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Image provided by: Long Island Library Resources Council
UDrtARY IfeRlGk R*g£> s Oo&tn Avenw ftftptfi, M.Y. 11520 72nd Year, No. 31 Freeport, N.Y. 11520 The Community Newspaper Thursday, August 2, 2007 Nunley's carousel ti 111 tf »- -it?. '•'\''\•• \- 1 ' ' 1* I! \'-. \'•'-•k^P^is^^^^^^^^^^ • *VP-X; \.i? 6 ^; ;. -\ w .,-•-- RACHEL OBERGH tries out one of the Nunley's horses, left, and poses behind a promotional poster with mother Beth and brother Andrew, below. photos by Amanda Gaines and Beth Obergh by Amanda Gaines Rachel Obergh, 9, of Wantagh. is sav- ing horses. She is not saving the kind ridden on a trail or at a ranch, however. She is sav- ing ones that are years older, ride around in circles and are made out of wood. \I'd rather ride a carousel - they don't flip you off,\ Rachel said of her prefer- ence. \I like the music,\ she added, a melodious bonus that does not come with riding a real horse. Rachel created and is president of Pennies for Ponies, a program devoted to restoring old carousels and currently focusing on bringing back to life a his- toric, out-of-commission carousel from Nunley's. Rachel has found adopters to donate and name 37 of the 42 horses hoping to be returned to their classic condition and ready for a new generation of riders on the carousel, to be set up on Museum Row in Garden City. At $2.000 each, horses have been adopted by schools all over the Island, including in Merrick and Baldwin, people who used to ride the carousel and even the Lecari family, the family of the original Nunley's owners, said Beth Obergh, Rachel's mother. Additionally, literal pennies were col- lected. There were \people sending pennies taped to envelopes,\ Mrs. Obergh said. Jars to collect pennies were set up all over Long Island, she added. even-where from in offices to Dennis courts. But that was not all. \Rachel went to all the school principals,\ Mrs. Obergh said. She even found adopters in local busi- nesses and Long Island's hockey team. \The Islanders wanted their logo on the horse,\ Rachel said. The Progressive School of Long Island in Merrick, which Rachel attends during the year, also adopted a horse. At Rachel's selection, they adopted the carousel's lead horse, number 40 on Rachel's list, who she appropriately named \Penny.\ Rachel decided to create the program after she had seen the old Nunley's carousel, but Pennies for Ponies might not have been created at all if not for Rachel's school, Mrs. Obergh said. \They're really good at community service,\ Mrs. Obergh said. The Progressive School has a community service requirement for its students. Rachel had just finished collecting 100 coats for 100 kids as one project, and was looking for another. \The timing was right,\ Mrs. Obergh said. Rachel's carousel-inspired idea was ready and able to take off, but she had no idea to what extent. \I saw the horses were in storage 10 years. I wanted to ride it some day,\ Rachel quipped. Rachel started Pennies for Ponies when she was in second grade - she is now going into fourth. In the time that the program has been running, Rachel has gone to a press conference in Oyster Bay, been in USA Today, the Sunday edition of the New York Times and the front page of Google News, she said. She also won a regional Kohl's Kids Who Care Scholarship. Pennies for Ponies brought Rachel into a world of politics completely for- eign to a vast majority of 9-year-olds. She made allies with county Legislator Dave Denenberg and County Executive Tom Suozzi, and even once had Mr. Suozzi coordinating with her schedule, Mrs. Obergh said. Pennies for Ponies also put Rachel in contact with a living musical legend — Bill y JoeL continued on page 2
