The Louisville Zoo Trunkline • Spring 2016 • 25
HORTICULTURE
VOLUNTEERS
The Heartbeat
of the Louisville Zoo
I
t takes work, dedication and
many, many helping hands
to make your Louisville Zoo a
world-class, award-winning
destination for family fun. Meet two
of our volunteers who make a huge
difference at the Louisville Zoo!
wave! You can’t miss him in his trusty
bucket hat. Thank you Don!
Anne Ramsey
Anne’s a Louisvillian who’s been
volunteering at the Zoo on and
off since 1999. She started in the
Zoo’s former Green Gorilla program
that required taking classes and
volunteering twenty hours a week.
After retiring in 2005, she came back
to volunteer in our horticulture and
development areas.
Did you know that Anne is the
reason that our wonderful Adopt-AGarden program exists? Anne said
she got the idea from the Detroit
Zoo, and after doing some research,
Anne proposed that the Louisville
Zoo create a similar program. The
Adopt-A-Garden program was in
fact developed and has been going
strong for six years! “The Zoo needs
volunteers, and for people who don’t
have a big garden, volunteering is a
chance to do some gardening. There’s
always something to do and the
visitors appreciate the gardens.”
Anne says she enjoys volunteering
at the Zoo because she gets to spend
time outside in a beautiful place with
the animals. “Because you are here,
sometimes you find yourself in the
right spot at the right time,” she
explained. “I was there to see the
baby wallabies born a while back.
They were so soft!”
So what does Anne like to plant
in her adopted garden at the Zoo?
“We started with annuals but we’ve
switched to mostly perennials to try
and ensure things bloom at different
times so there’s always something
Donald Blanton
If you see a man with a brightly
colored shirt and a big bucket hat
lingering on the Zoo’s main plaza, it is
most likely Don, one of our greeters.
He’s probably chatting up a guest or
waving at babies in strollers.
Don has been a big lover of the
Louisville Zoo since he visited back in
1969 when the Zoo first opened. He
says that his favorite animal is Punch
(the elephant). “She’s been here since
I can remember. She’s long in the
tooth like me! We old folks have to
stick together!”
Although he has always been
willing to take on any task during his
20-plus years of volunteering, when
the Louisville Zoo greeter program
restarted in 2009, Don knew that was
just the place for him. “I like to talk to
people. I enjoy it. I get to help people,
answer questions and direct them
to the new animal babies. I meet all
kinds of interesting people and get to
learn about different zoos!”
“The Zoo is really my second
home” Don explains. “I spend so
much time over here in the spring,
summer and fall that people think I
sleep under a bush back there!” Lots
of the kids recognize him and begin
waving from the parking lot. You
can visit Don on Thursdays starting
this spring. If you see him, be sure to
Donald Blanton
and his signature hat
Anne Ramsey
among the plants
new for people to see: columbine,
daffodils, hostas and daisies.” Thank
you Anne!
Read more about our Adopt-AGarden program on page 18.
For more information on
MORE
becoming a volunteer, visit
louisvillezoo.org/support! INFO
“I get to help people, answer questions and direct them to the new animal babies.”
— Donald Blanton