Who Remembers the Whirly-Bird Yard Toy? New Fitness Equipment at Wonch Park Will Take You Back

Lansing State Journal tweeted about a new installation at Wonch Park in Okemos, memories came flooding back. Not memories of Wonch Park. Not even memories of any park, actually. They were memories of playing at my neighbor's when I was a kid.

I'll give her a pass on being mean because we were young and, well, she was a girl, so, she really preferred to play with the girls, I think, but I loved going to Breanna's house because she had a Whirly-Bird. Do you remember the Whirly-Bird yard toy?

Four seats, handle and foot bars... you pushed and pulled to make the Whirly-Bird spin. And, boy, did it spin! Watch this random home video from 1970 of kids on the Whirly-Bird -- the whirly actions starts at about the 1:30 mark.

While the Whirly-Bird was definitely a good work-out, and one of the pieces of new "fitness" equipment at Wonch Park sort of resembles the old Whirly-Bird, it's not exactly the same.

The several new pieces of equipment that are said to encourage fitness and social interaction are new to the park thanks to a $52,800 grant, the LSJ reports.

I'm not certain, but I'm guessing the tweeted image is of the new leg press. So yeah, no spinning, unfortunately. Still, those involved are to be commended for their thinking outside the box.

Breanna and her family moved away when we were kids, so I guess you could say tha the Whirly Bird is "the one that got away." Incidentally, even with Facebook and other social media, I have yet to "bump into" Breanna, and you can barely find the Whirly-Bird with Google. *sniff*

Categories: Articles