{"id":214694,"date":"2025-06-25T16:19:47","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T20:19:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/?p=214694"},"modified":"2025-06-25T16:20:03","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T20:20:03","slug":"this-little-tennessee-town-welcomes-a-once-in-a-century-carousel-of-dreams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/articles\/this-little-tennessee-town-welcomes-a-once-in-a-century-carousel-of-dreams","title":{"rendered":"This Little Tennessee Town Welcomes a Once-in-a-Century Carousel of Dreams"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>For decades, Ken Means had imagined this day. When organ music began to play, a platform started to spin, and the animals he had carved over the last thirty years began to move, he was overcome with emotion.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<!-- Promo shortcode start --><div id=\"nlf-1c\" class=\"gg-promo topic-weddings\"><div class=\"grid\"><div class=\"left\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/promos\/weddings.jpg\" alt=\"decorated wedding table\"><\/div><div class=\"right\"><form id=\"nlf-1\" method=\"post\" class=\"form\" action=\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/newsletters\/\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"gg_form_submit\" value=\"nlf-1\"><div class=\"hed\">Get G&G Weddings<\/div><div class=\"dek\">Sign up to be among the first to know about G&amp;G Weddings&mdash;a new digital offering launching November 1.<\/div><div class=\"action two-items\"><div class=\"input-left\"><input type=\"text\" name=\"email\" class=\"email-input\" value=\"\" placeholder=\"you@example.com\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"group_id\" value=\"150868468\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"shortcode_form\" value=\"nlf-1\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"prev_page_id\" value=\"214694\"><\/div><div class=\"gform_footer\"><button class=\"g-recaptcha button button-primary after-email\" data-sitekey=\"6Lc-hRkaAAAAAI84hbB81Jl48pGievR_C_UgHdnY\" data-callback=\"on_submit_nlf_1\" data-action=\"submit\">Sign Up<\/button><script>function on_submit_nlf_1(token) {document.getElementById(\"nlf-1\").submit();}<\/script><\/div><\/div><div class=\"captcha-terms\"><p>This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google <a href=\"https:\/\/policies.google.com\/privacy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Privacy Policy<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/policies.google.com\/terms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p><\/div><\/form><\/div><\/div><\/div><!-- Promo shortcode end -->\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know how to describe it,\u201d says the woodcarver and painter who designed the new <a href=\"https:\/\/factoryatfranklin.com\/carousel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Carousel of Dreams<\/a> that recently opened in Franklin, Tennessee. \u201cAs an artist, I wanted to create something that would be useful instead of hanging in a gallery. To see little kids just running all around, having a great time and the folks laughing. It\u2019s just what we meant for it to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The merry-go-round, which opened over Memorial Day weekend in the <a href=\"https:\/\/factoryatfranklin.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Factory at Franklin<\/a>, has generated excitement far and wide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"734\" height=\"1100\" src=\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Ken-Means-Treeline-Bamboo-photography-1-734x1100.jpg\" alt=\"A man stands by a carousel\" class=\"wp-image-214696\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Ken-Means-Treeline-Bamboo-photography-1-734x1100.jpg 734w, https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Ken-Means-Treeline-Bamboo-photography-1-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Ken-Means-Treeline-Bamboo-photography-1-768x1151.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Ken-Means-Treeline-Bamboo-photography-1-800x1200.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 734px) 100vw, 734px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Ken Means.<\/figcaption><figcaption class=\"image-credit\" style=\"text-align:right;\">photo: Treeline Bamboo Photography<\/figcaption><div class=\"caption\">Ken Means.<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis is a phenomenal feat: the first hand-carved carousel produced by one person in over one hundred years,\u201d says Abigail Bassett, a carousel scholar and former employee of the Carousel Museum in Bristol, Connecticut. \u201cPeople don\u2019t understand what goes into a hand-carved animal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Merry-go-rounds, she notes, flourished during what has been called the Golden Age of Carousels in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when thousands operated across the country. Since then they have been steadily disappearing, with only about two hundred still in use today.<\/p><div id=\"div-gpt-ad-2839488\" class=\"ad-container in-line-ad mobile inContent\" data-ad-size-mapping=\"inContent\" data-ad-path=\"\/68000349\/in-between-modules\" data-ad-sizes=\"[ [336, 280], [300, 250], [300, 50] ]\" data-ad-channel=\"\" data-ad-type=\"In-between Modules\" data-page-terms=\"\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-6314221\" class=\"ad-container in-line-ad tablet inContent\" data-ad-size-mapping=\"inContent\" data-ad-path=\"\/68000349\/in-between-modules\" data-ad-sizes=\"[ [336, 280], [300, 250], [300, 50] ]\" data-ad-channel=\"\" data-ad-type=\"In-between Modules\" data-page-terms=\"\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-2211926\" class=\"ad-container in-line-ad desktop inContent\" data-ad-size-mapping=\"inContent\" data-ad-path=\"\/68000349\/in-between-modules\" data-ad-sizes=\"[ [336, 280], [300, 250], [300, 50] ]\" data-ad-channel=\"\" data-ad-type=\"In-between Modules\" data-page-terms=\"\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<p>Most modern carousels feature fiberglass figures, and it\u2019s not the same. \u201cThey lack soul,\u201d Bassett says. \u201cIt\u2019s totally different on a real carousel. You can feel the artistry when you touch the animal. It\u2019s not a hollow piece of plastic. It\u2019s a real thing you\u2019re on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Indeed, Means\u2019s thirty-two animals, which are mostly carved from basswood, stand out for their intricate details, from bejeweled horses with flower garlands to tropical foliage decorating his tiger. His giraffe mother and baby tower above the menagerie, while his eight-foot-long lion, which took a year to carve, poses in mid howl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s also a braying donkey and leaping jack rabbit, joining a bear, deer, dragon, goat, husky, rooster, seahorse and zebra. But the artist\u2019s six-year-old grandson\u2019s favorite character is the toad. \u201cWe can\u2019t talk him into riding anything else.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For Means, who is eighty-four, the ride was decades in the making. He started his career painting billboards and theatrical sets in Los Angeles. More than thirty years ago he carved a rocking horse Christmas present for his children, which inspired him to make more. Eventually he had created a stable of more than two dozen carousel animals. But they needed a home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The dream started to take shape in 2019 after he moved from Oregon to Tennessee to be near one of his daughters. He settled into a glass-enclosed studio in the <a href=\"https:\/\/factoryatfranklin.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Factory at Franklin<\/a>\u2014a former stove manufacturing plant that\u2019s now a shopping and entertainment complex\u2014and continued to carve. Visitors were so fascinated that the Factory eventually asked him to build a carousel.<\/p><div id=\"div-gpt-ad-4492502\" class=\"ad-container in-line-ad mobile inContent\" data-ad-size-mapping=\"inContent\" data-ad-path=\"\/68000349\/in-between-modules\" data-ad-sizes=\"[ [336, 280], [300, 250], [300, 50] ]\" data-ad-channel=\"\" data-ad-type=\"In-between Modules\" data-page-terms=\"\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-6487794\" class=\"ad-container in-line-ad tablet inContent\" data-ad-size-mapping=\"inContent\" data-ad-path=\"\/68000349\/in-between-modules\" data-ad-sizes=\"[ [336, 280], [300, 250], [300, 50] ]\" data-ad-channel=\"\" data-ad-type=\"In-between Modules\" data-page-terms=\"\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-6247437\" class=\"ad-container in-line-ad desktop inContent\" data-ad-size-mapping=\"inContent\" data-ad-path=\"\/68000349\/in-between-modules\" data-ad-sizes=\"[ [336, 280], [300, 250], [300, 50] ]\" data-ad-channel=\"\" data-ad-type=\"In-between Modules\" data-page-terms=\"\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<p>It was a way to honor his work and support the community, says Allen Arender, chief development officer with Holladay Properties, which owns the Factory. He helped create a nonprofit to manage the ride, with proceeds from the $5 tickets supporting local charities. In its first month, thousands of customers have already taken the merry-go-round for a spin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPeople are overwhelmed when they see it for the first time because it&#8217;s so much more spectacular than you can envision,\u201d he says. \u201cIt is quite remarkable that something was created in pieces over thirty years, guided by a dream but no detailed plan, and it all fits together so perfectly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1100\" height=\"955\" src=\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Ken-Betty-Means-Treeline-Bamboo-photography-1100x955.jpg\" alt=\"An older couple smiles on a carousel\" class=\"wp-image-214698\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Ken-Betty-Means-Treeline-Bamboo-photography-1100x955.jpg 1100w, https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Ken-Betty-Means-Treeline-Bamboo-photography-300x261.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Ken-Betty-Means-Treeline-Bamboo-photography-768x667.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Ken-Betty-Means-Treeline-Bamboo-photography-1382x1200.jpg 1382w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Ken with his wife, Betty.<\/figcaption><figcaption class=\"image-credit\" style=\"text-align:right;\">photo: Treeline Bamboo Photography<\/figcaption><div class=\"caption\">Ken with his wife, Betty.<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Means\u2019s biggest supporter has been his wife, Betty. Perhaps it shouldn\u2019t be a surprise. On their first date he took her to Los Angeles\u2019s Griffith Park\u2014to ride a carousel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the years, she worked on the ride, helping shape animals and fashioning the stained glass that\u2019s part of the carousel structure. And she too is overwhelmed by the finished project. \u201cIt\u2019s the kind of thing where you pinch yourself,\u201d she says. \u201cYou see it going around and it\u2019s amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><div id=\"div-gpt-ad-7582767\" class=\"ad-container in-line-ad mobile inContent\" data-ad-size-mapping=\"inContent\" data-ad-path=\"\/68000349\/in-between-modules\" data-ad-sizes=\"[ [336, 280], [300, 250], [300, 50] ]\" data-ad-channel=\"\" data-ad-type=\"In-between Modules\" data-page-terms=\"\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1271370\" class=\"ad-container in-line-ad tablet inContent\" data-ad-size-mapping=\"inContent\" data-ad-path=\"\/68000349\/in-between-modules\" data-ad-sizes=\"[ [336, 280], [300, 250], [300, 50] ]\" data-ad-channel=\"\" data-ad-type=\"In-between Modules\" data-page-terms=\"\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-6626864\" class=\"ad-container in-line-ad desktop inContent\" data-ad-size-mapping=\"inContent\" data-ad-path=\"\/68000349\/in-between-modules\" data-ad-sizes=\"[ [336, 280], [300, 250], [300, 50] ]\" data-ad-channel=\"\" data-ad-type=\"In-between Modules\" data-page-terms=\"\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The first hand-carved carousel produced by one person in over one hundred years is now spinning in Franklin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":214695,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-06-25T20:20:01Z","apple_news_api_id":"b775eca3-9b0f-4e54-abbf-483a79c84541","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-06-25T20:20:01Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/At3Xso5sPTlSrv0g6echFQQ","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1784,1785],"tags":[29653,30211,367,619,30280],"authors":[29872],"issue":[],"recipe-type":[],"class_list":["post-214694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-and-culture","category-travel","tag-art","tag-franklin","tag-tennessee","tag-travel","tag-whats-new","authors-larry-bleiberg"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.4 (Yoast SEO v25.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>This Little Tennessee Town Welcomes a Once-in-a-Century Carousel of Dreams &#8211; 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