• HOURS
  • Saturdays: Noon - 5:00 pm
  • Sundays: Noon - 5:00 pm
  • HOURS
  • Saturdays: Noon - 5:00 pm
  • Sundays: Noon - 5:00 pm

Easter Eggstravaganza Weekend at Silver Beach Carousel! March 30 & 31, 2024

Treasured Friends

 

The Silver Beach Carousel is a very special place brimming with dreams and magical moments. None of the glittering lights, the happy music, the magnificent menagerie or the spinning memories would be possible without the extraordinary dedication and passion of our treasured friends. You’ll find some of their stories here. We hope they will inspire you to live your dreams, too.

He felt most at home in St. Joseph

SB Thunder BlakeIf you were talking about Silver Beach with Robert “Bob” Warren, he was likely to remind you that he once owned the slice of Lake Michigan shoreline. That is, before he transferred it to Berrien County. Bob wanted to make sure the beach was properly developed and could always be enjoyed by the community.

He felt that way about all his work — whether it was his company or not.

As the son-in-law of CEO Charles E. Schultz, Bob led the second generation of local family business LECO with his wife, Elizabeth, until 2016. Thanks to his vision, the company has sales and service representatives on nearly every continent. Today LECO’s innovative analytical equipment for metals, energy, environment, foods and geology are unsurpassed in the industry.

Leading the Way to Happiness

091217 Carousel 303 154According to carousel legend, the lead horse is always the biggest and most decorated figure on the deck. You will find it on the outside row behind the last figure in the circle, a chariot.

True to the legend, the lead horse on the Silver Beach Carousel is a dazzling white figure, with flowing mane and its armored face and breastplate sparkling with 350 colorful jewels. It is a replica of the lead horse on the original Silver Beach Carousel (circa 1910). Bringing up the rear of this magnificent row of figures is the beautiful rocking peacock chariot. The lead horse is fittingly called, “Marcie,” named after one of the most generous and happy leaders that Southwest Michigan has ever known, Marcella “Marcie” Gast Schalon.

Gone Glimmering

DagneMemorial PosterDanceDagne Schoenbach loved carousels almost as much as she loved her husband, Al. As collectors of antique figures, the couple possessed an immense knowledge of the lives and styles of master carvers. This knowledge proved invaluable as they co-designed the Silver Beach Carousel with Carousel Works.

Dagne has since “gone glimmering” – what we say when a friend of carousels dies. But her legacy lives on in every painstakingly carved figure, for no detail was ever too small...

mrwizard5

The Wizard of Silver Beach

A young boy, about six years old, presses his nose against the glass case and his eyes widen. He says to his mother, standing behind him, "Look Mom, that's what it was like in the old days." She smiles as she watches her son peer deeply into the 2-foot by 6-foot model of Silver Beach Amusement Park.

The Song in Our Hearts

alicedonaldsonWe often say that the music in our carousel house is the happiest on earth. So it is with deep indebtedness that we pay tribute to Alice Donaldson who, on April 14, has "gone glimmering." In July 2001, Alice, her late husband, Benjamin Franklin Donaldson, Jr., and their family donated the last band organ to play at Silver Beach Amusement Park (1945-1971) to the Silver Beach Carousel Society. What an invaluable gift it has been for us!

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Get in touch!

(269) 932-1141
333 Broad Street
St. Joseph, MI 49085

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