NOAA Honors Cherokee Village Mayor with Mark Trail Award

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will present a Mark Trail NOAA Weather Radio, All Hazards Award to Cherokee Village, Ark. Mayor Ray Maynard at a June 3rd ceremony in Washington, D.C. Maynard is being honored for his work in securing funds and establishing a new NWR transmitter to serve the citizens of Cherokee Village. NOAA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Now in its eighth year, the Mark Trail Award program honors individuals and organizations that use or provide NWR receivers and transmitters to save lives and protect property. Twenty award recipients will be recognized nationally this year.

“The Cherokee Village, Ark. Mayor Ray Maynard has made a valuable contribution to his community,” said retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “NOAA Weather Radio can provide the public with those extra minutes of warning in situations where minutes can save lives.”

Maynard was serving as the city’s communications chief when he launched his campaign. When the city rejected a siren system as too expensive, he proposed NWR as a more effective and cost-efficient method of alerting residents when severe weather threatens. He was also instrumental in planning for the installation of a NWR transmitter and securing a grant from the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management to supplement financing from the city.

The Mark Trail award is named for the nationally syndicated comic strip character which serves as the campaign symbol for the NOAA Weather Radio program. Since 1995, Jack Elrod, writer and illustrator of Mark Trail, and King Features Syndicate have been strong advocates for publicizing severe weather safety through the use of weather radios.

“Jack Elrod and his alter ego, Mark Trail, have been great partners to NOAA National Weather Service in helping educate the public to the importance of having a NOAA Weather Radio in your home when danger threatens,” said retired Air Force Brig. Gen. David L. Johnson, director of the National Weather Service.

NOAA's National Weather Service is the primary source of weather data, forecasts and warnings for the United States and its territories. The National Weather Service operates the most advanced weather and flood warning and forecast system in the world, helping to protect lives and property and enhance the national economy. To learn more about NWS, please visit: http://www.nws.noaa.gov.

NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of our nation’s coastal and marine resources. To learn more about NOAA, please visit: http://www.noaa.gov.

Information about NOAA All Hazards Weather Radio and the Mark Trail Award is available at: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr.