Well, you did it! You gave us your best shot! You shared your skills and helped us celebrate 40 years by submitting your best Sedgwick County Zoo photos taken during our Happy 40th Birthday photo contest. The winning photos will be featured in the Sedgwick County Zoo 2012 Zoo calendar which comes out November 1 and is included in our Holiday Membership packages.

Photo categories included six different categories:

• Reptiles/Amphibians/Fish
• Birds
• Mammals
• Action
• Guest Experience
• Youth (photographers age 17 and under).

A Grand Prize Winner for Best in Show was also selected.

Winners were announced Friday, August 26 during a press conference to kicki-off our 40 Year Birthday weekend. Winning entries are on display in the Cargill Learning Center and can be viewed here. The Photo contest was held May 22, 2011 through August 1, 2011. All photos were taken during this time period. Entry deadline was August 1, 2011.

Barbara Hoppins, Zoo friend, Volunteer & Staff Member Remembers...
The first 40 years have sure flown by! My dad often talks about “unforeseen circumstances.” Usually they pertain to bad outcomes but in this case the extreme opposite is true! How could I predict the impact of being the Peterson Elementary School representative to the groundbreaking of Sedgwick County Zoo in 1969?

Now, at the age of 52, I remember being a 4th grader, on that blustery, cold, gray day with my little jar and spade, collecting a dirt sample during the ceremony. How could I know I would come to treasure that little jar and spade like nothing else! Thank you Mrs. Morlan! Everyone crowded into the ranch-style farmhouse that sat in the middle of that barren farm field for refreshments. With my mother’s urging I shyly approached, then Zoo Director, Mr. Blakely and asked for his autograph on my jar. Little did I know that from that day forward my life was profoundly intertwined with the zoo! I enjoyed time at Sedgwick County Zoo over the years as a high school intern, summer school teacher, naturalist, keeper aide, docent, volunteer and now Oliver Animal Hospital employee!

Like the many dedicated people I’ve met here at the zoo, both employees and volunteers, all it takes is a small initial spark to ignite a wildfire of devotion to this treasure of ours, Sedgwick County Zoo!

Jim Marlett, Assistant Zoo Director Remembers...
As unbelievable as it seems to a lot of people, I wasn’t working at the Zoo on opening day despite being the Zoo’s resident old geezer. Instead, I was doing my duty with Uncle Sam courtesy of our local draft board. But I didn’t miss by much.

When I was through with my time in the Army, I made a beeline for the new zoo to fill out my “new hire” paperwork. I started in September of 1971 as a groundskeeper since there were no animal positions available. The only other groundskeeper and I worked desperately to keep the newly planted grass alive in late summer, and I have to confess, we weren’t all that successful.

Those were exciting times. The American and Asian Farms was the whole Zoo. The Centrum, or Central Plaza as it is now called, and African Veldt were under construction. I remember going over to the construction site every evening after work looking for any sign of progress. What an exciting day it was when the flatbed truck with the elephant, rhino, and hippo bars arrived. Finally, some tangible evidence that more zoo animals were coming!

Mary Lynn Priest, Sedgwick County Zoo Board Member, Remembers...
It was 1965 and the Jr. League of Wichita was looking for a new project. They decided we needed a new zoo. The Junior Chamber joined us in our efforts. We approached the Board of Sedgwick County Commissioners. They were interested but we had to prove to them that A new zoo was something the citizens wanted.

We went to one school each week and shared pictures of zoos, animals, safaris, and talked about a new zoo. Our slogan was “Boo Hoo! We need a new Zoo!” Each child was given a questionnaire to take home for their parents to fill out regarding a new zoo. Booths were set up in shopping centers, giving out the questionnaires for the public to fill out. We set up a maze with a giraffe slide in the old pagoda house near the old riverside zoo. Children could go through the maze while their parents filled out the questionnaire.

We received positive reactions from the community, seventeen sites were examined and the present location of the zoo was the one that met all the requirements of the various agencies involved. The county commission approved placing a bond issue question on the ballot for $3.65 million to build a new zoo and create Sedgwick County Park. Land was reserved for the zoo. The bond issue passed! Ronald L. Blakely was chosen as our first Zoo Director. He came from the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. When he arrived in Wichita, the entire master plan for the new zoo was drawn up. We followed his plan and are still using it today.