Video: 33rd Flywheel Festival Kicks Off, Continues Saturday

[jwplatform 2W55d5pb]HOUSTON, Miss. (WCBI) — The people in Houston, Chickasaw County, and surrounding areas are gearing up for the 33rd Annual Flywheel Festival already under way at Joe Brigance Park.

An iron anvil in flight signals the official start of  the event.. The anvil, like other machines and gadgets of the past, are all on display for those attending the event. 

“Most every farmsted had an anvil and of course they had a shotgun. So they could take the gun powder out and make this and it was just something to do to celebrate Christmas,” said Harry Collins, a member of the Flywheelers Association which helps put on the event, which occurs in the spring and again in the fall.

Not everyone is so versed in anvils, flywheels, or the other machines that make the fstival and attraction for history buffs, the mechanically inclined and the curious.

“I don’t know nothing about a flywheel. I don’t know what it is,” admitted  festival-goer Jacob Coleman.

“It’s what keeps the energy going. It’s a four-stroke engine. This engine here was made in 1916. You got three strokes that actually don’t create any power. So you got to keep the engine turning so you can get to the next power stroke,” explained Ron Diffenderfer of Clinton, describing the principle behind the flywheel.

The festival’s goal is simple.

“Keep our heritage … we were very agricultural here even in the hill country of North Mississippi. Big boys and their toys. I’ve got 13 tractors of my own,” said Collins.

The flywheel festival also includes the official opening of the Civil War area in the Chickasaw County Museum which is located on the park’s grounds. 

“We don’t want to go back to this, but  you need to know where your heritage is, how they used to do things and using what they had,” said Collins. 

In addition to machines and tools and the museum, festival-goers can enjoy music, demonstrations and lots of good food. Saturday’s music lineup includes bluegrass and a performance by American Idol contestant Priscilla Barker of Amory.

Categories: Local News

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