For the past three years, junior Dalton Davis has worked at Wild River Country. Now as the Aquatics Manager Davis oversees 165 plus lifeguards, makes sure the park and people are safe and handles guest complaints. Davis heard about the job opening through his uncle, who also works at the park.
“My uncle is an EMT out there and he basically three summers ago loaded me up in a car and said, ‘You’re going to go get a job,’” Davis said. “And I’ve been there ever since.”
Davis knew having a job was beneficial on college and other job applications by showing dedication towards work.
“It shows that you’re going to stay somewhere for a really long time if you end up doing well at the job,” Davis said. “And I believe that no matter how old you are, there is always opportunity for advancement in your career.”
When he first got the job at 15, Davis could not work many hours because of school and balancing two jobs during the summer.
“I got the summer job where I could work 40 hours a week, it was fitting for me at the time,” Davis said.
Wild River Country will become Wild Winter Country Nov. 22 to March 31. The park will be filled with real snow and provide holiday themed attractions such as snow tubing, pictures with Santa and holiday decorations until Dec. 23. Once open, Davis will return from his month and a half off.
“Instead of managing the aquatics facility, I’m being cross trained to do admissions and help with the food service, I’m just going to be the go to guy,” Davis said. “If they ever need a manager in one of the departments I’m going to be there. I’m going to get trained on all the aspects because so much is going into that [Wild Winter Country]. The equipment is really expensive so we’re going to make sure everyone is trained for that correctly.”
Over the past three years, Davis said his best experience was working Will Sanders Day, this is a day for special needs children to come out and spend the day at the park.
“That’s just a really rewarding experience,” Davis said. “The lifeguards feel rewarded by doing that and I feel rewarded as well.”
