The Update. From Doug s Desk. Wildlife Scary Park Wrap Up. Wildlife Prairie Park Staff & Volunteer Newsletter. November 16 th, 2015

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1 The Update Wildlife Prairie Park Staff & Volunteer Newsletter November 16 th, 2015 From Doug s Desk It s the season of Thanksgiving and there is much to be thankful for at Wildlife Prairie Park. First, to have such a place in our community is a rare blessing that few others have. Second, great people that make the Park work. This includes our many volunteers, board members, Tuesday/Thursday group, event volunteers, Train crew, and so many more! I am so grateful for the dedicated staff that routinely go above and beyond to take care of animals, serve guests, and maintain our beautiful Park. Wildlife Scary Park Wrap Up We had a very successful Scary Park with a total of 11,497 attendees over the 6 nights. Friday the 23 rd we had a rain day where we gave out coupons for guests to return during a different night. Even with the rain day, we were unaffected. We would like to thank our generous sponsors listed below, staff, and volunteers for helping us make this event possible. We had over 1,000 volunteers attend and they contributed over 4,400 hours. After analyzing our survey results, we found that 90% of guests rated the event highly and would recommend us to a friend. 98% of the people rated our staff and volunteers highly as well. Our 30 th year was one to remember and we can t wait for next year! 2015 Sponsors Thanksgiving is the perfect time for families to gather and enjoy special memories. Wildlife Prairie Park has always been a place where those family memories can be created. Please join us and enjoy this special place this Thanksgiving season. -Doug CEFCU Thrivant Financial o Keith Hubble o Michael Fleming ACE Entertainment and Event Management Batteries Plus Bulbs Suburban Gas Sam s Club Kicks Fitness 123 You N Me Preschool Just Kidz Dentistry JDL Lighting and Electric Hy-Vee Peoria Grand Prairie Heritage Bank of Central Illinois Dennis and Judy Triggs Simmons Little Jonnies The Knell Group Kim s Academy of Dance Federal Companies The Update Volume 3 ~ Issue 5 Page 1

2 Upcoming Events Thanksgiving Feast Join us on November 26 th from 11am- 2pm for a delicious Thanksgiving Feast! We will be serving traditional Thanksgiving foods such as mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, apple pie and much more! Turkey, beef and fish will be avaliable. Cost for adults is $23.95 and children is $ Park admission for the day in included Please call to make your reservation. Wildlife Waddle On November 28 th come waddle off your thanksgiving meal at Wildlife Prairie Park! We have over 14 miles of hiking trails to explore. Bring the family and enjoy the beautiful scenery while promoting healthy living, meet Mike the Bison and spend the day outside! This is a free event for members, regular admission for non-members. Guided hikes will leave every hour beginning at 10am. The last hike will leave at 2pm. We will also have more challenging hikes marked off for those looking for something a bit more difficult. A completion prize will be given for guests who take on this challenge! Christmas with the Animals Join us on December 5 th while we treat our animals to a Christmas surprise! Guests will have the opportunity to make enrichment gifts for the animals with a special food present inside. We will then distribute the gifts to the animals and learn fun facts about them. This event is reservation only and space is limited. Please call to reserve your spot. Cost is $5 plus admission. Choose from 10-12pm or 1-3pm and treat our animals! Santa s Wildlife Express December 11 th, 12 th and 13 th Wildlife Prairie Park will turn into a winter wonderland! Join us for Santa s Wildlife Express with a third day added this year to accommodate growing demand. Crafts, games, animal encounters, Santa and a decorated ride on the train! This event is reservation only and nonrefundable. We are already about half full for reservations so please call as soon as possible to purchase your tickets! The Update Volume 3 ~ Issue 5 Page 2

3 Animal Update The small mammel enclosures are now completed in the Pioneer Area and our critters have been moved in. They are enjoying their new, spacious homes and are adapting quite well. Skunk, racoon, opossom, groundhog and squirrel have been added into these enclosures. This effort has been made possible by staff, interns, and many volunteers. Thank you for giving our furry friends a new home at the Park! The Update Volume 3 ~ Issue 5 Page 3

4 Animal Update Continued Molly, our resident female black bear, has been given some new toys! Molly can sometimes be found pacing the fenceline in her enclosure. This happens to animals in captivity who tend to get bored with their environment. The Animal Department works hard to ensure that all of our animals have a healthy environment. Interesting smells, food, toys, sounds, and textures are created to stimulate the different things that they would encouter in the wild. Enrichment has now become the main focus of daily care for the animals at Wildlife Prairie Park in order to maintain the mental and physical health of the animals. Molly seems to be enjoying her new toys! Animal Rehbailitation Update Effective immediately, we will no longer be taking rehab animals for winter. Animal Rehabilitator, Sara Tate, is beginning her maternity leave. Please direct anyone with injured animals to the IDNR website where they can search for other rehabilitators. You can also contact a Conservation Officer by calling the State Police Department. We will begin taking animals again in February once she returns and is back into the swing of things. We had a total of 54 rehabilitation animals for 2015! Thank you for making this possible and saving the lives of animals in central Illinois. The Update Volume 3 ~ Issue 5 Page 4

5 Membership Drive Our fifth milestone has been reached for our Membership Drive! We currently have 264 new members who began their membership after August 1 st We have a goal of reaching 500 new members before Memberships make a great holiday gift for friends, family, neighbors or clients! Make your holiday shopping easy with this one stop shop. Contact Eva at (309) to discuss options and get started today! Winter at the Park On November 1 st, adult admission to the Park has dropped to $8. The price will increase back to $9 on April 1 st, Child prices will remain the same at $6. During the winter months The Ranger Station and Visitor Center will be open for bathroom facilities. The Pioneer Area and Train Depot will be closed. Food service is now closed for the winter. During some special events such as the Wildlife Waddle and Santa s Wildlife Express, food service will reopen. Please keep an eye out for these updates. The Update Volume 3 ~ Issue 5 Page 5

6 Easy Ways to Give Back The holiday season is upon us! There are many ways to give back to the Park without having to change any of your daily rountines. Amazon Smile is a simple and automatic way for you to support the Park with all of your Amazon purchases. For every purchase made through amazon smile, a percentage of what you spent comes back to the Park. Click to sign up. Wildlife Prairie Park is also a member of goodshop.com. At GoodShop guests can search for their favorite stores, get coupons AND give back to Wildlife Prairie Park. Depending on the store, a percentage of your order comes back to the Park everytime to buy online. Perfect for the holiday season when shopping for gifts! Click here to sign up. We have enrolled in the rewards program at Schnucks grocery stores. When doing your daily shopping at any Schnucks grocery store you can earn money for the Park just by scanning your rewards card at checkout. To enroll: visit any Schnucks and request a My Schnucks Card, register your card online at choose Wildlife Prairie Park as the benficiary and scan at checkout! Every year eletronics and ink cartiradges get dumped into landfills. It can take up anywhere from 450 to 1,000 years for these items to decompose. Wildlife Prairie Park has partnered with escrip to properly recycle these items. Please save and turn in all unwanted eletronics and empty printer ink cartridges to Eva at the Ranger Station. We are hosting a fundraiser at Chipotle Mexican Grill where 50% of the proceeds come back to the Park. This is a huge percentage for a fundraiser of this type. On December 4 th from 4-8pm at the 4512 N. Sterling Ave location, support the Park by bringing in the flyer below or mentioning Wildlife Prairie Park at the register. The Update Volume 3 ~ Issue 5 Page 6

7 The Update Volume 3 ~ Issue 5 Page 7