Norma's Windmill - Transcript

[Todd Morton:] "It is a little bit of a nostalgia thing. The cowboy days really do interest me. The cattlemen and the pioneers and what they had to go through. It [the windmill] was located on 148^th and Pioneers, and all that was on it was the tower and then what's considered the head, which are these spokes, and then what that sits in.

"I think this is only the third wooden wheel we've done. The wheel and the tail are all wood. But you need the cast iron pieces to assemble them or you have to be able to build them. And then our pieces will just slip right over top of these and then bolt into the arms. We just need to get everything marked and centered. You don't want to get a great big oblong that will cause a wobble.

"The blades are made out of cypress. You can get a lot of bend out of it. It'll bend and it'll catch the wind without breaking, whereas a lot of the other stuff will break. Plus it's very rot resistant.

"This is the biggest one we've worked on. I don't think its going to be a problem with being heavy, but its going to be so wide its going to have to be a fairly still day."

[Wayne Hagaman:] "That looks better all the time."

[Todd:] "Well, its... we're getting there. We're going to trim one more time out here."

"With the Hageman's on this one, it's bringing back the past a little bit, and the past that... that I don't think you'll see very often anymore.

"Takes up all my work area here."

[Norma Hagaman:] "Yeah, it does.

[Wayne:] "That's kind of good."

[Todd:] "Its restoring something that was in their family a long time ago. She remembers playing on it as a kid, or being around it as a child. It's just something that they like to see."

[Wayne:] "We're going to take a picture of this when it gets up and then we are going to... I think we're going to use that for our Christmas letter this year... as our Christmas stationary."

[Todd:] "Grab ahold of 'er."

"That has to go down now."

"Here you go."

"...drill and I've got a bit..."

[Todd:] "We're assembling everything on the ground. Thought that would be easier."

"We kinda thought we were going to be weathered out but the weather is holding good for us and we're going to get the main part lifted up and then put the wheel on afterwards, and then the tail. So hopefully we're going to get that done today. Who knows?"

"The next step would be the wheel."

[Wayne:] "It's going to immediately swing toward the truck."

[Todd:] "We're going to have to pick it up this way to get it so then we can lift it and rotate it. So we can take it up, so it'll sit down in the head right."

"Yeah.

"...do that. We've got a couple slots..."

"... stepladder over here."

[Wayne:] "That'll be crazy..."

[Norma Hagaman:] "We're probably crazy... that's all right."

[Wayne:] "How we doing?"

[Todd:] "Well, hang on. There we go."

"Is it in?"

[Todd:] "Yep."

"That looks good."

"The sun came out to shine on it."

[Wayne:] "Yes."

"That's right."

"Right away."

[Wayne:] "What do you think?"

[Todd:] "Well, let's give it a try."

"Well, heck I'm in. No wonder I can't get it to go any farther."

"Better than I had hoped, and actually it went together pretty smooth. It's probably not the way they used to do it, but it worked well for us. Its up there so I'm glad."

"It's great going out and working in the middle of nowhere and meeting the Hagemans and meeting those type of people. It makes it all worth it."

[Wayne:] "It really looks great. Better than I thought it ever would. It's big though. Awful big. But its... its going to be fun to watch it... look at it... let it run, all that stuff."

[Todd:] "It seems to mean a lot especially to Norma. You know it's her grandfather's and so I think it's... it's something that's special to them."

[Norma:] "It brings back real fond memories."

[Wayne:] "It looks good I think."

[Todd:] "Good, I'm glad. That's all I care about."

[Wayne:] "It looks great."

[Todd:] "I like to keep them around and try to convince people that it would only take a few dollars to keep them here so let's just keep them here. Once they're gone, they're gone."