BACKROADS • JUNE 2022
Page 12
Beach’s Motorcycle Adventures presents
BIG CITY GETAWAY
daytrip ideas to get out of the daily grind
THE VOLLIS SIMPSON WHIRLIGIG PARK & MUSEUM 301 GOLDSBORO ST S, WILSON, NC 27893 252-674-1352 • wilsonwhirligigpark.org
You find the darndest things wandering this beautiful country of ours. When needs find you traveling on an interstate to get from point A to B, make sure you take the time to stop at the state visitor’s centers. They certainly vary, from just a place to make a pit stop to one that may require a bit more time to explore. Thus was the case on our most recent trip south this winter. Unfortunately we had done this route before simply to make the most of the time at our destination. And we had stopped at this visitor’s center each time we passed. In the front of the North Carolina visitor’s center is a very unusual sculpture. It is reminiscent of the windmills seen on farms in the Midwest only with much more whimsy. We inquired inside and were informed that this was created by Vollis Simpson and there was a whole park full of them in Wilson, North Carolina – well worth a stop, we were told. With that information tucked away, along with a ton of booklets and brochures on all parts of North Carolina (it really is a remarkable visitor’s center), we headed for a visit with our cousins Maureen and John in Clayton. Always a great time spent with family, during our conversation this sculpture came up and Maureen adamantly said, ‘Oh, you
must go! It’s on your way.’ With a double resounding recommendation, the next morning we pointed our wheels toward Wilson, NC for a visit with Mr. Simpson’s creations. Vollis Simpson, born into the Depression/WWII era in 1919, had the traits of that generations – industriousness, frugality and creativity. The Simpson family side business was moving houses – an unusual occupation which used techniques of fulcrum, leverage and rollers and went from horse power to automotive. Serving in the Army Air Corps, he put his mechanical skills to use by rigging a windmill to power a washing machine, as the troops were struggling to keep uniforms clean on the isolated island of Saipan in the South Pacific. When he returned to his home in Lucama, North Carolina, he worked as a rigger and farm machine repairman. When he retired at age 65, he turned his mechanical skills towards artwork and created giant, kinetic, wind-driven sculptures which he installed around the pond on his farm, 11 miles outside of Wilson. He
