Almost like mini little three ring circus type things or big cats. That the director would go in with. And do performances. So. That was the third one. The Joe Frisco era was more circusy. And in fact I think the zoo wasn’t open year round. He would take his… Read More
But they only had five cages, so I mean they were small barred cages. Same thing on the primates were barred. Most of the rest of them were glass fronted. And then there was an outdoor petting zoo area. You know, the goats and sheep and they had – we… Read More
And do his performances and leave the rest of the zoo there just during the winter when it was closed. So it was interesting, when Chuck came it kind of started switching over. AZA was becoming more important. We were trying to get records written, that type of thing. Collection… Read More
It went through a phase where there were bird shows, you know?… Read More
Well, not having been to a lot of zoos, other than other ones that I had interviewed at, it was… I guess one in transition. The zoo itself had been I think officially – it started in Peoria because somebody donated a herd of elk to the park district. So… Read More
What was your impression of this zoo?… Read More
And then. When the curator left I applied for that and became the curator for another three years. And then Chuck had left, Chuck Wikenhauser left, and went to Pittsburgh I think at that time. And so I applied – well I was the acting director for a while. I… Read More
What kind of impression…… Read More
What was their collection like?… Read More
So how did you start and then how was that flowing?… Read More
Okay, out of college, have to get jobs, So I think I had four part-time jobs at one time. I just had to remember where I was going when, but. I had, somebody my mom and dad knew from church had worked at the park district. Had told them there… Read More
So she happened to mention to Chuck Wikenhauser that I was available. And after a few months they were starting some education, they were trying to do the Zoomobiles out into the community. So he hired me at a whopping $2.50 an hour to go out to the different schools… Read More
What positions were you applying for?… Read More
Oh yeah, I applied to – I must have had 50 zoos. And when I got all the rejections I had them on my wall in my apartment. And, you know, they just said there weren’t that many jobs open. There were a lot of people applying. You have to… Read More
Anything at the point, but I was going for a keeper position. Or, yeah, but I ended up in education for a while. Now you’re a bit unique in that you’ve worked your entire career in one institution. Can you take us through your evolution through the positions and maybe… Read More
Isn’t that in Chicago?… Read More
I had come up for an interview with Abbott and didn’t get it, but that’s good. Because then I finally got into the Glen Oak Zoo. Read More
But when you were in college did you not apply at Glen Oak?… Read More
So when did you decide hey, I want to work in the zoo?… Read More
So I had to see something that was – I could see a result from that you were helping with something. You know, more immediate. I think. Read More