By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Most people are aware of the playground equipment throughout Brit Spaugh Park in Great Bend. Now there's some equipment inside the zoo. Thursday morning, the Great Bend Zoological Society and the Great Bend Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting for the equipment. Society President Aaron Emerson shared some of the group's recent projects.
"The Zoo Society is not directly affiliated with the zoo," he told the crowd. "We are not part of the city like the zoo is. We are an independent 501(c)(3). Our sole purpose, though, is to just support the zoo."
Last December, the Society hosted Cookies with Santa. The group was one of the Earth Day event sponsors in April with members handing out popcorn to attendees. The Zoo Society is also behind the animal posters that now line Main Street, it purchases the lead-testing kits used for raptors, and the group is also behind several repainted murals, including a mural for Karen Neuforth, the former Society president and local arts supporter who passed away in March 2021. The current fundraising project is a flight cage for rehabilitated raptors. Zoo Curator Ashley Burdick appreciates the Society's support.
"Thanks to the Zoo Society," she said. "They help us get some of the stuff we don't maybe have in our general budget. They've done a lot to improve our grounds and make it a little more interactive experience for our visitors."
The playground equipment installed earlier this year includes a wheelchair-accessible swing. It was paid for by contributions from Giving Tuesday, the Central Kansas Toy Run, Golden Belt Community Foundation, and Riedel Family Endowment – Alan, Michael, Avis, and Clarence.
Annual memberships to the Zoological Society are $25 for an entire household, or lifetime memberships are available for $500. Individual animals may also be sponsored. CLICK HERE for more information about the Great Bend Zoological Society.