Camp Arrowhead has a new tornado siren, an idea which was first born last August from Cub Scout Pack 221’s Adult Leader, Michael Rice.
“I went to an advanced leadership training called Wood Badge and we had to develop a mission for scouting, we had to choose five different ways to support that,” he explained. “One of my missions was to increase the security of scouting, in particular because because Camp Arrowhead is used by troops and packs from from Marshfield to Joplin down south, and even from out of state sometimes. Our radios weren’t operating the best they could and I started thinking what we could do, and thought a tornado siren sounded like it could really benefit our community.”
The nearest tornado siren to Camp Arrowhead was previously at the corner of DD Highway near the school, which is the last siren for several miles. After discovering this during his research, Rice knew they needed to take this mission to reality and add a siren to Camp Arrowhead.
“It was a collaborative effort, I got in touch with Cruz Newberry from Table Rock Alerting Systems and Russ at Webster Electric Co-Op and they helped us figure out what we needed to do,” he added. “Hartwick Fire Department out of Iowa donated the single phase siren to us and that started our process.”
Eagle Scout Tyler, who works for Rose Metal Products then fabricated the base that the siren sits on and the father of a current Cub Scout, who works at Signarama donated his time to hoist and attach the siren to the roof.
“We were able to get Cruz out there to install the siren and as of Wednesday we have a working 911 tornado siren at Camp Arrowhead,” he said. “The siren combined with the base ended up nearing about 200 pounds, so to carry it up the ladder it was important to get a professional out there to do it… they brought a truck and lifted it to the roof free of charge, then physically installed it. It was a two part installation with Cruz doing the electrical work and Signarama doing the actual lifting.”
The siren underwent several tests Wednesday and is in good working order. According to Rice, a large part of being a scout is looking out for other people.
“We make these ethical and moral decisions to better our country, camp, people, and ourselves,” he added. “We’re happy to house a tornado siren on this end of the county and thankful for the people that helped make it possible. By doing this project, we’re able to lead by example that this is how we take care of scout business. We look out for people.”
Camp Arrowhead is located at 4202 State Hwy DD and has been a hallmark of scouting for almost 100 years, with its century celebration coming in 2024. Scouts from across the state have attended Camp Arrowhead for summer camps, swimming, boating and other activities. It’s mission is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the scout oath and law.
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