Outer-row Jumper - Ambassador
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Carver: Salem
Painters: Lauren Baker, Barb Levers & Linda Marfleet
Size: 48" chest to rump
Status: finished
Sponsor: Mrs. Paige Stahl
During the Golden Age of Carousels, flag horses were often found riding the outer-ring of merry-go-rounds. Lauren Baker has designed a stunning flag horse for the Fort Edmonton Park Carousel, carrying not one but two flags; one Canadian, the other American. Aptly named Ambassador, it was the hope of the Foundation that a sponsor would be found for the horse who had both Canadian and American roots.
In the early 1990s, the community of Missoula, Montana carved the first wooden carousel in the United States since the Depression. Capturing the imagination of carousel enthusiasts around the world, it has been used as a model for the construction of community carousels ever since. Riding A Carousel For Missoula is a beautiful steed that was a gift from four carvers in Calgary, Alberta. In 2001 the community of Salem, Oregon opened a new carousel carrying a horse named Big Sky, a gift from Missoula carvers. The carousel community is indeed a generous one.
At the spring 2002 National Carousel Association Technical Conference in Washington State, representatives from Salem, Oregon's Riverfront Carousel offered to carve a horse for the Edmonton merry-go-round. Carvers there took us up immediately on the suggestion that they carve Ambassador. Emulating his community's gift to us, Dan Koonce of Salem Wood Products was so taken with the project that he offered to block-up Ambassador at cost.
Completing the circle of international friendship and generosity, Mrs. Paige Stahl, an Edmontonian, has chosen Ambassador to sponsor. With Oregon roots, and friends still there to watch over Ambassador as he emerges from his wooden blocks, a most exciting project is currently underway.