I just bought into 10, 12 brands of hot dogs. I made everybody eat a hot dog. So then they all had part of eating a hot dog, you know, that’s the kind of minor stuff we did then. Going from a, going from a, hold a minute, going from… Read More
How in the world, you guys doing this stuff?… Read More
Because we all work together. We all listen. The city Columbus never interferes. The mayor gets to appoint his people. There were three county commissions appoint their people, ’cause it’s all, now the county’s bought all this land around here next to the city land. Now it’s all one big… Read More
If somebody’s not there, they’re either sick, ’cause they have a ball at our meetings, and we make it that way. By the way, make your meetings short. Don’t make your meeting where, I’ve used to this place, we had nothing to discuss. “What kind of hot dogs you serving… Read More
We have 18 careers here. Some people that come in the zoo and start in these careers, they were so good, they worked there long enough, and then they get out and start branching out in other careers. And other careers, golly day, Don Wentzel here, who was head of… Read More
Yes, you have a board, have a good board. That’s a critical thing. Here at Columbus, until recently we have, what I call the golden triangle until about six months ago, we still have it, by the way, but we have to get those little hiccup here. We have a… Read More
And people come here from all over the place. Read More
I mean, he gave everybody in the zoo. I’d done that before, but not to the extent he did. Every division in the zoo. Plus every zoo director should remember something. There are about, in our zoo, 18 careers here, 18 careers. We’re talking about veterinarians, the curator division, the… Read More
“Even though I’m majored in this, that I can’t work there.” Oh, you can’t work there?… Read More
If you’re a zoo director, work with the people that work with you. Go down to the person that serves the hot dogs at your concession stand. They know a hell, a heck of a lot more about hotdogs than you do, or the drinks or, your souvenirs or your… Read More
“I want you to paint me two bathrooms. “I don’t care what you do. How you do it. “Clean that dadgum thing up and paint it!” They’re all clean, but he wanted them painted. I said, “What is he going to?” “Because, Jack, it gives the people that work here… Read More
And by the way, where’d you get your tires from?… Read More
But don’t tell me I can’t take the gorillas and move them outside in a better habitat for $75,000. Don’t tell me I can’t have Africa up there with a plane. We had a (laughs) this is crazy, idea of crashing a plane inside the Africa, where the lions will… Read More
But people now, this big old plane, with the big old engines in the old days. They’re now going to go into the fuselage and see the lion. I air conditioned the wing and they’ll go, the lion’s gonna sit on the wing. It’s just a different experience for them. Read More
“Will it work?” It’s up there right now if you wanna go see it. I didn’t say can’t work, Jim, this can’t work, that you can’t, like the gorillas. You can’t have a gynecologist. He’s not a veterinarian. You can’t do this. You can’t, I, if I heard the word… Read More
Well, obviously I’m not like a lot of zoo directors, a lot of zoo directors aren’t like me. You know, none of us, the good Lord created us to where we all are different. I learned that early in life, trying to maybe play some sports. I wouldn’t, I mean,… Read More
I can’t be, you know, Ed Maruska or Warren Thomas or some of the people are gone now. People were my buddies, you know. I can’t be that. I could never have the intelligence they have. I guess I’m just who I am. I have not changed, I don’t think… Read More
I think I know a lot about the animal world in a common way that I can teach the average person watching. I think, if anything that I’ve done, is try and bring the animal world to people that way, both at the zoo here, as well as teaching a… Read More
I guess or our success, the Columbus Zoo is that I relate to people where they can do it too. That’s that, if you look at all my shows, go look at them someday. You’ll see that maybe you could go to the places I go to too. And that’s… Read More
Now, why would you say you have been successful in dealing with the media and what would you tell a zoo director in regards to dealing with the media?… Read More