Mecca man completes carousel horse carving
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JOHNSTON – Mecca resident Larry Elliott started working on a carousel horse project six years ago and this year was able to get it completed for public display at the Johnston Senior Center.
The 3.5 feet high and 4.5 feet long wood carousel horse will be on display at the senior center, where visitors will have the opportunity to submit names for the horse. Elliott has been woodcarving since the early 1980s.
“I was self taught and help out at the woodcarving class on Wednesdays at the Johnston Senior Center,” Elliott, who is on the senior center’s board of directors, said.
He said his first piece was a carved apple in 1983, and he has since progressed from small decorative items to carousel horses and other full‑size pieces.
He said he had a friend, Tim Beaumont, who started the carousel horse but because of a shoulder injury could not finish it. He decided to let Elliott finish it.
“He asked me if I wanted to finish the project so I brought it to my home. I started working on it and then it sat in a box for six years because I was working on other projects. In the fall of 2024 I decided to finish the carousel horse,” Elliott said.
Elliott said the project was on his bucket list.
“Those in the woodcarving class saw what I did and asked me questions about the project,” he said.
He said he has put in 800 hours for the past two years with more than 40 hours spent painting the carousel horse. Elliott said he looked at pictures of horses and even went to take photos of horses at a neighbor’s property to see how to do the mouth.
“There is a horse across the street so I took photos so that the teeth and the mouth looked realistic. I also wanted to make sure I got the colors right for the horse to make it look unique,” Elliott said.
He said the carousel horse is about half the size of one on a carnival ride. The horse sits on a rocking platform but can also be placed on a flat platform. The horse has a pole through it and it takes two people to move since it weighs 65 pounds.
Elliott is an active member of the Johnston Senior Center's woodcarving group, which meets weekly and includes activities like woodcarving, chip carving and wood burning.
He said he and his wife will choose the name of the horse from the entries submitted at the senior center.
He plans to contact officials from the Trumbull Art Gallery to see if they would be interested in displaying it.
Elliott worked as an engineer from 1967 to 2009 at Delphi Packard before retiring. He graduated from Lakeview High School and grew up in Bazetta.
Bob Woofter of Cortland, who also is part of the woodcarving class, said everyone was impressed by Elliott’s project.
“I’m very proud of Larry’s accomplishment. It looks outstanding. He has done so many carvings and has really mastered the craft. That carousel horse is a major highlight of his woodcarving career,” Woofter said.
He said he hopes the public will come to the center to see the carousel horse. Woofter said he likes how the horse is able to be rocked and looks like it would be on a carousel at an amusement park.