Blish wheel rolling

Jackson County residents will have the opportunity to enjoy a piece of local history thanks to the efforts of a group of antique tractor enthusiasts.

Seymour officials agreed Thursday to allow the Reddington Rear Wheelers to borrow an historic flywheel that once powered Blish Milling Co. in Seymour, which it will put on display.

Seymour Board of Public Works and Safety unanimously approved to loan the 16.5-ton wheel to the club for 25 years during a meeting Thursday morning at City Hall. For the past 10 years, the artifact has been standing neglected at Freeman Municipal Airport

"We have been waiting and ready to go with this," club member Raymond Rascoe told board members of plans for the wheel Thursday. "Whatever you decide, we need to know. We do appreciate the city working with us on this."

In May, Rascoe proposed to move the flywheel from the airport to private property at 1100 N. U.S. 31 in Reddington, where people would have access to it. There will be a walk way leading up to the wheel and a plaque giving its history, Rascoe said at that time.

The club first approached the city about use of the wheel in 2008.

"We decided to make it public so anyone could dispute it," Mayor Craig Luedeman said of moving the wheel. "But it seems to me that the Reddington Rear Wheelers are the only ones who have a logical plan."

Seymour Museum Inc., an organization working to create a city museum in the former police station and federal building at Third and Chestnut streets, as well as the Jackson County Visitor Center had voiced an interest in keeping the wheel in Seymour.

John Mohr of the museum's board of directors said Thursday evening he would prefer to see the flywheel stay in the city.

"It's the city's decision to decide where it should go," he said. "But it would be nice to see it stay within the city context with where it originated rather than being in private hands outside of the city."

Rascoe said the Rear Wheelers have the money to pay for moving the wheel and preparing the site where it will be located.
"They have jumped through all the legal hoops and they can display this piece of history as it should be displayed," Luedeman said.

For years, the flywheel, which once generated electricity to power the Blish flour mill, sat on display alongside the Farmers Club, now home to the Greater Seymour Chamber of Commerce, on South Chestnut Street.