[charlie22]

Not being from the area, I have no clue but
What the heck happened??

In 2008, as the team buses were leaving for the state championship, the cannon was fired as the first bus pulled away. The cannon was being quickly reloaded so that it could be fired again as the second bus pulled away. Unfortunately in the haste to get it re-loaded, the barrel was not swapped before it was re-loaded. As a result, there were some hot embers or gas in the barrel, so as the powder charge was being pushed down the barrel by a wood plunger, the powder ignited, shooting the plunger out of the barrel. The fellow doing the re-loading and holding the plunger (a close and dear friend of mine) lost most of his hand as he was holding the plunger as it came shooting out of the barrel. Fortunately, the mother of one of the players was a trauma nurse and she and others sprang into action. Plus, an ambulance and the EMT folks were located less than a mile away so they got there quickly. As bad as it was, it could have been much worse. If he had been standing in front of the barrel, my friend would likely have been a dead man.

While many Highlands fans wanted the cannon to return, the family that owns the cannon agreed with the school's decision.

I think an acceptable "compromise" would be to do a video recording of the cannon being fired, and each time the Birds score, the video could be shown on the new, high tech video screen that is part of the new score board.

Not as good as the real thing, but definitely safe.