|
Saturday, 06 March 2010 |
|
By LESLIE MIELKE
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
BLACKFOOT — Kirk Lindholm from Blackfoot can walk the dog, rock the baby, display a trapeze and Eiffel Tower, plus go around the world—all by throwing a yo-yo.
Lindholm is a yo-yo aficionado who would really like a yo-yo club to start in Blackfoot.  (The Morning News — Leslie Mielke) Kirk Lindholm throws this yo-yo trick called the Eiffel Tower with his Silver Bullet 2 (SB2). Lindholm is a yo-yo aficionado.
“Yo-yos are a good lesson in physics,” Lindholm said. “They are especially good for hand-eye coordination.”
Lindholm started collecting yo-yos in 1988 but he didn’t become a serious collector until about 10 years ago.
His collection started with a Hummingbird yo-yo. It is an all wood yo-yo with a wood shaft, Lindholm said.
“When a man in Salt Lake City offered me $25 for my $8 Hummingbird, sight unseen, I decided to keep it,” he said.
He has nearly 150 yo-yos in his collection. He has early Duncans and Whirl Kings; whistlers and three Tommy Smothers yo-yos—one red, one white and one blue. Most of the yo-yos are about two inches in diameter, though he does have some small diameter yo-yos.
Some prizes In his collection are yo-yos made of airplane aluminum. They are called Silver Bullets. There are two models—Silver Bullet 1 (SB1) and Silver Bullet 2 (SB2). These yo-yos have metal shafts with ball bearings. SB1 has a wood ball bearing while SB2 has a metal one.
The yo-yo can be taken apart. With the SB2, an adjustment tool is included so the string gap can be adjusted.
SB1 and SB2 are patented by Tom Huhn, known as Dr. Yo. It is distributed by the company, What’s Next.
The company Yo-mega sells a yo-yo with an internal clutch. “Now, that’s cheating,” Lindholm said.
To grow his collection, Lindholm has purchased most of his yo-yos online. Friends help by giving him yo-yos.
“My dad found an old yo-yo that belonged to me as a boy at the old homeplace at the corner of Tressel Road and Groveland and returned it to me,” Lindholm said.
Many of the tricks developed by yo-yo masters can be seen on YouTube as well as in books and on videos, Lindholm said.
Lindholm is also a yo-yo teacher. He can explain the proper length of the string (measured from the ground up to a person’s belly button), how to put friction on the shaft, how to hold and throw the yo-yo, plus yo-yo tricks.
“Yo-yos are just a joy to have and to play with,” Lindholm said. “They can be enjoyed by the young and the old alike.”
# # #
|
|
Last Updated ( Monday, 08 March 2010 )
|
