MOBILE, Ala. – In the past year, Allatoona Lake Project office has built upon their water safety program by introducing a ranger incentive program that led to a healthy competition among rangers for weekly and monthly water safety honors.
The new improvements to the water safety program led to Allatoona being named the National Water Safety Team, in addition to eight different rangers receiving twenty-one weekly and five monthly awards. Weekly and monthly winners were also nominated for South Atlantic Division Water Safety and Educational Awards. Of the seventeen SAD Award winners this year, five were Allatoona rangers.
For the Allatoona Rangers it is not all about the competition, awards, or recognition.
“Allatoona cares more about our community, and the extra effort we give on a daily basis is part of the identity of being a park ranger here,” said Travis England, Allatoona Lake park ranger.
However, Allatoona didn’t stop there. They introduced two new “I Got Caught” programs geared at adults wearing their life jackets and continued to lean on partnerships to help develop and maintain the program. This would include a strong volunteer staff.
“All of recognition and achievements would not be possible without the hundreds of hours of work toward the program and the safety of the public,” said Christopher Purvis, Lead ranger at Allatoona Lake.
Despite COVID-19 conditions, project staff were able to conduct 23,417 one-on-one water safety contacts with an additional 4,094 contacts being made by volunteers. All while hosting 11 water safety school programs for hundreds of children.
“We’re happy to have the opportunity to go out and interact with both children and adults,” said Linda Croach, Allatoona Lake volunteer. “We often have prizes and plenty of praise for those ‘caught’ wearing their life vests.”
The Allatoona Lake water safety team is dedicated to making sure Allatoona Lake is safe places to enjoy America’s great outdoors.
“We’re honored and humbled to be recognized for the hard work we’ve put into the programs, because at the end of the day, it’s about the people and their safety.” Said Christopher Purvis, Lead ranger at Allatoona Lake.
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With an area of operation across Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and northern Florida, and a vast military region that includes operations across Central and South America, the Mobile District’s award- winning teams of engineering, construction, regulatory and emergency management professionals are nationally recognized for their leadership in delivery of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ civil works and military programs missions to the Nation.
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