About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (April 14, 2020)
Nick Bowman Features Editor | 770-718-3426 | life@gainesvilletimes.com She (Times gainesvilletimes.com Tuesday, April 14, 2020 Feeding furry, feathered, scaly residents North Georgia Zoo calls for donations and taps into creativity to stay afloat BY KELSEY PODO kpodo@gainesvilletimes.com North Georgia Zoo’s ani mals still need to eat. Although the privately- owned Cleveland business temporarily closed its gates to the public and stopped its off-site programs, staff have not forgotten about the facility’s exotic and domestic residents. Jeff Powell, North Georgia Zoo’s director of operations, said luckily the supply chain of food contin ues to stay strong because of a devoted following of community members. Even with grocery stores running low on meat, he said local deer hunters have contributed venison to feed the zoo’s serval, cou gar, lynx, wolves and other carnivore inhabitants. “It has really been won derful to see how people have stepped up,” Powell said. “A lot of times it’s folks we’ve never met. Some restaurants brought food over. We can use just about any kind of produce or meat.” Before the pandemic, Powell said the staff would offer 400 off-site programs each year by visiting schools, churches, clubs and birthday parties. He said this loss and the tem porary closure put the zoo in a significant financial squeeze. To stay afloat and keep its audience engaged, the North Georgia Zoo has tapped into its creativity. Each day at 1 p.m., an animal educator features one of the zoo’s furry, scaly or feathered friends. Powell said the staff offer fun and interesting tidbits about the animals live on Facebook, and then post the videos at northgeorgia. zoo.com. Another one of the zoo’s free programs includes a live Facebook stream of baby animal feeding includ ing kangaroos, pacas, ser- vals and porcupines. The virtual experience begins at 12:30 p.m. each day. People can pay for a 30-minute online chat with a zookeeper and an ani mal. The one-on-one meet ings range from $25-$75 depending on the requested animal. “It’s a unique experience that you can sort of tailor make,” Powell said. For those wanting to invite a larger group, the Photos courtesy North Georgia Zoo A zebra at North Georgia Zoo. zoo provides online animal parties that last from 45 minutes to an hour. A zoo keeper can introduce up to seven different animals. All reservations can be made on the zoo’s website. “People are starting to book those,” Powell said. “They’re tired of being in the house and looking for something unusual to do and for their kids to do. This is a great opportunity for them to do that.” A live auction group formed on Facebook in late March to support the North Georgia Zoo. Community members, businesses and the zoo have donated books, animal-themed merchan dise, tourism experiences and art made by animals to the cause. On March 31, the zoo auc tioned a painting created by its resident sloth, Noel. The winning bidder paid $135. North Georgia Zoo also started a GoFundMe cam paign on March 19 to help with the costs of feeding, routine maintenance and employing staff. The link can be found at the top of its website’s home page. So far $3,672 has been raised for the zoo’s $20,000 goal. Powell said that North Georgia Zoo has man aged to get by even with furloughing around half its staff. He said the ones on-site are working with reduced pay and hours. “We’re a privately owned zoo, so we don’t get any kind of government or state funding,” Powell said. “A lot of people are surprised by that.” Despite the major finan cial adjustments, Powell said he still remains an “eternal optimist.” Fur loughed staff have volun teered time to care for the animals, and commu nity members continue to donate food and money. “God keeps sending the things we need when we need them,” Powell said. “It’s exciting to see how God has responded. We really do feel like it’s not just our zoo, it’s everyone’s zoo in this area. The people of North Georgia are good hearted people. We just want to say, ‘Thank you.’” For more information about the North Georgia Zoo, visit northgeorgiazoo. com or call 706-348-7279. A guest of the North Georgia Zoo feeds a sloth at the Cleveland zoo. Police, first responders parade through Hall neighborhoods BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com Making its way through all four counties it touches, the Braselton Police Department held a public safety parade through the neigh borhoods of Hall County Monday, April 13. Maj. Michael Steffman said the depart ment has already toured through Jackson and Barrow counties, with plans to go through Gwinnett County on Wednesday. “You’re seeing moms and grandmas out there crying because they’re just excited to have some hope. It shows that we’re out there for them even during times like this,” Steff man said. Braselton Police officers met up around 12:45 p.m. Monday at the Spout Springs Road Publix before parading through the neighbor hoods of Reflections, Clearwater, Del Webb at Chateau Elan, Riverstone and Riverbend at Mulberry Park. Hall County Sheriff’s Office and Hall County Fire Services also participated. “You get one here and there that are like, ‘You’re making too much noise.’ But those are few and far between,” Steffman said while chuckling. PHotos by SCOTT ROGERS I The Times Above: A stream of law enforcement vehicles with lights flashing cruise through the Clearwater Plantation subdivision in Braselton on Monday, April 13, for families sheltering in place. Left: Residents of the Clearwater Plantation subdivision in Braselton watch as Braselton Police, Hall County Sheriff’s Office and Hall County Fire Services vehicles parade through their neighborhood. Below: Braselton Police, Hall County Sheriff’s Office and Hall County Fire Services parade Monday, April 13, through the Clearwater Plantation subdivision in Braselton.
