It had been a while since I took my kids to Riverside Park, so when we went last week, I wondered if the metal merry-go-round was still in motion. Sure enough, it was.
Most of these old school, "dangerous" pieces of playground equipment are long gone, but for some reason, this one is still around in all of its vertigo-inducing glory.
In past years, every time I visited this park I saw a kid fly off the merry-go-round – without serious injury, luckily – and understood why most playgrounds don't have these '70s fun faves anymore.
However, I’m pleased we still have a merry-go-round on Milwaukee’s East Side. Sure, there’s risk involved, and sure, if you spend more than a few minutes near or on this fiercely rotating disc piled with small people you'll witness a few tears.
But mostly, you’ll hear kids belly laughing, living completely in the moment and yelling, "Faster, daddy, faster!"
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
