Virginia Beach man uses corn mill to support old

Jan 13, 2024

VIRGINIA BEACH

When Frank Pecsek was growing up on his Blackwater farm, he and his father ground grain to feed their livestock in a vintage hammer mill powered by a tractor.

Pecsek still grinds corn, soybeans and wheat in that mill at local festivals, where he gives demonstrations aimed at educating the public about farm life in the mid-20th century.

"I do it to spark interest, to keep people interested in agriculture," Pecsek said.

The metal hammer mill probably dates at least to the 1930s, Pecsek said, and was originally hand-powered. His father, Joe, bought the mill in the 1940s or 1950s, restored it, and put a motor on it.

The mill, which is connected to the tractor by a flat belt, is called a hammer mill because it contains several hammer-like devices that pound the grain into tiny pieces.

"It just beats it up," Pecsek said.

The mill can grind a ton of corn in an hour, Pecsek said. He and his father normally ground that much on Saturdays, which would last them the week.

Pecsek still uses his father's 1946 tractor when he gives demonstrations at local events, and attracts a lot of attention.

"People were very interested," said Knotts Island resident Fred Waterfield, who worked with Pecsek when he demonstrated at the recent Knotts Island Peach Festival. "They were asking all kinds of questions."

"I hear a lot of people saying, ‘My grandfather or my father had one just like that,’ " Pecsek said. "Then they start talking about their childhood."

Pecsek buys most of the corn he grinds from local feed stores and, because it's genetically modified, it's not approved for human consumption. However, he ground cornmeal from popcorn to sell at the peach festival.

That meal can be baked into cornbread, and Pecsek said he’d been told that it works particularly well if it is made with buttermilk. Any dried corn, including dried sweet corn, would work in the mill.

"You can even grind corn on the cob," Pecsek said. "We used to give that to the cows, because the cobs provide extra roughage."

Pecsek has a passion for vintage farm equipment. He also owns a 1960s-era tractor and a second mill, called a burr mill, which was primarily used to grind chicken feed. That mill, which also was originally hand-turned, is powered with a washing-machine motor and requires electricity to operate.

Pecsek has demonstrated his mill at the Harvest Fair at Virginia Beach Farmers Market, as well as the strawberry and peach festivals.

"I want to show people how things used to be on the farm," Pecsek said.

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