A few years ago Rapid Growth sat down with the John Ball Zoo to hear how our local zoo was responding to all changes happening around the conversations with folks asking if the zoo still mattered in society. (The answer in our opinion is still a resounding “Yes!”)
Returning to John Ball Zoo is the annual Party for the Planet — a daylong festival that tips its hat to Earth Day as it focuses on the way that our local organizations are enabling positive methodologies in the conservation of our natural wildlife within our planet’s environment.
Party for the Planet is a national celebration held at only the Association of Zoos & Aquariums’ (AZA) accredited zoos and aquariums.
This event is ideal for folks looking to explore with their families new and inventive ways to discuss the impact we all can make in the struggle to preserve and conserve our planet’s vital natural resources, which the wildlife must have to survive.
Party for the Planet at John Ball Zoo offers members a chance to interact with 16 different conservation and green-practicing organizations that will have activities and information on ways a family can make an impact for good.
Demonstrations in how to reduce, reuse and recycle will be a common theme from which one can explore the diverse applications.
“We know that our visitors already love animals and have an interest in taking action to help protect our collective future,” says Peter D’Arienzo, Chief Executive Officer of the John Ball Zoo. “We hope Party for the Planet inspires our guests to take the first step.”
In addition to the Department of Natural Resources’ showcase of live specimens of invasive aquatic species, other partners of Party for the Planet include the Association of Landscape Professionals, Kent County Drain Commission, the city of Grand Rapids, the Rapid, CompRenew, Kent County Recycling, and Grand Rapids Public Museum.
Zookeepers will be doing presentations on the conservation field work they are conducting at our local zoo with talks focused on Piping Plovers, Massasauga (Michigan’s only native rattlesnake), Kirtland’s Warbler, and the migratory Monarch butterflies.
Admission: $8 - 10. / Children (under 2) are always free with an adult paid admission.
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