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2003

PORTLAND BRINGS MESSAGE TO GIRL SCOUTS  

          The Portland District's Corps Water Safety Team brought the water safety message to the Girl Scouts of the USA Oct. 11 at an annual event called "GirlFest - Everything Cool About Being a Girl."

Corps employees accomplished this by staffing a water safety booth at the event, which welcomed more than 10,000 girls and their families to a day of fun, including live music and entertainment, outdoor adventure, career exploration, and prizes.

At the booth, Girl Scouts were provided information on recreation opportunities at local attractions as well as promotional products for water safety.  Scout leaders also were encouraged to sign up for a free copy of Safe Passage, a water safety video for kids.

In total for 2003, the District Water Safety Team distributed more than 120 water safety videos to both boy and girl scouting organizations in Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington.

Another noteworthy outreach effort to scouting organizations included placing a free advertisement in the local scout organizations newsletter, Compass Points, encouraging scout leaders to contact the Corps for free water safety materials and information.

For more information about this event, contact Kevin Paff. 

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NAshville District has the team spirit!

Pictured below are billboards on display within the Nashville District.  Contact David Treadway, Public Affairs Office, for more information.

Colorful and attractive, this billboard taps into the area team spirit.  The photo on the left shows the highly visible location that catches traffic accessing area interstate highways. 

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WATER SAFETY EFFORTS INCREASE IN MONTANA

Folks around the Libby, Montana region may have noticed some subtle changes taking place this spring and summer, thanks to the efforts of Libby Dam’s Alana Kirkpatrick.  Park Ranger Kirkpatrick made sure that local children brought new water safety coloring books and stickers home from school, she hosted an increased number of student field trips at the dam, and even put up a new billboard in town!

Winning art wins billboard display

Ranger Kirkpatrick focused her interpretive efforts on water safety, visiting area schools to do educational programs.  Students benefiting from this effort attended elementary schools in the area surrounding Libby, including from Kootenai Valley Christian School, Asa Wood, McGrade, Libby Middle School, Morrison Elementary, Yaak, McCormick, and Sylvanite schools.  As a follow up to her programs, Ranger Kirkpatrick sponsored a local water safety poster contest, in which students were asked to design a poster with a favorite water safety message.  The contest was open to all elementary students in the area, and nearly 400 entries were received.   Judging was tough, and ended in a tie for first place between Jed Cook, of Morrison Elementary in Troy, and Luke Harmon, of McGrade Elementary in Libby.  Both artists were awarded 1^st place, the prize for which was having their artwork displayed on a billboard near town, each for 6 months of the year.    

                      

Luke Harmon, McGrade Elementary, Libby, MT              Jed Cook, Morrison Elementary, Troy, MT 

For more information on this effort, please contact Alana Kirkpatrick.   

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Buddy Meets Smokey

Carters Lake Park Rangers Jeff Pobieglo, Lakesha Self, and Mobile Districts Water Safety mascot Buddy Beaver attended a Family Fishing Festival, in Suches Georgia, sponsored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the Chattahochee Forest National Fish Hatchery.

              

The festival was held on Saturday, September 27, 2003 in an effort to encourage the stewardship of our aquatic resources and promote the importance of trout fishing. The Corps set up a display promoting fisheries projects and programs conducted by park rangers at Carters Lake. The ranger staff also presented a variety of on site water safety education activities with assistance from Buddy Beaver.

Buddy Beaver enjoyed meeting over 250 visitors and encouraged all his friends to learn to swim, never swim alone, never dive in unfamiliar waters, and always wear your lifejacket when boating. He also encouraged all parents to keep an eye on their children when they are near the water or swimming at the beach. 

An unexpected feature occurred when our very own Buddy Beaver teamed up with Smokey the Bear to promote water safety and fire prevention. Many visitors and children took the opportunity to meet them and pose with both mascots together for family photos.

Ft. Peck Ranger Trading Cards Prove Popular

Five-year old Dominique Kennedy was the first local student to collect all six of the Park Ranger trading cards issued by  Ft. Peck's Natural Resources Management staff.  The cards were produced in conjunction with the lake's Kids Water Safety Festival and Fishing Derby events.  Park Ranger Vicky Silcox reported that when Dominique came to the lake's visitor center to prove he had collected all six trading cards, he also wanted to know more about  ranger careers and Fort Peck Lake.  The life jacket he won was a prize donation by a local vendor, in Glasgow, MT.

For more information, contact Vicky Silcox at:  vicky.a.silcox@usace.army.mil

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The Kind of Tattoo Even Your Mother Would Like

Mascots from two universities in Oregon, Oregon State University (Beavers) & University of Oregon (Ducks), have twins - the Corps of Engineers Beaver and Duck!  Last year, the Portland District Water Safety Committee created new heroes, the water safety duck and beaver temporary tattoos. These fun cartoon characters help support the district’s water safety program.

The tattoos, less than 2 inches square, are kid friendly and popular. These 2-inch square tattoos are distributed to kids and adults alike - at water safety events, safety fairs, school programs, open houses, campfire programs, or any other outreach programs the Corps attends. The fun and friendly faces help reinforce a basic water safety message  Wear Your Lifejacket! 

Modeled after the same characters in the Water Safety Fun Book, these temporary tattoos are loved by both children and their parents.  Easily applied, they last for days - or if parents are heavy on cleanliness, the tattoos can be easily washed off.  Not only are they fun and safe, they’re inexpensive too, costing about 10 cents each!  Building on the success and popularity of this great idea out of Portland District, the National Water Safety Program will introduce two new tattoo characters this winter.

The following information on this project was provided by Kevin Paff, who coordinated the project for Portland District.  

10,500 tattoos were purchased this year for $505.66 - that cost reflects shipping, handling and a $100 extra charge for the white on the duck. Doing the math, they cost approximately $.05 each. The manufacturer's  web site has additional options for size and quantity.

Source used:   

 Tattoo Manufacturing, Inc.   

3741 E. Technical Drive  

 Tucson, AZ 85713-5343 

 1-800-747-8016 

 http://www.tattoosales.com/   

email: info@tattoosales.com

Reference control # TA122131 for the duck, TA122132 for the beaver. Shipping only takes 1-2 weeks - they're fast!

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Water Safety Stencil Makes Big Debut in Portland District

Arlington, OR volunteers: Jeff Ault, Lynette Yutzie, Scott Garrelts, and Tim Jones

  If travelers on Interstate 84 near Arlington, Oregon believe their eyes are playing tricks on them, they’re not. It is indeed a six-foot tall bright orange life jacket and water safety message they see to the North. The Dalles park rangers are hoping these images, soon to be popping up in other locations, will catch people’s eyes and promote water safety.

  On May 18th,  four Arlington students, in conjunction with the Port of Arlington’s Down By The Riverside workday, were the first to use the Corps’ stencils. The volunteers painted two large water safety images by the marina’s boat landing and restroom.

 Executive Secretary of the Port of Arlington Alice Courtney was eager to give the water safety stencils a test run for the Corps, and very pleased with the results. The images will provide a water safety message to all who use the marina for years to come.
 
Future plans for the stencils involve loaning them out to other interested partners such as state and local parks, along with highly visible marina areas. The Dalles Park Rangers are also planning to put the stencils to use in several Corps’ boat launches and swimming areas. 

Contact The Dalles/John Day Project, for more information

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Billboards and Banners Remind Boaters to Wear Life Jackets

Kansas City and Tulsa Districts recently teamed up on an outdoor advertising campaign in the state of Kansas, bringing a key safety message for boaters to thousands of motorists on the road. In total, twenty 12' x 25' billboards located near Kansas lakes displayed the message, thanks to the cooperative efforts of Chancellor Media Corporation, Topeka KS; Don Rey Outdoor Advertising, Wichita KS; and Thomas Sign Company, Manhattan KS. To further the campaign, banners with the same safety message were placed at ten lakes in Kansas and Missouri.
This idea was conceived by Gary Foster and Greg Miller, both natural resources specialists from NWK. Eugene Goff, a park ranger at Big Hill Lake represented Tulsa District in the partnership. Gary and Greg handled the art design and Eugene coordinated the procurement of the billboard locations. 
NWK also developed photo banners using the same design concept. The banner photo was taken at Smithville Lake by Mike Watkins, Biologist, NWK. The vinyl banners, which are 5' x 10' in size, can be used both indoors and outdoors to promote water safety during special events and holidays.  
For more information on these great ideas, contact Gary.L.Foster@usace.army.mil or Greg.A.Miller@usace.army.mil.

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1999

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Tulsa District Sponsors Water Safety Poster Contest

Tulsa District rangers recently sponsored a water safety poster contest for 5th and 6th grade students in schools across Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas. In total, 18 project and lake offices participated in the event over 1000 students involved.

Winners were selected on local levels by lake and project offices. First place winners from each of the 18 areas were forwarded to the Tulsa District Office, where an overall winner was selected. Judges for the event found that the decision was not an easy one as they sorted through each of the excellent and serious submittals to find the one entry with the winning message.

A judging panel finally determined that Talara Heth from Tenkiller Grade School was the overall winner for the 5th grade competition. Talara is now in the 6th grade and was presented the award during a school assembly on August 16, 1999 by Lt. Colonel Norton of the Tulsa District Corps of Engineers.

Talara Heth receives award from LtC Norton, Tulsa District. For more information, contact Julie.Cawhorn@swt03.usace.army.mil

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Recycling at Waurika Project

In the spirit of innovation, staff members at Waurika Project, Oklahoma, found a great way to recycle obsolete fee collection stations at their beaches, rather than tear them out! First the entire project staff was asked to select their five favorite water safety posters, and then the winning favorites were reproduced onto metal billboards that fit nicely inside the stations' frames. The final results are amazingly durable, enlarged water safety messages (each piece measures 38" x 44") that provide key messages to park and beach users. In addition, the team installed a 7' x 4' water safety ad at the entrance of two of their Class "A" parks. The messages that the posters relay have all been well-received by their customers and "brighten up" the entire area. Contact Louis.Holstead@swt03.usace.army.mil for more information.

               

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Buddy Beaver  Promotes Water Safety at Carters Lake, Mobile District

Buddy was adopted in October 1998 by the Mobile District Water Safety Task Force as the District's new water safety mascot. Buddy's motto is "Water Safety Saves Lives".