Interview 22891 – Caption Index: 62
And. You decide. Read More
And. You decide. Read More
How did you decide that I want to now run this place?… Read More
And how did that come about?… Read More
So you had to take care of everything?… Read More
I had basically half the zoo. I was, the way it was set up, the zoo actually looked like a big candy cane. The way it was shaped. And the front half had the birds in this big area up front. Some small mammals. So I had all of that… Read More
Maybe – oh, margays. And then the outside area. The curator also had to assume keeper duties too. Otherwise we’d have never gotten done. Because you’d come in at 8 o’clock and you had to be ready and open by 10 o’clock. So it was a push. So ultimately you’re… Read More
What else?… Read More
Few hoof stock, you know, but. And eagles. We had eagles. But that was about it. It was very tiny. Read More
So you were one of two keepers?… Read More
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
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
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
What was your impression of this zoo?… 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
It went through a phase where there were bird shows, you know?… 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