Whirligigs

If you’re feeling old and about to give up, consider the story of Vollis Simpson. After doing a tour of duty in World War II, Vollis Simpson returned to his hometown of Lacama, North Carolina. He and some buddies started a machine repair shop in the 1950s and life was fine for thirty years or so. In 1985, it was time to retire but Vollis wanted something else to do but watch TV the rest of his life. He was 66 years old at the time.

Off to the workshop he went. There were piles of junk – bicycle parts, gears, reflectors and such – cast-offs from years of fixing stuff.

That’s when the inner artist leaped out. Vollis tinkered with sticking unrelated parts together. With a stroke of genius, he decided to make them colorful and move in the wind, creating moveable sculptures. Whirligigs, he called them. At first, others (his wife included) thought he was crazy, especially when his whirligigs reached 50-feet into the air. It wasn’t long that others noticed the contraptions in the field adjacent to Vollis’ workshop. People started to think that Vollis wasn’t so crazy after all.

Worldwide attention

U.S. News and World Report did a piece on him in 1986. Time Magazine, in 1989. He’s been in Southern Living, People and Modern Maturity and featured in several books. Just look on his Facebook page; you’ll get the latest scoop.

Wilson County is mighty proud of their native son, age 92 in 2011 and still making whirligigs. A proper legacy is now in the works. Many restored sculptures will be prominently displayed in the new Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park, scheduled to open sometime in the future in downtown Wilson, North Carolina (Exit 119 in North Carolina).

Right now, many pieces are still in the field in Lucama (Exit 107) and rather difficult to find. At the same exit, find the Tobacco Farm Life Museum less than a mile from the interstate. One of Vollis’ large whirligigs is displayed right out by the main road in front of the museum.