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Saturday, Sept. 28th was no ordinary day at the Topeka Zoo! After almost 2 months of trying unsuccessfully to help the Zoo and Junior League of Topeka promote Jeff's visit, I could only hope that enough had been done to give Jeff a good reception and a big turn out. I was in the Rain Forest by 9am as usual, except this time I had my camera with me. Rumor was that Jeff would be given a brief tour of the zoo before his 2pm presentation, and I was hoping to be at my 'station' to greet him! Well, just before 2 o'clock I went up to the Pavilion area, where a very large crowd was already assembled. There was seating for 200, but it was obvious we had much more than that (600+). Cameramen from 2 local TV stations were on hand as the program got started. The Alien Invaders Outreach Program (developed by Zoo staff for Junior League) was the first item, followed by a 10-minute collage of Experience out-takes. Jeff then introduced himself and went into his talk, which lasted another 20 minutes. He then went into a question/answer period, when I resumed taking pictures (for Tig). Word was that there would be no personal pictures or autographs, unless he started doing it, so I should follow his lead.... I suddenly realized I only had a few shots left, so I had to break away and dash into the gift shop for another roll of film! Happily they had some, since the best pictures were yet to come! I continued with more 'general' shots, then Jeff started posing and autographing stuff. So I seized the moment and dove into the crowd. When I thought I had enough pictures (I always leave a few frames at the end of the roll just in case), I went in for what I wanted: to shake his hand and thank him for getting me started in my volunteer work here at the Zoo (I'm now a Docent!). It was a riot! He was signing every scrap of paper handed to him, and posing for every camera! I finally got my chance, and he replied 'it's a great feeling, isn't it?'. I said 'yes it is!' Not long after that he was on his way out, one hour and 15 minutes later. As the crowd broke up I talked to a few Zoo staff and J.L. ladies. They said he was brought in aboard a big white stretch limo. It was still there, so I went over for a 'final' shot. I went over to the chauffeur and Gwen Hill from J.L. to ask about how they thought it went, and Gwen said 'he's coming out any second, so you might get a chance for another picture'. I had one shot left, so I asked Jeff if I could get one last picture of us shaking hands, and he said 'Sure! No problem!' I got his permission for Tig to post them on her 'Fanatics' website, which he seemed to already know about, since I was certain that she would post them if they turned out [Of course!]. I also got permission for his autograph on any pictures I had ready by the start of the 7pm program at TPAC. Tig and I both have one, and even though neither of us care that much about autographs, it's still a nice touch. The evening program at Topeka Performing Arts Center was very similar to the Zoo's, except no crowd interaction. It lasted until 9:15, and Jeff related a lot of interesting stuff about his work and answered many more questions. One of the topics included was about 'heartbeat' species, which means when the last one dies, that species is extinct (he gave a touching story about a visit to Hawaii for a 'Going Wild' episode where he sees a Honeycreeper that sings beautifully every day for a mate that will never arrive....). There was a full house audience attending, which was much bigger than anyone had anticipated, so the whole event was a major success. Jeff is very polite, friendly, a good listener, and is easy to talk to, so if you ever get a chance to meet him, go for it! He seemed to enjoy his interaction with the crowd, and letting everyone get a chance for a picture, an autograph or a question or remark. It was a lot of fun for me, and worth the wait! And if you ever get a chance to get involved in volunteer work with animals and people, go for that too!! Greg <[bB][rR]>manual for noka 6630 |