Summer, 2008 -- The Beginning

ˇ        The summer of 2008 was the beginning of a turning point for the Paragon Carousel.  In August 2008, at about the same time that the National Trust approached the Carousel to submit a preliminary application, a supporter of the Carousel sent a letter to the Hull Times questioning the management of the Carousel.  Even as the controversy surfaced, painting of the Clock Tower building was begun by prisoners under the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.  The loss of its long-time chairperson, poor summer weather, the economic decline, and the on-going debt burden all contributed to the Carousel running out of money by the end of 2008.  Reaching out to past donors, asking companies for a grace period on bills due, laying off staff who continued to help, and a personal loan got the Carousel through the winter. 

ˇ        During this time, the board of the Friends of the Paragon Carousel has become stronger.  Carl Katzeff, who had been with the board from its start in 1996, was elected chairperson.  He reached out to the Hull Times to establish credibility and transparency.  Judeth Van Hamm, who had led previous efforts to save the Carousel, offered to help with the Partners in Preservation application and eventually joined the board.  Judeth suggested asking past donors to help pay off the debt.  At a fundraising party, Judeth asked Marie Schleiff if she would serve on the board.  Both Marie and her husband Bill have become active.  Marie and Bill bring vivacious spirit as retired teachers and as business owners.  At the suggestion of James Hardison, Carousel restoration artist and curator, Larry Hand, editor of a Harvard University newsletter, also joined the board.  After becoming involved with PiP (see below), Dennis Zaia joined the board.

ˇ        Carl asked Judeth to invite Dennis Zaia to help with building an email network for the Partners in Preservation effort.  Dennis, who had been president of the Hull-Nantasket Chamber of Commerce when the Carousel was saved in 1996, understood the importance of the Carousel to the town.  He put a letter in the Hull Times inviting people to help with the Carousel.

February 2009 PiP Training—James Hardison, Judeth Van Hamm, and Dennis Zaia attended the training.  They settled on a theme of “preserving old-fashioned fun” and scoped out the main activities for the marketing campaign.  A series of articles in the Hull Times began with Dennis Zaia’s announcement of his interest in helping the Carousel and calling others to join him and an announcement that the Carousel was under consideration for inclusion in the Partners in Preservation program.

April 11-12, 2009 On Easter weekend, the Paragon Carousel opened for the season, manned by volunteers who were trained and assisted by James Hardison.  For the two weeks before the opening, partner restaurants were offered free tickets to the Carousel to give one per group of patrons, to be redeemed by turning them in with email addresses on them. Maintaining tradition, on Saturday there were photos with the Easter Bunny, with Bill Schleiff as Bunny and board member David Bugé as photographer.  On Sunday there was an Easter Egg Hunt with candy-filled plastic Easter eggs.  The turnout was double that of the previous year.

April 14, 2009: PiP announcement and first days

ˇ        April 14 Board members Gary Bloch, David Buge, and Judeth Van Hamm along with Jim Stanley and his children Christian and Alison, Scouts who had volunteered during the Carousel clean-up, attended the Partners in Preservation announcement at Faneuil Hall.  On the way back to the ferry, they picked up three boxes with 21,000 buckslips weighing 120 lbs in a rolling shopping cart which Gary pulled. Jim Allison and Judeth Van Hamm gave a stranger from Texas a quick tour of Hull—and asked him to vote—as Jim brought the boxes to Judeth’s home.  That afternoon Judeth rode her electric-assist bicycle with its trailer to take one of the boxes to Greg Sandanato’s FedEx to be sent to Holliston so the buckslips could go out with the Hull Light bills, half the next day and half two weeks later. 

ˇ        Judeth Van Hamm returned to the ferry early the next morning to distribute buckslips to commuters.  She also gave them to teachers entering the High School and Elementary School. 

ˇ        The large PiP poster went to the Post Office with buckslips.  Judeth and Dennis Zaia began dropping off buckslips along the main streets—at U.S. Coast Guard Station Pt. Allerton, Hull Public Library, stores, and Town Hall.   The rest of the buckslips went to the Carousel to be given to visitors.

ˇ        The email campaign began on April 14.  Dennis Zaia sent emails from the Friends of the Paragon Carousel using the Constant Contact list, which had about 190 people on it.  On the 15^th, at the Elementary School, Judeth Van Hamm spoke with Debbie Angelis who suggested sending a notice out through the Town employees CONNECT system.  Debbie later forwarded an email from Judeth to Maggie Ollerhead, Hull webmaster who sent it to all Town of Hull employees.  Judeth sent emails to 500 people on her Sustainable South Shore network, 50 family members across the U.S., and about 200 other friends with connections to Hull.  She asked friends at Save the Harbor Save the Bay and the Boston Harbor National Park to forward emails. 

ˇ        Hull Community TV began scrolling voting messages across the screen.

ˇ        Board member David Bugé contacted the Carousel News, which posted a link to Partners in Preservation on its website, and the National Carousel Association, which announced news about the Partners in Preservation competition on its website by April 17.

ˇ        On April 18, Judeth Van Hamm handed out about 400 mini-posters to attendees at the Sustainable Living Festival held at a building on the beach near the Paragon Carousel.

Second PiP week

ˇ        The Carousel was now open for weekends.  Special Carousel tickets gave information on how to vote and collected email addresses.  The volunteers who operated the Carousel also handed out buckslips.  A volunteer entered the email addresses into the Constant Contact system.

ˇ        On April 19 volunteers pinned letters on the Scouts’ banner, which the Hull Light Plant then hung across Nantasket Avenue during the week.

ˇ        Information about how to vote went up on the community message board at the Hull Redevelopment Authority property.

Media coverage 2009

ˇ        Starting in February, The Hull Times, which had covered the Carousel’s management challenges, ran stories with great photographs about Dennis Zaia’s call for volunteers, “A Merry Wish: Activist Vows to Help Carousel Thrive,” preliminary information about the Partners in Preservation program, “Historic Hull Landmark Could be ‘On the Money,’” work to be done, “Tons to Do before Carousel Can Open in April: Activist Details List of Basic Needs,” running out of money, “Not Enough Money to Go Around: Carousel Can’t Pay Bills, Lays Off Staff,” the volunteer work, “Help Wanted,” “Pony Up a Few Hours at Saturday’s Cleanup” and “Carousel Clean as a Whistle and Ready for New Paint,” its opening, “Easter Bunny’s Visit Opens Paragon Carousel’s Season”, the Partners in Preservation program, “Carousel May Get Preservation Grant” and “Online Votes Can Open the Door to Carousel Funding,” the Open House Weekend, “Carousel Open House a Merry Time,” and winning the popular vote, “Online Votes Help Carousel Win $100K Restoration Grant,”  followed by a “Thank You” letter to the editor.

ˇ        The Boston Globe South ran articles about the volunteer work, “Volunteers Work to Restore Historic Carousel in Hull,” the Partners in Preservation Program, “Preservation Projects Compete for Preservation Funds Via Online Voting,” and the Carousel’s win, “Hull’s Carousel Wins a Restorative Round,” along with letters to the editor about the Carousel. 

ˇ        The Patriot Ledger featured the Carousel in stories that included “Volunteers Help Refurbish Hull’s Paragon Carousel,” “Easter Bunny to Visit Paragon Carousel,” “Horsing around in Hull” about the clean up and open house, “Log On and Vote for Local Historic Restoration Projects,” “Hull Carousel’s New Season Gets Going with Festivities May 2-3,” “Historic South Shore Sites Want Your Vote—and $100,000,” “Open House at Paragon Carousel,” ‘HEARD IN THE HALLS: Indie band with local ties throws weight behind carousel’s effort to grab the brass ring,” “Hull’s Paragon Carousel Wins $100,000 in Preservation Contest,” and “Backers Thrilled that Hull’s Carousel Wins Popular Vote, $100,000 Grant.”

ˇ         On May 18, the Carousel’s Social Networking Volunteer reported, “Please be sure to let PiP know about your use of Twitter, Facebook, and other social media tools. I've been tracking the twitter clicks on bit.ly - just the links I posted through the ParagonCarousel twitter account. Maybe a couple of hundred clicks just from Twitter alone - not bad.”

ˇ        Right on time for the conclusion of the Partners in Preservation program, on May 18, the Channel 5 TV Chronicle program about the South Shore led off with an interview with Dennis Zaia at the Paragon Carousel.

The Open House weekend worked superbly for marketing and outreach.

ˇ        Publicity for the Open House weekend included emails, beautiful posters, and press releases.  The Hull Times, Boston Globe South and the Patriot Ledger ran stories about the Carousel. 

ˇ        The Friends of the Paragon Carousel board members appeared at a Hull Selectmen’s meeting, which was televised, to talk about the Partners in Preservation contest and the Open House Weekend.

ˇ         With permission from the National Trust, the board used the $250 from Partners in Preservation for a “banner” to pay Carousel restoration artisan James Hardison, who is also a signmaker, to create four signs at the Carousel.

ˇ        During the Open House, 1500+ visitors took 5000+ rides, including 60+ adults who joined in on the Midnight Ride.  Visitors came from 30+ towns and cities, including from other states. While the rides were free,  people spent $3000 in the gift shop

ˇ        500+ new voters enrolled to vote at www.partnersinpreservation .  Four lap tops for voting were set up in the gift shop.

ˇ        We asked people to write their email addresses on their free ride tickets and then Dennis Zaia drew tickets for donated raffle items every hour.  These tickets are how we knew how many people attended.  Eventually we will add the email addresses to the Constant Contact list.

ˇ        We were blessed with appropriate weather.  It stayed dry till the last moments of Sunday.  The intermittent clouds meant that beach parking spaces were available.

ˇ        The Paragon Carousel moved into the lead in the voting after the weekend. 

We recognize that your participation in PiP has had an impact on your organization.  Please tell us what has resulted from your participation -- the good, the bad, the unexpected. Do you expect your participation to have lasting results?

Participation in Partners in Preservation has turned the Paragon Carousel around (pun intended). 

There is tremendous goodwill for the Carousel. 

ˇ        People are delighted to be part of helping the Carousel win.

ˇ        Memories shared through the photos and stories posted on the PiP web site have shown how the Carousel touches so many people. 

ˇ        Ridership at the Carousel has increased over last year.

In working on the Open House, the Carousel built partnerships:

ˇ        75+ volunteers worked to keep the open house going, including two clowns making balloon toys and three face-painters on Sunday afternoon

ˇ        Hull Performing Arts members read carousel stories at three story-hours

ˇ        4 restaurants, the arcade and mini-golf stayed open till 1 a.m. to be part of the midnight adventure

ˇ        Mass Bay Lines provided a ferry from Boston’s Long Wharf to Nantasket Pier

Many of the Open House activities can be incorporated in Carousel operation and future events.

ˇ        We sold carousel tickets in the gift shop

ˇ        The theme of “old-fashioned fun” (which we chose during the training at the Lenox Hotel) created a festive atmosphere on the lawn and sidewalk around the carousel: hop-scotch, jump rope, hula-hoops, checkers, coloring a paper carousel, rock-scissors-paper, and reading stories.

ˇ        People lined up for free face-painting and the clowns’ balloons

ˇ        The Saturday evening hours and midnight ride provided a special time for teens and adults

Improving public transportation to the Paragon Carousel is one of the challenges we continue to be interested in.  The Town of Hull has applied for a grant to reestablish weekend ferry service from Hull to Nantasket Pier.  The ferry for the Open House could have used more and earlier publicity in the Boston area.

Has participating in PiP provided any opportunity to reach a broader audience or talk more broadly about your sites needs?  If so, do you plan on actively pursuing these opportunities?  How? 

We will continue to provide publicity and transparency as the doors are installed and windows repaired.  

As we publicize the progress on the doors and windows, we hope to engage the people who voted and spread the word in a campaign to pay off the debt.

1. As we did with PiP, publicize through email and media
2. Message:  If everyone who voted becomes a member of the Friends of the Paragon Carousel, the mortgage is paid off.

ˇ        Benefits of being a member:

ˇ        News so you can follow the Partners in Preservation grant project.  Watch the doors being installed and the windows restored. 

ˇ        Decal for your car, door, or desk.  Let others know that you are a Friend of the Paragon Carousel.  No matter where you live, someone may say, “I voted, too!”

ˇ        Benefits to the Carousel:

ˇ        Assure that the Carousel is permanently saved

ˇ        Free up $35,000 a year that has been going into servicing the mortgage. Repair the stucco on the Carousel building that was damaged when the Carousel was moved.

3.      Use what we learned from the Open House to have a special event for the installation of the first doors to thank people and kick off the campaign

4.      Learn from the excitement of watching progress online for PiP

ˇ        Set a goal date

ˇ        Post dollars online daily

ˇ        Make history: Have an online place for photos and stories.  Publish the photos and stories, along with the Carousel’s history in a book ready for the holidays

Thank you from the paragon carousel