Huffy’s Airport Windsocks connects Spencer, NE, to the world

Mike and Jacky Hoffman, shown here outside their downtown Spencer building, are the owners of Huffy’s Airport Windsocks.

Mike holds the bottom ring of a 36-inch diameter frame, which will provide support for a 12-foot windsock, the largest size they manufacture.

James works at the farm building the frames for the windsocks. He bends strips of metal into rings and welds everything together before sending them off to be powdercoated.

Sue Vogt, Jacky’s cousin, sews windsocks for the business. The windsocks range in size from a keychain to 12 feet long, with a 36 inch diameter. She uses wooden patterns to cut the material, which are typically sewn using two panels.

Unlike t-shirt printing, which can be flash dried, each color on a windsock has to dry for two days, and multicolor designs take a lot more work. The hog barn where they do their screen printing has enough drying racks to hold hundreds of screen printed panels.