Nederland, CO

Carousel of Happiness

Where else but Nederland CO could you find a place called the Carousel of Happiness? Nederland is a small community (approximately 1,500 residents) about 15 miles outside of the college town of Boulder, home to the University of Colorado, and 50 miles northwest of Denver.

Even more than most college towns, the Republic of Boulder is known for its laid-back, pot-smoking, peace-nik mentality. It is often referred to as 40 square miles surrounded by reality. A building moratorium in Boulder has kept the town small and the prices high, so people have filtered into neighboring areas.

From Boulder you take a gorgeous winding mountain road with breathtaking scenery. As you drop down into the town of Nederland, you are greeted by a glorious reservoir at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, and a town so charming it can make your heart ache. In the core of this bewitching town is an enchanted place called the Carousel of Happiness.

While he was a Marine in Viet Nam, Scott Harrison's dream of having a carousel in the mountains sustained him. After his return, he spent 26 years lovingly creating new wooden animals and decorations to refurbish a 1910 William F. Mangels and Charles Looff carousel.

The original carousel survived three fires and was placed in storage. The animals were sold separately and the frame was ready for salvage in 1986 when Scott Harrison rescued it yet again. He carved his own animals to bring this masterpiece back to glory. The animals were carved from basswood which comes from the Linden tree, over a period of 26 years.

The land on which the Carousel of Happiness now rests was donated, as were the the engineering and excavations costs, by the generousity of the Guercio Family and Caribou Companies. A fascinating and magical find in a fascinating and magical town.

The environmentally friendly Carousel of Happiness pavillion is also home to a fully restored 1913 Wurlitzer Band Organ, a puppet theater, and a wonderful gift shop. It is worth a detour to stop in Nederland if you are traveling anywhere near Boulder to experience this one-of-a-kind adventure.

Carousel of Happiness was written by Mimi Foster

Scores of you have emailed, called, and commented to encourage me to write. Since November is NaNoWriMo, I opted to take the challenge and write a book. The premise of NaNoWriMo is to complete 50,000 words of a novel in the month of November. It is an internet event, but also includes "meet ups" in your local area.

As someone who only recently started writing, it has been a fun challenge ~ the operative word being 'challenge.' The setting for my novel is a little town outside of Boulder, Colorado (where I went to college) called Nederland. When I was in college in the early 70s, Nederland was known as a Hippie Hangout. (The title of the BOOK is not "Nederland - Where Hippies Grow Old" ~ that is just the setting and the title of this post :) )

Wanting to research the area to have a better feel than what my 40-year-memory provided, my husband and I decided to take yesterday and play in Nederland, about 100 miles from Colorado Springs. It was unimaginably enjoyable and BEAUTIFUL. No longer just an escape for Jerry Garcia fans, it was a beautiful mixture of mountain chalets overlooking Barker Reservoir, and small cabins that are so popular in the foothills of Colorado.

But rather than telling you about it, I'd love to show you some of what we experienced in this charming town. (Music is from 1971 [when I first moved to Boulder] by Jerry Garcia, Grace Slick and David Crosby ~ Mountain Home)

Nederland ~ Where Hippies Grow Old was written by Mimi Foster

Well, one way to do it is when he dies you keep him frozen on ice. That's how Frozen Dead Guy Days got it's name. Every year on the first full weekend in March (burrrrrr....) Nederland Colorado celebrates "Grandpa Bredo" who supposedly is still kept on ice in the Tuff Shed. His grandson, a Norwegian immigrant brought his deceased "Gradpa Bredo" to Nederland Colorado in 1989 where his body lies frozen in a shed (at -109F) behind his daughter's old house. I've heard it said that Trygue (the grandson) wasn't aware of American taboos about storing deceased relatives with yard tools...anyway Trygue was finally deported by the US government (not because of his grandfather..), and the City of Nederland Colorado grandfathered in Grandpa Bredo, against all odds, and Grandpa is allowed to remain interned in the Tuff Shed until they discover a cure for being dead.

Find out more about Nederland, Colorado.