Then again, after Dion was hired and things went back to relative normal and that was then a different kind of round because then I would be making a round and then talking to the curator or curators saying, hey, what’s happened with this?… Read More
I wanna say I didn’t do it as regularly. I really don’t remember doing it as regular ’cause I did start doing it. Read More
As a general curator and an interim director, were you still able to make rounds, which were important?… Read More
Yeah, it was an old, neglected facility. There was always problems, physical problems. I remember the clay building, which was the main building that had the bird, small mammals and hippo, that building, which was built in 55, had a boiler that was constantly going down. I mean, the money… Read More
So much of this, the work that was done was 30 and 40 years old at the time, I don’t remember animals as being a problem. ’cause the stuff that was bad, like as I mentioned earlier, the sea lion bowl was a horrible thing that was closed. We had… Read More
Aside from the budget, were there other problems that existed at Mesker Park that upon your interim, you started to notice or were aware of?… Read More
Sure, I learned a lot of stuff, you know, the business end and working with downtown. I mean, I may have gone occasionally to a meeting only very few and far between, but suddenly I’m going to the monthly park board meeting, I’m meeting personalities, I’m meeting politicians. And just… Read More
I mean, I was a caretaker director, was I learning stuff?… Read More
Well, at that time, we were still just a small zoo, you know, had the small staff. This was prior to 75 when the SEEDA monies came in. So during that time it was Frank and myself running the zoo and the labor, I mean the maintenance foreman and this… Read More
Did they change from when you were a zoologist, again, as general curator or?… Read More
What were your responsibilities in supervision during this time?… Read More
I was just living from one day to the next, I just wanted to do as well as I could, but I wanted someone there with more experience than me that could teach me what all that, that I needed to know. I mean, certainly, the amount of paperwork. The… Read More
Did you have a vision for the zoo, if I could be director, I could do this and this I’d like to do it, or you’ve never had the thought?… Read More
And I just noticed that we’re running outta money, but the previous administration didn’t. And I mean, I certainly could understand. John was leaving the zoo, and he gave notice and looking for the job and maybe he wasn’t 100% into it. I mean, and maybe that was an annual… Read More
It was noted that, you know, how come I’m the kid here for a month?… Read More
I was, I think totally overwhelmed. I realized, and I remember the dates because it was at the end of the year, shortly after, almost immediately after I took the position, I was reviewing the budget and saw what the spending levels were, that we were gonna run out of… Read More
Were you feeling more confident as you were going along or were you totally overwhelmed?… Read More
Because?… Read More
I lacked the experience. I didn’t think, if you add up all my, excuse me, all my experience at that time, three months, I didn’t have maybe for three or four years total experience in working at a zoo. But yet you were in the position now as director, whether… Read More
Six or less. Okay. And then you find yourself in the position that you are in charge of the zoo. Yes. And you decided right away that this was not what you were interested in. Directorship, absolutely. Read More