Table Rock Lake neighbors invent safety device

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Anyone who spent Memorial Day weekend at an area lake would agree on the need for Flag-Up. |ret||ret||tab|

Flag-Up is a device to warn boats that a person is in the water and in their way before it's too late. It consists of a bright orange hollow tube that attaches to any life jacket. Inside the tube is a small orange warning flag attached to a plastic rod. When a person falls in the water while skiing or operating a personal watercraft, the tube fills with water and the flag rises over the person's head, warning boats of their presence in the water. |ret||ret||tab|

The device will retail at Bass Pro Shops and three area Wal-Mart stores for $14.99 starting in mid-June, according to co-inventor and Kennco Construction Company owner Hal Grissum.|ret||ret||tab|

Grissum and Harold Brueggemann, who is the chief engineer at Big Cedar Lodge near Branson, are friends and Table Rock Lake neighbors. In 1993, the daughter of a friend of Brueggemann lost an arm after being struck by a boat while skiing on Table Rock Lake. |ret||ret||tab|

"She was in the water, holding her ski up, but the guy didn't see her and ran right over her. She had severe injuries," Grissum said. |ret||ret||tab|

Brueggemann and Grissum began working on a safety device to warn boats of skiers in the water soon after the accident. |ret||ret||tab|

Grissum, who has spent weekends at Table Rock since 1967 and has seen the lake become more crowded with boats and personal watercraft each year, said boats pulling skiers are required to display a flag. The problem with that, he said, is when the skier falls into the water, the boat has to circle around and picking him up, which can take several minutes, leaving the skier to raise a ski above his head and hope other boats can see him in the water. |ret||ret||tab|

"The ski is often the same color as the water, and people can't see them. The flag doesn't need to be on the boat, it needs to be on the person," Grissum said. |ret||ret||tab|

He said several designs were considered for the device, including balloons that would pop up over the person's head. |ret||ret||tab|

"We thought of everything and tried ideas out on Harold's 16-year-old son. He was our guinea pig," Grissum said. |ret||ret||tab|

The flag design was chosen because of its comfort and convenience. "You don't know you have it on. It's easy to put on and will fit most life jackets. It won't fit ski belts, but ski belts are illegal now, so you're not supposed to have those anyway," Grissum said. "When you fall in the water, the flag goes up, and when you get back up, the water drains out and the flag goes back down, and you never even feel it."|ret||ret||tab|

Flag-Up is manufactured in a water toy factory in Medford, Ore., that ships the devices to Bass Pro locations in Springfield, Dallas and Houston, Texas, and Wal-Mart locations in Branson West, Lake Ozark and Rogers, Ark. Grissum said he plans to sell Flag-Up on the Internet and eventually have it in stores across the United States.|ret||ret||tab|

He said he and Brueggemann will wait to see if Flag-Up is successfully received by the public, then consider pushing for legislation to require its use by skiers and personal watercraft operators. Grissum said he sees no boundaries for Flag-Up and thinks it has international appeal. |ret||ret||tab|

"There's boats and skiers and Waverunners everywhere. We'll see how it sells in our test markets here, in Texas and Arkansas, and maybe Florida. We think it's a wonderful product, but will the general public come in and buy it? I don't know, but for $14.99, why not?" Grissum said.|ret||ret||tab|

Grissum said he's giving away about 500 Flag-Ups to friends and neighbors at Table Rock and the exciting aspect of the product to him and Brueggemann is that they are providing a potentially life-saving product to the public. |ret||ret||tab|

"I'd give them away, if I could afford it," Grissum said. |bold_on||bold_on||ret||ret||tab|

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