Engineer's Day a hit with employees, retirees and families

Posted June 23, 2010
By David Kidd
Norfolk District Public Affairs

06/23/2010 - CHESAPEAKE, Va. — More than 250 Norfolk District employees and their families gathered June 17 for the annual Engineer's Day at the Great Bridge Reservation in Chesapeake. The Norfolk District has been celebrating Engineer's Day for more than 35 years.

The day began with a retiree breakfast hosted by Norfolk District Commander Col. Andrew Backus. More than 25 retirees -- who collectively had more than 700 years of service to the Corps -- attended.

"I'm here to see the people I used to work with and they look good for being old geezers," Jim Walsh said with a laugh. Walsh served with the Corps for 34 years and retired as deputy chief of engineering.

Following the breakfast, district employees began to arrive, and most of the retirees stayed for the duration of the event to talk about Corps projects they had worked on and meet the project managers who are overseeing those projects today. Colonel Backus, who has been with the district since June 2009, mentioned that last year's Engineer's Day was the first district event he attended. He then continued by congratulating everyone for a great year of hard work.

"It's right around the time of the Army and Engineer's birth, it's a time to reflect on our heritage and the past year," Backus said.

General George Washington appointed Col. Richard Gridley as the first chief of engineers on June 16, 1775. On March 16, 1802, the U.S. Army officially established the Army Corps of Engineers.

The district's welfare council organized the annual fete, and funding to pay for the food, beverages, DJ and door prizes was raised through bake sales and parking spot raffles. Welfare council members balance their responsibilities at work with volunteer welfare council activities.

"There was a lot of work to make this happen, but we have a great team," said Jennifer Heuer, president of the welfare council. "The staff at US Facility (Great Bridge Reservation) was also a great help, along with logistics," she added.

A great atmosphere was created at the park as music of every genre was played by DJ and district employee, Carlton Lillard. Lunch was catered by Alfs Café, and included fried chicken, hot dogs, pulled pork barbecue, green beans, hush puppies and macaroni and cheese. The desert table was overflowing with brownies, cupcakes, pudding, cookies and more. After lunch, people teamed up to play volleyball, horseshoes and kickball.

"It's great to take a break from our normal day of work; this event also gives me and other employees the opportunity to meet people who are new to the district," said Keith Lockwood. "I also enjoyed beating the interns in kickball."

There has been a competitive kickball game between the summer interns and full-time employees for several years. Although the full-time employees have always won, the interns were able to put up a great fight with a final score of 6-4. There was also a competitive volleyball game with the executive staff winning by two points in the third game.

This year's Engineer's Day proved to be a great way to kick-start the summer. At every corner of the park, people were seen smiling and laughing as they socialized, reflected and participated in summer activities.