About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (April 15, 2020)
Nick Bowman Features Editor | 770-718-3426 | life@gainesvilletimes.com She (Times gainesvilletimes.com Midweek Edition - April 15-16, 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 feed ing including kangaroos, pacas, servals and porcu pines. The virtual experi ence 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 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. God keeps sending the things we need when we need them. 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.’” Jeff Powell director of operations, North 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. Commu nity members, businesses and the zoo have donated books, animal-themed mer chandise, tourism expe riences and art made by animals to the cause. On March 31, the zoo auctioned a painting cre ated 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 Georgia Zoo 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 sur prised 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. Photos courtesy North Georgia Zoo Above: A zebra at North Georgia Zoo. Below: A guest of the North Georgia Zoo feeds a sloth at the Cleveland Zoo. These days, I’m thinking of all the conversations I cut short R0NDA RICH southswomen@bellsouth.net Among the many down-home philosophies of Mama’s was her proclamation that “Somethin’ good always comes out of some thin’ bad. Always. You just watch and see.” I’ve long loved the restaurant chain, Ruby Tuesday, which Mama devoutly hated. This has to do with the fact that they stopped serving bread with meals. Mama’s love of bread led to her strong dislike of the restaurant. “It makes me so mad that I can’t see straight,” she carried on. “Whoever heard of a meal without bread?” If we were going out to lunch after church, I’d ask, “Where do you want to eat?” She’d shrug, “I don’t care. Anywhere is fine with me.” One breath. “As long as it’s not Ruby Tuesday’s.” When Mama answered the sudden call of the Lord to go home, I tried to find good in that. It was so hard to decipher. Then, one day, I chuckled to myself. “Well, now I can eat at Ruby Tuesday’s any time I want. Mama was right — there is something good in all things bad.” It was small but it helped a bit. The last several weeks have proven that to be true, too. Among the isolation and restric tions that have been thrust upon us, I have become reacquainted with many beautiful things. Instead of hurrying past the dogwood trees as has been my way for years, I stop and pull down a bloom to study care fully its lovely creation. I am ashamed that I have cruelly dis regarded it in the past. I now take the opportunity to call friends and spend a leisurely time in conversation rather than the hurried text or email. I have caught up on all my thank-you notes and have even found time to write letters, especially to older people who are bored and feel disconnected. Particularly widow women. For the first time in a few years, I don’t feel out of breath at the end of the day because I have gone in a constant trot since rising from bed. Normally, I am scurrying to pay bills, answer correspondence, file, write and handle details for speaking engagements. Since having my entire calendar of engagements for four months canceled, it has provided more free time, some of which I use to read more books. Recently, I realized that I am enjoying this slower pace so intently that I run the risk of becoming lazy or, at the very least, less motivated. I am trying to carefully guard against that by pushing myself through a to-do list every day. From Tink, I am reminded that we will return to normal as he sits in a chair and cheerfully writes two Christmas movies for the Hallmark Channel. He is exceedingly glad this year ‘There is always magic in the Lord’s timing and this is no exception. How grateful I am that this uncertain time coincided with spring reminding me of fresh life and renewal.’ to create these stories, know ing that Hallmark’s always successful Christmas movies will be more than just lovingly embraced. They will be akin to fresh oxygen for a population that has been gasping for breath. There is always magic in the Lord’s timing and this is no exception. How grateful I am that this uncertain time coin cided with spring reminding me of fresh life and renewal. Mama, like I, told detailed sto ries that included the extensive genealogy of anyone involved in the tale, what they wore, and the weather. Mama never told a story that did not include something like, “It was spring of the year and unusually cold” or “It was July and the sun was so hot you had to stand in the shade.” When Mama started ram bling into one of these stories — usually just as I was putting my hand on the doorknob to leave — I’d sigh heavily, roll my eyes and say, “Mama, cut to the chase. I don’t have all day to lis ten. I gotta go.” And that’s another thing that has changed dramatically. It’s been many weeks since I said, “I gotta go.” There’s something about that which feels extraordinarily good. Ronda Rich is the best-selling author of There’s A Better Day A-Comin’. Visit www.rondarich. com to sign up for her free weekly newsletter.
