The noon whistle will sound again

SHELLEY — After 26 years, Shelley’s noon whistle will sound its siren again.

On January 5, 1995, Shelley’s Public Works building burned down, spelling an end to a decades-long tradition of sounding the noon whistle. Years later, a group of locals went before the City Council to ask to bring the whistle back. Now tomorrow at 12 p.m. the noon whistle will sound again.

“Around a year ago, Bubba Ricker and Ed Harlow kind of took this on as a project,” Shelley Public Works Director Justin Johnson told Community Pioneer.

They got approval to put the siren back up, but not much was done on it until a week ago.

“We decided we got to get it going for Spud Day,” Harlow told Community Pioneer.

The original siren had been sitting outside since it was taken down in 1995. Time and the elements had taken a toll on the siren, so Bubba Rickers took it and got to work restoring it.

“It was rusty and beat up. I got it cleaned up,” Rickers said. “There’s 12 horns around the outside of it. We took those off and got them powder coated and then I painted the rest of it.”

Originally the siren was mounted on a roof, but now it was going to be mounted on a pole.

“So to put it on a pole, it required some spacers. Randy Adams whipped those up for me in no time,” Rickers said.

With the siren restored and ready to mount, it needed new electrical and a control system. That’s where Harlow came in.

“I’ve got Bob Foster here helping me do the wiring. It is a long wire run. My son Jake helped a bit, and we’re going to get the control box in,” Harlow said.

Harlow explained that the control system they are using is powerful enough to run a city’s water system. He said it will be programmed to sound the siren at specific times, but that city officials will also have access to the system via the internet to remotely set off the siren in case of an emergency.

Friday morning, the siren was put into place on top of a pole just outside the City Shop on East Pine St.

All the time, materials, equipment and money needed to restore the siren and install it were donated.

Harlow and Rickers both donated their time and talents. Randy Adams fabricated and donated the spacers. Ace Powder Coating in Idaho Falls sandblasted and powder coated the horns for free. Justin Johnson and the City of Shelley crew donated their time to install the pole. Mike Carter coordinated with Rocky Mountain power who donated two trucks to install the 350-pound siren. Finally, an anonymous individual donated $3,500.

“It’s just nostalgic,” Rickers said. “Tomorrow when that goes, there’s going to be some wondering whats going on, but those that know are going to be like, ‘hey, that’s pretty cool.'”

There will be a small ceremony tomorrow just before noon at the City Shop to celebrate sounding the siren again for the first time in 26 years.