News Archive
Zoo is ‘merry, not scary'
Published on November 11, 2009 - 9:51 am
by By Deb Todd, News Sentinel
http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091015/ENT/910150310
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The floor and tables were covered with paint-spattered plastic, while cans of paint dripping in hues of pink, purple, blue, red and yellow were clustered along the wall. Cups of paint and piles of well-used paintbrushes were scattered around the tables.
Pumpkins were heaped in every corner, awaiting the fusion of imagination and wet paint that would transform them into a green-faced goblin, cheerful sunflower, hairy-legged spider or a cross-eyed witch.
It was the annual pumpkin-painting event held recently in preparation for the Great Zoo Halloween at the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo. The zoo opens Friday for the 30th-anniversary season of this popular event.
Education Director Cheryl Piropato helps coordinate an army of staff and community volunteers who transform the zoo into a pumpkin paradise.
“We try to get all of these pumpkins done in one day,” she said. “We have 300 people coming today to paint pumpkins, and we'll have 700 done by the end of the day.”
The painters
Lisa Lee, Dawn Hutchens and five other employees of Specialized Printed Products volunteer each October. Lee has painted for 11 years — her contribution to the community, she said.
Hutchens brings her grandchildren to the event.
“We try to spot some of (my) pumpkins. They're easy to find because they look like my grandkids,” she said, laughing.
Before the SPP volunteers could finish, a gaggle of excited fifth-graders from Lincoln Elementary School burst through the door.
Annette Freiburger had prepared her class for the experience.
“We talk about being good citizens and how it's our duty to volunteer,” she said. “When we go back (to the classroom), we'll write about it and talk about it.”
Liliana Guzman methodically painted a design using red and purple — her favorite colors — while Brianna Cumberland quickly drew a familiar caricature.
“I made a kitty,” she said. “I wrote about it in my journal. I had to figure out whether to do triangle eyes, square eyes or round eyes.” (Triangle eyes won.)
Both girls agreed, “It's fun!”
The early years
The late Earl Wells, zoo director from its founding in 1965 until his retirement in 1994, established the Great Zoo Halloween in 1979.
“That was the era when people started to worry ... (they) were looking for a safe way to trick-or-treat,” Piropato said. “I believe (our zoo) was one of the first to host a Halloween event. Now almost every zoo in the country has some type of event.”
Community response was positive, and yearly attendance now runs 25,000-30,000.
“There was a time when we had more,” Piropato said, “but now there's a lot of competition. Our event is unique. We gear it toward very young children and families. The goal is not a scary, haunted event. We like to call it ‘merry, not scary.'”
The volunteers
“This whole event has been operated by volunteers from the very beginning,” said Piropato. “We're a little more sophisticated in the way we contact and process volunteers ... but it's always been about volunteers.”
She estimates nearly 1,500 people from local schools, Key Clubs, scouting groups, businesses and family groups will help in the preparation and execution of this year's event.
Each evening, a different scout group prowls the woods awaiting the arrival of the Eerie Express Train and relishing their roles as goblins, ghosties and things that “go bump in the night.”
Besides the painted pumpkins, an additional 500 pumpkins are carved as jack-o'-lanterns and placed along zoo pathways.
“The Brownies do the scooping (out) on Wednesday,” Piropato said. “On Thursday, we carve all the pumpkins, and on Friday we put them out.”
Final preparations
Education and maintenance staff do the heavy lifting, string miles of lights and install electricity where needed. The 10-12 tons of pumpkins and gourds are arranged in vignettes or as familiar characters from books or movies.
“We're doing ‘Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs,' ‘G-Force' guinea pigs, ‘Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs,' ‘Harry Potter,' Veggie Tales, African animals, mermaids, penguins — whatever we get inspired by,” Piropato said.
Beth Wood provides much of the creative vision, according to Piropato.
“She imagines the scene, and we build animals out of pumpkins, rebar and paint. Pumpkin animals are always very popular. They're unique — and we are a zoo.”
A tradition
The zoo is a self-supporting entity, Piropato said, noting it is supported by entry fees and donations from the community, not tax dollars.
“The proceeds from this event help fund our general operations,” she said. “The zoo wouldn't exist without the support of the community.”
It's also fun to see the Great Zoo Halloween tradition extending to a second generation of visitors.
“It's great to be part of something that the community values and embraces,” Piropato said. “People love it.”