How to donate or sponsor
Are you interested in helping tell the Silver Beach Carousel story? Donations, sponsorships and memorial gifts are a huge help. While the ride tokens and event admission tickets help cover many of our operating expenses, we still have to cover maintenance, activities, special experiences, innovative programs and rides for children from low-income families. If you are financially able and would like to support our efforts, here is how to get involved!
How can I help?
The Silver Beach Carousel is a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) organization so most gifts are tax deductible. We invite you to help us with:
- Annual donations to our operations fund. You can make your pledge with payments once a month, quarterly, semi-annually or once a year.
- Memorial gifts for loved ones or donations to honor a family member, friend, coworker or graduating class on a special occasion or “just because.”
- Special tributes in honor or memory of a pet, horse or favorite animal.
- Planned gifts that will leave a legacy of happiness for future generations. Your gift will help us sustain our facilities, operations and programs for years to come. Contact us for information about arranging your gift.
- Sponsorships of carousel items such as the ornate mirrored shields and rocking chairs or special events. Your personal or corporate gift will be recognized in the carousel house and in promotional materials.
Donations
You may give your tax-deductible donation directly to the Silver Beach Carousel or through the Berrien Community Foundation’s Silver Beach Carousel Society, Inc. Operations Fund.* You can donate with:
- Cash, check or credit card. We can accept your gift in person, online through our PayPal account or by mail at 333 Broad St., St. Joseph, MI 49085.
- Stock, life insurance or other charitable gift options.
- Matching funds from your company. Please check with your employer’s program to see how to qualify for matching dollars.
If you have questions about donation or sponsorship opportunities, or if you need more information, please contact us.
*If you choose to make your gift through the Berrien Community Foundation, please make your check payable to BCF/Silver Beach Carousel Society, Inc. Operations Fund, and mail it to:
Berrien Community Foundation
2900 S. State, Ste. 2E
St. Joseph, MI 49085
Sponsorships
Help keep happy memories of Silver Beach from fading!
Once in a great while, amazing opportunities present themselves. This is one of those times. A local collector, Al Schoenbach, owned two of the original Silver Beach Carousel horse figures, and offered them to the Silver Beach Carousel Society for purchase. This was a dream come true to finally have two of the original horses home again.
These antique horses are exquisite! In fact, the stargazer figure is extremely rare as carousel collectibles go. It is in its original 1910 wood form and stripped of all paint, allowing you to see the actual knife marks of world-renowned Master Carver Charles Carmel. The other horse, a beautiful, bejeweled Arabian steed, is painted the signature Silver Beach Carousel white. Both are treasured additions to the Silver Beach Amusement Park Museum and Carousel House.
Join us in our mission to fund the purchase and make a significant impact! As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, we have limited resources and rely on the generosity of individuals and corporations to provide the donations we need to acquire, restore and maintain these icons of fun from our community's past. Below is information about the two original horses and other artifacts that are in need of a sponsor.
Sponsorship Perks
As a thanks for your sponsorship of these figures, you’ll receive:
Exclusive naming rights of this magnificent steed
Invitation to a naming ceremony, a special event for you and your guests
Lifetime Riding Pass on the Silver Beach Carousel
Your name, or the name(s) of the persons you wish to honor, on a permanent donor plaque
Additional sponsorship opportunities
Please consider sponsoring one of these treasures. We will remember you by placing your name on a permanent plaque in the Carousel house. Legacy gift information is on the back of this brochure.
Stargazer
Rare, unpainted Carmel carving from the original Silver Beach Carousel
Sponsorship: $35,000
This antique horse, which stands in the classic stargazer pose, was part of the original Silver Beach Carousel and was lovingly watched over in a private setting. A rare collector's treasure, this figure has been stripped of its paint so you can see the details of Charles Carmel's masterful carving of the basswood. The carousel jewels and natural horsehair tail add to this steed's heirloom beauty. Your sponsorship will help us inspire all of our visitors to look to the stars and fulfill their dreams.
Arabian
Mysterious steed of the sands. Carmel carving from the original Silver Beach Carousel
Sponsorship: $30,000
Many golden days ago, this intricately carved Arabian steed spun for hours over the sands of Silver Beach. Master carver Charles Carmel captured the refined, high-spirited strength and beauty of this magnificent, ancient breed. This horse from the original Silver Beach Carousel holds thousands of nights of happy stories from riders who mounted its back and rode into a mysterious land of flying carpets and wish-granting genies. Acquired and fully restored by a collector, we need you to make our wish for a sponsor come true.
Enchanting Unicorn
Sponsorship: $10,000
Riding this dainty, mythical steed from medieval forests transforms its riders into princesses and princes. It was exquisitely hand-carved and painted by the masters at The Carousel Works, in Mansfield, Ohio, and is on the Carousel for at least six months each year.
Allan Herschell Rocket Ship
Sponsorship: $3,000
This is an iconic artifact from our quest to explore our universe and traverse new galaxies in the late 1950s and early 1960s. On this ride, no new frontier was unreachable.
King Amusement Park Pony Cart
Sponsorship: $2,000
This vintage, carefully restored cart is filled with memories of riding side-by-side, snapping the reins and imagining trotting along the beach.
Early 1950s Bumper Car
Sponsorship: $2,000
Chasing each other around the track, bumping, spinning and backing out of the frequent pileups. Coming of age was being tall enough to drive on your own bumper car.
Ornate Mirrored Shields
Sponsorship: $2,500
Three of the 17 beautiful, lighted shields that decorate the Silver Beach Carousel (circa 2010) still need sponsors.