Thursday, May 17, 2007

Two new faces join Corps at Lake Perry

by Sara Peterson-Davis

Two new employees have joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers staff at Perry Lake.

Amanda Ming joined the corps staff in January as a budget analyst.

As budget analyst, Ming is responsible paying for the Corps’ bills at the lake, as well as the corps contracts, travel and personnel training.

Ming had previously worked for the National Weather Service office in Topeka before coming to Perry Lake.

This is the second time Ming has worked for the corps. The Kansas City-area native worked as an administrative assistant for the corps for 11 years at Fort Leavenworth before leaving for a brief stint with the weather service.

“I went to the weather service and missed the corps,” said Ming, who started working for the organization when she was 17. “I grew up with the corps. I really felt like the it is home.”

Sam Wagoner started working for the corps of engineers part-time on the maintenance crew at Harlan County Lake near Kearney, Neb. right out of high school. He eventually became the lake’s water treatment plant operator.

The Franklin, Neb. native joined the staff at Perry Lake in October as the maintenance mechanic leader.

“I like my work,” said Wagoner, who has been full-time with the corps for 3 ½ years. “It’s something new every day. I come to work with a pretty good idea of what I’m going to get done and it completely changes.”

Since coming to Perry Lake, Wagoner and his crew have been busy repairing everything from waterlines to electrical breaker boxes in anticipation of this summers’ crowds.

“We have been busy getting everything back online,” Wagoner said.