Meeting Minutes- February 2011

BZAAZK Meeting Minutes --  February 20th, 2011

In Attendance: Dawn Davis, Heather Tassler, Dana Caton, Avril Armstrong, Alyssa Borek, Megan Baumer, Rebecca Yee, John Treanor, Danielle Steele, Mike Wrubel, Alexis Amann, Linda Edge, Noel Pernello, Cindy Maur, Daphne Revie, Brandon Casey, Mike Houlihan, Kathy D’Andrea, Sabrina Squillari, Lacie Martin, Melanie Lumba, Christina Nieves, Jason Castro, & Nate Thompson.

ENRICHMENT BONANZA
Our first event was such a great success; we want to thank all of you for your participation.  If you have photographs of your enrichment, in use or otherwise please get a copy to Michelle Medina so we can display it on our website (http://bronxzooaazk.blogspot.com/).  Here is just a sample of the creative items keepers made for Birds (B) Mammals (M) and Reptiles (R):


Ladders – M
Swings - M
Bamboo chimes – MB
Twig balls - M

Snake tactile boxes - R         
Delayed feeders – R
Bamboo feeders - MBR
Suet feeders – M

Paper mache’ zebra – M
Easter egg feeders – M
Fire hose braid - M
Target sticks -M

Please let Dawn know of any other projects you would like to complete for next time. That’s right we have plans for at least one more scheduled Enrichment Bonanza before the end of the year.

Thanks: Lauren Augustine, Cindy Maur, Dawn Davis, and Linda Edge did a great job organizing this event, but there were so many who made contributions.  So, a big Thank You to Management for providing their space, support, tools and supplies. Also a special thanks to the Reptile Department for providing their spring cleaning treasures, Horticulture for the bamboo, and Congo ‘s Enrichment Center for providing their tools and storage area.  A very, very special thanks to Marty, for his assistance with the setup and closedown.  Additionally, a significant portion of the supplies and tools were from Melissa’s enrichment budget, thank you, Melissa.  And we couldn’t forget a “SHOUT-OUT” of gratitude for all the keepers who made food; it was delicious, thank you.  Show your appreciation by sharing a family recipe at our next meeting.  Let us know what you’ll bring.

OLD BUSINESS:
BZAAZK LOGO CONTEST!  Submit your logo design in digital format to any BZAAZK officer. The deadline is March 30th 2011.  Your images must be at least 5.5 x 5.5 inches, 300 dpi, and in .jpg format.  The logo must represent a variety of animals (mammals, reptiles, and birds).  Black and white only, no color please.  AAZK membership is not required to submit a design.

NEW BUSINESS:
Bronx Zoo AAZK Chapter is officially in business.  To become a member of our local chapter you must first pay your National AAZK membership dues of $45.00 on the website www.AAZK.com.  Then please pay $25.00 for our local chapter dues by April 20th, 2011.  Please remit payments to Lauren Augustine, with a copy of your National membership card, or receipt of your payment to National.  Thank you.

NEXT MEETING:
Formal Presentations will be made at our next Meeting on March 20th, in the Mammal Department Meeting Room.  Cindy, Linda, Lauren and Dawn will be making presentations for four (4) different National animal organizations.  BZAAZK is dedicating the majority of our first fundraising event “Bar-Nanza: a social night for keepers” to the organization/presentation who receives the most votes in the Quorum. The remaining funds raised at the “Bar-Nanza” event will go into BZAAZK’s General fund.  In the future, you too can make a formal presentation for a national organization or for your own animal project or professional advancement at our next “Formal Presentations” meeting.  This small “Bar-Nanza” event & presentations are the best way to demonstrate “how to get AAZK financial support” for your projects/professional advancements.

Committees are groups of AAZK members who discuss, plan, and organize AAZK events.  For example, Cindy, Lauren, Linda, and Dawn served as the committee for the Enrichment Bonanza.  We would like to form two (2) committees for upcoming events: Bowling for Rhinos and the Annual National Keeper Week. We will be asking for volunteers at our next meeting; so for more information, please check out these websites: http://aazkbfr.org/ and http://aazk.org/national%20zookeeper%20week.php . 


 
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