Riding the carousel in Union Park

9/30/2026

Look at that. The giraffe is cocking her head and looking at you with those soft, human eyes, wondering when you’re going to hop up into the saddle. Wow, and she’s standing next to that black racing horse decked out in carnival gear, who is standing next to the bucking zebra with her mouth open in a whinny. And all three are in front of that hopping bunny — who is just behind the sprinting ostrich. Unbelievable.

My granddaughter chooses the panda.

The Heritage Carousel of Des Moines in all its wonder — 16 horses, two rabbits, two zebras, two bears, one tiger, one panda, one ostrich, one giraffe, one stork, one cat, one baby elephant and one sea creature. Am I missing anything?

Planted on the high ground in Union Park, this carousel is 32,000 pounds of pure joy. A kid rides for 50 cents. Smiles are free. 

In a world where AI is beckoning us into a dark alley, where severe storms, drought and weird weather are today’s forecast, where we are all too willing to “other” anyone who doesn’t look like us, talk like us, vote likes us, worship like us or is us — the carousel is a joy-filled gift from heaven, available to one and all. 

“But no matter their colors, the horses all go at the same speed as they circle round and round. They start together. They finish together, too. Nobody is first and nobody is last. Everyone is equal when you ride a carousel.” — Sharon Langley and Amy Nathan, “A Ride to Remember: A Civil Rights Story.”

How did this carousel even happen?

Let’s start with J.C. “Buz” Brenton. 

“He was in Hartford, Connecticut, on business (in the 1970s), and he had some time before he had to leave, and so he went to Bushnell Park. And there’s a carousel there. And he sat there watching the people come. Families, grandparents and grandkids all came. And he just watched them for a couple hours, and just thought — Des Moines needs this.”

Jackie Cacciatore tells me this story over a cup of coffee. She is the executive director of the Des Moines Carousel Foundation — the group that Buz Brenton put together to accomplish his dream. It is a not-for-profit organization with a volunteer board and Jackie as a part-time director.

The carousel took until 1998 to be installed in Union Park. But it is pure art — hand-carved animals, hand-painted artwork, and an old-fashioned Stinson band organ. Each animal took five weeks to make. And the painted scenes of old Des Moines, like an 1844 map or the Iowa State Capitol in 1884, are a wonderful surprise.

Today, Jackie works hard to staff, maintain and expand on Buz Brenton’s vision and the carousel. (Buz Brenton is still an honorary member of the board). But the focus is still on joy and the coming together of people.

“I’ve never seen anybody get off the carousel with a frown. Here’s an example. We offer something called the Carousel Experience. Different kinds of nursing homes and memory care homes come and I talk to them about the carousel and let them have a ride. And the memory care patients are just my favorites because they’ll completely not paying attention during the presentation, and then they get on that carousel, and the music starts, and they’re transported back to another time.” 

Jackie pauses and then looks directly at me.

“To bring them happiness for two and a half minutes, it is so worth it.” 

Each of the animals are adopted and named by their adopted family. One young man, according to Jackie, adopted a bear and didn’t want to name it until he proposed to his girlfriend.

“Three years passed with no name,” Jackie says with a smile.

My goodness. 

Finally, the young man arranged a private rental of the carousel. He hired a string quartet. Jackie and the young man’s sisters set up lights and candles. And the bear finally got a name. 

“And they recently had a baby, so I’m waiting for that first birthday. He has since adopted a second animal.” Jackie laughs.

Which gets us back to feeling joy in a complicated world.

Admiral William McRaven, in a 2014 graduation address at the University of Texas, said there were 10 lessons he learned in training as a Navy SEAL. The first lesson was to make your bed.

“If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task, and another.”

Charles Duhigg, in his book “The Power of Habit,” says: “Small wins fuel transformative changes by leveraging tiny advantages into patterns that convince people that bigger achievements are within reach.”

There you go. You ride the carousel. You feel a small joy. Which will lead to another small joy. And then another. And before you know it, you can be a joyful person in the midst of complicated times.

It’s still early in Union Park. I watch as a grandfather holds his granddaughter on the rising and falling horse. The child laughs with glee and then takes her hands off the pole and raises them high in the air. The old man smiles. 

Two and a half minutes. Can you spare it? ♦

Joe Weeg spent 31 years bumping around this town as a prosecutor for the Polk County Attorney’s Office. Now retired, he writes about the frequently overlooked people, places and events in Des Moines on his blog: www.joesneighborhood.com.