Fall Flywheel Festival brings people together

HOUSTON, Miss. (WCBI) – While lots of people were tailgating, there was another community having a party of it’s own, and people brought some unique toys to this gathering.

The Fall Flywheel Festival brings people together.

“Great music and lots of people and seeing people I haven’t seen in a long time, it’s exciting,” Nicole Watkins said.

Some strolled in, others drove their lawn mowers along the path. They stopped to admire the machinery, and visit with those tinkering with technology from another time.

“This is a 1929 international harvester,” 77-year-old James Smitherman said as he showed off his engine.
He said he traveled nearly four hours, because he has something interesting to share.

“I worked for the railroad and I enjoyed steam engines so I thought I’d just make me a few,” Smitherman said.

And then there’s the snake exhibit, which attracted a lot of brave kids.

There was also an anvil shoot.
That’s where Henry Collins first warns the crowd of what they’re about to experience.

“I tell em if they got a weak bladder to be careful and if they don’t know what I mean by a weak bladder, they soon will. We haven’t had any accidents but there’s always a possibility of that,” Collins said.

He recruited two young volunteers for the launch.

Collins called this one another success, and he’s not just talking about the anvil.

“There’s a lot of bad things, a lot of tension in the world right now. When you come out here to the show, we want you to have a good time, forget about that for a few hours, then go back to the real world,” Collins said.

Back along the path, the flywheels keep spinning.

“Basically thats what keeps the engine going,” an engine owner told us.

A perfect symbol for a weekend of togetherness, helping power this community.

If you missed this year’s Flywheel Festival, don’t worry there will be another one in the spring.