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Old Hickory park rangers accept the Nashville District's Hedgehog Award in recognition of excellence during a presentation by Lt. Col. James A. DeLapp,  U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District commander, at the headquarters in Nashville, Tenn., Jan. 10, 2012. (USACE photo by Richard Scott)

Old Hickory park rangers garner Nashville District's Hedgehog Award

Story by Lee Roberts

Nashville District Public Affairs

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Jan. 10, 2012) – Ten Old Hickory Lake park rangers garnered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District’s Hedgehog Award at the headquarters today for promoting water safety and educating the public in an effort to reduce public fatalities at Corps lakes.

Lt. Col. James A. DeLapp, Nashville District commander, lauded the team effort to educate the public at a recent Nashville Predators game, during visits to local schools, and other community sporting events and gatherings.

Diane Parks, chief of Operations, commented about the great impact Park Rangers Amy Redmond, Trey Church, Kathryn Wall, Noel Smith, Allen Earhart, John Baird, Matt Simcox, Courtney Eason, Crystal Tingle and Charlie Leath have made by teaming up to improve the water safety program at Old Hickory Lake and within the Nashville District.

There were 19 fatalities at Nashville District lakes in the 2011 recreation season, and these park rangers really took it to heart to make a difference in getting the word out to the public that water safety is important, Parks noted.

“They stepped up their pace and introduced innovative ideas,” Parks said. “They gave extra effort to educate the public, and in doing so improved the district’s water safety program.”

In 2011, the park rangers forged a partnership with a Nashville-based bass tournament club and participated in the first annual Family, Fun and Fish Day at Lone Branch Recreation Area.  The event had more than 150 youth participants, which included a regulation-style tournament that provided an opportunity to stress water and boating safety.  Gnash, the mascot for the Nashville Predators, also partnered with the Corps at the event.

The team also set up booths at local high school football games, participated in fishing rodeos, Earth Day events, attended community festivals, and passed out water and hunting safety brochures at the Home Depot Safety Days and at the Bass Pro Shops Winter Expo.

Tim Dunn, chief of the Nashville District Natural Resources Management Branch, said Old Hickory Lake also used multi-media tools to spread the water safety message.

The park rangers worked with Public Affairs to post videos, photos, posters, event updates, and announcements on the Old Hickory Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/oldhickorylake) to keep the public informed and provide water safety information. They also helped PA with producing a video that demonstrated how to properly execute the phrase “Reach, Throw, Row, but Don’t Go” to explain how to help someone struggling in the water.

In addition, the team worked with the outdoor television show Fishin’ Affliction and filmed 26 public service announcements. Fishing Affliction has a total estimated viewership of 450,000 and local viewership of around 300,000. The show airs throughout the southern United States every Saturday morning.  These PSAs are also on the district’s YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/armyenginrsnashville) and can be found on Internet search engines.

Dunn noted that weekend boat patrols at Old Hickory Lake are also a key element of the team’s water safety program.  While the park rangers patrol the lake and spread water safety information to the public, they also were able to respond to emergency situations.

Park Rangers Wall and Eason received Star of Life Awards from the USACE Great Lakes and Ohio Rivers Division for taking quick action Aug. 20, 2011 to avert tragedy on the lake. They positioned their boat between oncoming vessels and a young boy in the water who had fallen off a tube and the boat operator had not noticed. The boy was retrieved safely from the path of other boats on the lake.

“I’m extremely proud of the park rangers at Old Hickory Lake for coming together as a team, genuinely caring about the people who visit the lake, safeguarding them, and educating everyone they can about water safety,” Dunn said.

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