Taking a spin for a good cause: A view of the Carousel’s beautiful animals.[/caption]

On Veterans Day, the Carousel of Happiness hosted a fundraising event for repair and maintenance, and for a special organization called the Warrior Storyfield. This event had snacks laid out on the table, drinks that you could purchase, and silent and live auctions.

The live auction consisted of trips you could win to places like Mexico, and the silent auction consisted of carousel promotions and gift items from their sponsors.

The main part of this event was the recognition of our veterans, the Warrior Storyfield organization, and obviously the free carousel rides.

Robert Bellows tells us the story of Warrior Storyfield, how it started 13 years ago and how its main purpose is to “...ask this question: what does it take to come home from war?”

Warrior Storyfield is a place that can bring veterans, parents of veterans, daughters of veterans, and sons and daughters of veterans together to share their grief and trauma and create it into art. Bellows is a metal sculpture artist and creates spectacular pieces. One day after two veterans came to his shop and said they wanted to create art like he does. They decided to create this great community that is “a place for those who can’t tell their stories with those who can...private enough to shed great tears.”

Here, veterans can learn how to create sculptures with metal and make something that’s filled with emotion. One of the items at the silent auction was actually a metal sculpture of a butterfly that a veteran has made (that’s what they start with when they’re first learning how to create these sculptures).

Bellows told us how it’s important to let out your emotions and trauma in different ways, maybe through art like he does, because if they don’t, a “wound will eventually find its own way to be heard.” If you don’t let your wounds be heard in ways they want to, even if it’s just yelling from the top of a mountain, it’ll find its own way, and that way would be less healthy than something like changing your pain into art.

These events and organizations let people like veterans know that they are not alone and there will always be someone they can connect with and talk with. They put veterans and others who feel all hope is gone into motion to change those thoughts into something beautiful.

To find out more about Warrior Storyfield, check out their website at https://www.warriorstoryfield.org/.

The Carousel of Happiness is located at 20 E. Lakeview Drive, Nederland, Colorado. To find out more about the Carousel of Happiness, check out their website at https://carouselofhappiness.org/.