2002 JAYCO EAGLE 5TH WHEEL

157/365 ~ Bildon Ferris Wheel ... Did You Know?

Okay so I've lived here almost 14 years now and I'm guessing I've passed this Ferris Wheel two or three or four times every day. Every time I pass it, I think to myself "what's its story?" Well, you know me so you've probably guessed by now that I finally stopped and asked some questions. So now, in the spirit of Paul Harvey, is the rest of the story:

Once upon time, the family of Rep. Larry Justus owned a farm in Flat Rock and on that farm there was a water wheel which had fallen into disrepair. The Justus Family went to Bildon and asked Bill Tillman to build them a new water wheel. Bildon was the name of the original business of the property on Asheville Highway near Mountain Home. Mr. Tillman decided the easiest way to build the new water wheel would be to do it at their location instead of in Flat Rock. They begin to construct the water wheel in four parts and eventually put it together out in front of their building. It was up for a while before they moved it to the Justus property in Flat Rock and it seems that the community got used to seeing it on their drive out Hwy 25. Soon after it had been moved, people started to talk and stop and question, "Where did the big wheel go?" Mr. Tillman, obviously with a good head for business, saw a unique opportunity in the popularity of the wheel. He decided to resurrect another wheel - this one would be 55 feet, 16 feet higher than the Justus wheel - and he would build it with places for signs instead of buckets for water. He decided to make a moving Ferris Wheel Billboard. Once it was up and running, he tried to sell advertising to area businesses. According to Jim Crafton, Mr. Tillman's son-in-law and president of Bildon when it was sold to Jackson Steel in 2007, the advertising sales didn't go quite as well as Mr. Tillman had hoped. He consulted a local billboard salesman who told him that the ad space was probably just a bit too small for drive-by shoppers. So instead of filling the spaces with too much ad copy for other advertisers, Mr. Tillman decided to advertise all of their services. The wheel did move slowly during the days of Bildon ownership, however, since Jackson Steel bought the property they've decided it might be a liability to have it moving too much as it has aged quite a bit.

So now you have the rest of the story! I have to admit hearing that it was never a Ferris Wheel kind of disappointed me. And then the advertising salesperson in me popped out and I couldn't help but appreciate the entrepreneurship and ingenuity of Mr. Tillman.

Swiss Family Treehouse -- Disney's 1960 live-action film "Swiss Family Robinson" may not be so popular today, but it's really worth a look -- especially before you bring your kids to this walk-through attraction. The make-believe tree beautifully recreates the home the shipwrecked family in the movie builds for themselves, right down to the organ in the "living room" and the skylight in the parents' bedroom.

The story of the movie goes like this: A shipwrecked family of five salvages material from their downed ship, the Swallow, to create a home among the leaves of a huge old tree on a South Seas island. There are bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen and a library, all set up just like other 19th-century homes. Eventually, the family has to battle a band of pirates, and then they are rescued -- well, sort of. You have to see the movie!

As you climb the steps of the Swiss Family Treehouse, you pass through the various rooms, with explanatory placards that tell the story of the Robinsons. You get close-up views of each of the rooms, which feature furnishings from items salvaged from the wrecked vessel. There's a lantern, a log book, ornate railings, and, standing prominently in the living room, the ship's wheel from the Swallow. Ropes from the ship drive a water-wheel system that dips buckets of water from the stream, carrying it to the top of the tree. Books are open, the dinner table is set and the family pipe organ plays happily -- in fact, there's a feeling that the Robinsons could walk in at any moment.

At the top of the tree, you look out on to Adventureland below -- there's a view of the winding river and Jungle Cruise, giving the feeling of being in the middle of a tropical island.

Swiss Family Tree House
Walt Disney World-Magic Kingdom- Orlando Fl.