East Passyunk volunteers help decorate Laurel Hill Mansion
In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, volunteers at the East Passyunk Community Center in South Philadelphia were busy crafting decorations for Laurel Hill Mansion, a historic house in Fairmount Park.
Each year the organization that manages Laurel Hill, the Women for Greater Philadelphia, partners with a city recreation center to incorporate the work of local residents into the holiday decorations. This year, Laurel Hill’s decorating theme was “Very Philly Fun.” One of the rooms celebrated Philadelphia’s tradition of carousel-making. Some of the most well-known carousels in the United States were built in Philadelphia’s Germantown neighborhood from 1867 through the 1930s.
Children from the Center’s after school program colored and cut out elaborate carousel animals. These were installed above the “dado” (chair rail) that circles the room. Since the room has hexagonal-shaped bays, the animals seemed to move around the room, as if they were part of a real carousel.
East Passyunk Senior Group member Concetta Turner loaned the house a needlework carousel horse she created. When she saw it on the wall of the main room in the house she remarked, “it feels like it belongs there!” She is shown proudly pointing to her handiwork, below.
Volunteer Dolores Marino used her personal cutting machine to craft carousel-horse ornaments from gold chipboard for the 14′ high Christmas tree.
Other volunteers from East Passyunk and the Women for Greater Philadelphia created carousel-animal ornaments using images of actual animals sculpted 100 years ago by Philadelphia carvers.
The finished tree was topped by bunting, which represents the canopies that covered carousels, protecting them from the elements.
Kudos to the volunteers at East Passyunk Community Center, and to the Women of Greater Philadelphia, for a job well done!