Photographs by Martha Rial Jen Tomasic pauses to joke as the deadline approaches to finish painting the 66 animals that make up the 1926 Dentzel grand carousel at Kennywood Park. Click photo for larger image. If you go West Mifflin's Kennywood Park is open daily from Friday through Sept. 5 (plus Sept. 10-11 and 17-18 and then weekend Phantom Fright Nights through Oct. 29). Gates open at 10:30 a.m. (except Aug. 29-Sept. 2). Rides open at 11 a.m. Park closing time is determined daily based on weather and crowd conditions. New ticket prices are $28.95; $18 for those under 46 inches tall; $14.95 for those over age 55; and $14.95 after 6 p.m. Children 2 and under get in and ride for free. General admission (no rides) and individual ride tickets have been eliminated. On May 22, July 6 and Sept. 18, all tickets are $12.95. Also new this year is the Kennywood/Sandcastle Same Day Combo Pass for $28.95. For more information, call 412-461-0500 or visit www.kennywood.com. Click here for a gallery of photos on this project.

The fall-to-spring complete refurbishing of the grand carousel at Kennywood Park was, as head carpenter Matt Hyatt put it, "a once-in-a-lifetime project."

That's just fine with Jen Tomasic and Lisa Thomas, in part because it makes their role in it that much more special.

The young women repainted virtually every multicolored inch of the massive merry-go-round -- all 50 jumping horses, 14 stationary horses, four chariots, a tiger and a lion.

Tomasic, 25, of Monroeville, is a University of Pittsburgh studio arts graduate and the experienced painter at the West Mifflin amusement park. She started on the project, with its hard deadline of last weekend's park opening, in October. Her friend Thomas, 24 -- they got to know each other as ride operators starting in 1998 -- joined her in November.

They've since worked long weeks of long days and long nights, sometimes stopping just long enough to crash at Thomas' nearby place before dragging their enamel-splattered selves back to work in their fume-filled concrete-block garage.

They communicated with the outside world via a chalkboard on the door, which at one point in April read: "Before you ask, YES we'll be done in time and NO we don't need any help."

Oh, they enjoyed this.

Many other people worked on refurbishing the carousel, which for the first time was completely dismantled, with all parts numbered for reassembly. The bearings and gears were overhauled in California; a local company added a new electric motor and start/stop controls.

All Kennywood will say about the cost is that it was a lot.

The elaborate four-row, 54-foot diameter ride dates back to 1926, when it was made for but not completed in time for the Philadelphia Exposition. So acclaimed carousel maker William Dentzel sold it for a bargain $25,000 to Kennywood, which built a steel-domed pavilion to house it in 1927.

Carpenter Jared Welty looks over his work after attaching a repainted jester on the carousel. The jesters were a signature of carousel maker William Dentzel's style. Click photo for larger image.

Tomasic's and Thomas' first order of business was to paint over all of the carousel's 200 plaster crown and ceiling pieces, including the trademark Dentzel jester heads and cherubs.

The hard-ridden wooden horses get touched up every season, but it had been six years since they were completely repainted. Tomasic and Thomas did it in their own creative way.

Using a schematic of the ride and a notebook, they planned it so no horse would be near a horse of the same color. They mixed custom colors for the horses' bodies and created new colors for their saddles and harnesses.

Also, as Thomas pointed out, "We named them all," based on each horse's personality.

One decorated in lime green and yellow they dubbed Sprite. One with an Oriental-looking saddle became Samurai.

They did a red, green and white horse with crossed Italian flags in honor of the late Tony Sacramento, who cared for the carousel for more than 50 years. They painted many others in honor of friends and family.

"My sister has a horse," Thomas said. "My Dad has a horse. My Mom has a horse -- even though she gets dizzy and won't ride the carousel."

	Organ tuner Gavin McDonough, right, gets ready to go to work. He's been tuning the carousel organ for 30 years. Click photo for larger image.

One in Superman colors they named Logan for Thomas' nephew, who's a Superman fan.

Thomas anticipated riding the famed white one she painted with red hearts, known as the Valentine's or wedding horse. Decades of brides have had their photographs taken on it, and she plans to join the club when she gets married Oct. 15.

Also proprietary was Tomasic, who said with a giggle, "I don't want anyone to ride them! I don't want them to get messed up!"

They both were cranking last week -- "crunch time," Tomasic said -- as Friday's opening loomed. They were fixing horse bellies and finishing up four chariots and the regal tiger and lion.

The carousel's tiger, ready to be painted. Click photo for larger image.

Rock radio blared in the garage, while over at the carousel, it was to the sounds of the 1916 tiger-oak Wurlitzer band organ being tuned that a crew of workers swarmed over the ride. All opened up with its innards exposed, and especially with the air horn sounds of the organ, it resembled an old ship, with everything tied by steel bars and cables to its thick center mast.

Workers didn't get the ride put back together until Thursday evening, only hours before the park was to open for Education Day. Tomasic and Thomas worked their magic with the final touch-ups, daubing the heads of every freshly installed screw.

And which two people got to take the first creaky test ride?

Tomasic and Thomas were flying with a sense of accomplishment and pride and, as they both put it, "relief."