The previous park commissioner, who was out of office when I came, but was in office for many years, his name was Preston Hale and he did a lot to build the zoo up at the time. It was one of these park department zoos that sometimes it’s run by the park commissioner. It was one of these things. They didn’t have an official zoo director title or anything, but he loved it. And he used to come to Kansas City when I was a keeper and follow me around. And one of these, well, kind of a distinguished elderly gentlemen, always properly dressed, coat and tie. And he’d say, “We need a young fellow like you in Topeka.” I said, “Mr. Hale, I’m not near ready to do anything like that.” And he just kept saying, “We need a young fellow like you in Topeka,” I can’t help but think that after he, I can’t remember if he decided to retire or lost the election, but the new commissioner came in, Mr. Gooden, and the park superintendent was continuous from Mr. Hale to Mr. Gooden.
