-oriented celebration, it features kids’ games, a petting zoo, bounce castles and contests. There’s also a corn hole tournament, a street dance and a parade at 5 p.m.
The carousel will be open from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on August 19, and weekend evenings, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, through Sept. 3, the Sunday of Labor Day weekend.
After purchasing the carousel in 2021, Linda spent a year having a site cleared near the park, on the corner of the 100 block of 4th Street/Hwy. 52 W. She wanted the carousel housed in an octagonal building whose sides open, which she had built. She operates it as a non-profit. The price of a ride is whatever people want to pay, as long as it’s a U.S. paper bill and you don’t want change. The income covers the electric bill.
Linda said she is having egg-shaped ornaments of the carousel made with the animals going around it. Her carousel, circa 2000, is menagerie style, with eight horses and 10 other different animals, including a giraffe, elephant and a zebra. For safety reasons, the weight limit for riders on the animals is 150 pounds, although anyone can sit on benches on the carousel, or stand beside riders who are small. Riders must be suitably clothed and wearing shoes, also for safety reasons — no wet swimsuits, slide-on sandals or flip-flops.
Appleton City is a 40-minute drive from Clinton, taking Hwy. 13 south to the Montrose exit, then following 52 west to the edge of Montrose and following the signs south, then west, to Appleton City. For questions, call 660-476-5857 between 9 a.m and 9 p.m.
