August 30, 2024 • 16 mins
In this episode we talk with Joy Matlock, Marketing and Promotions Director of the Little Rock Zoo, about their upcoming events including the 100th birthday of their historic carousel, their annual Zoo Brew & Cocktails Too fundraising event, and the reduced admission Community Day coming up where Little Rock patrons can buy tickets to the Zoo for only $2 all day! More information available at https://littlerockzoo.com/extra-fun/events/
If you have a community event, organization, or topic for the program, email your information to djtaylor@iheartmedia.com
If you have a community event, organization, or topic for the program, email your information to djtaylor@iheartmedia.com
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome and thanks for tuning in for Talk of the
Rock public affairs, community events, and public services for Central
Arkansas from the iHeartRadio studios in Little Rock. Here's your host,
DJ Taylor.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
And thank you for joining us. I'm joined by Joy
matt Lock. Shei's the marketing director for the Little Rock Zoo. Joy,
it's good to see how you been.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
I've been well. I've been doing really well. Thank you
for having me again.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Absolutely, we got a lot to talk about. The zoo
has so many different things going on, and I want
to start out. First thing on the calendar is the
one hundredth birthday of the carousel, and you're going to
have a big celebration going on.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
We are. I don't think a lot of people know
that this carousel that we have and is called Over
the Jumps, was only one of four built like it
in nineteen twenty four. Oh wow, and it's the last
one in existence that's still operational. And it's an extremely
unique carousel because on some curcils that you get on,
(00:55):
the horses themselves move up and down. Our complete carousel
moves as if it's one piece O wow. And it's
an undulating floor, so it goes up and down as
big as one big piece, So that's what makes one
of the things of our carousel unique. Plus the fact
that it's one hundred years old. It's also been given
an awards by the National Carousel Association, so we are
(01:17):
quite proud of it and the fact that it's still
being used every day. So we said it's time to celebrate,
so we will do that on September the tenth, and
that will be an event that goes from four pm
to eight pm. So actually the zoo will be open
all day that day, from nine am to eight pm.
So if you buy a ticket that lets you stay
(01:38):
on through to the party, if you come just for
the party, it's still your zoo admission price to get in.
And we are anticipating lots of people to come, lots
of visitors, lots of people who remember being on the
carousel as the little kids, lots of people who were
part of that original group friends of the carousel who
helped restore some of those horses to come out there.
(01:58):
We're going to have the Arkansas the Orchestra, We're going
to have some dignicitaries like the Mayor will also be
visited and joined by our sponsors, Centennial Bank, who sponsored
for this event, they'll have representatives there as well. And
then we also have the Little Rock Civitans be there,
who were also quite pivotal in helping us get that
carousel up. So it's going to be a shin dig.
(02:22):
And if you love carousels and if you love you know,
reminiscing and spending some time with a little bit of nostalgia,
that's going to be the place to be.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Absolutely, and you're talking to one of the people. I
was a kid when I rode that thing the first time,
and I've shared that with my kids now. It's absolutely
an incredible piece of what I would call Little Rock history.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Absolutely, absolutely this.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Carousel and just a fantastic time for everybody. If you
are a season pass holder for the Little Rock Zoo,
of course that that counts as your admission to the bars,
absolutely standard ticket price for the day, So lots of
great opportunities to take the family out to the zoo
and celebrate the hundredth anniversary, one hundredth birthday of this
amazing carousel. And then just a couple of days later,
(03:04):
let's talk about the perfect date night. I am all
for this. My wife and I love it and it's
it's now got a new name. So I got to
ask about this zubrew and cocktails too. Where did that come?
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Cocktails too? So this is our second year having renamed
the event because we decided that we wanted to offer
more than just Kraft Bears. I mean, craft Fears is
enough to bring anybody out, oh sure, And of course
we did for several years, and we said, you know,
what if somebody is just not really that much of
a beer fan, what if they wanted to have something different,
So let's offer some cocktails. So last year was the
first year. We're bringing it back again this year and
(03:36):
we'll also have some mocktails as well, so if somebody
in your group is going to be the designated driver,
he or she can come, still enjoy some beverages and
still get everybody home safely. So we are excited for
this event. It's kind of our, if you will, a
secondary fundraiser that we do throughout the year. Of course
everybody knows Wild Wines sure, and then Zubra and Cocktails
two is what we do for the fall. And we
(03:58):
are so excited that once again we're going to be
sponsored by O Looneys. They are presenting sponsors. They always
come through for us for our twenty one plus events,
and we thank Jonathan and his great crew at Loonies
for their help every year, and we're so glad to
partner with them again. And we really have a really
(04:19):
nice and exhaustive lineup of the different beverages that will
be available for people to enjoy that night. So I'll
go through just some of them, like we'll have Mom
and Dad water or Mom water and Dad water. We'll
have or agamisaki, We'll have Ozak Beer. Stone st will
be there. We'll also have Guillermo's there with some beverages.
(04:42):
We'll have Mellow SIPs there. Rocktown Distillery will be represented,
as will Delter Dirt Distillery. We'll also have Flyway Brewery
Company and lots of people, lots of our friends that
make sure that we have a good time on the
weekends and you can make sure you have a good
time with us on September of the twelfth, of that
Thursday night, Black Apple will be there. And I should
(05:05):
have said this will have kind of two levels of tickets, Okay,
So the ticket that you can buy the door is
the forty dollars ticket. That's your general admission, and if
you're a planner, you can get your ticket early and
only spend thirty five dollars. If you'd like to have
a little bit of a more exclusive experience, you can
get the VIP ticket that costs one hundred dollars and
(05:26):
that ticket will get you into the VIP Area, an
exclusive area. You'll have some entertainment it's just for the
folks there in that pavilion, and you'll actually have your
food catered by Fantastic China in the VIP Area, and
in that area, the beverages that you receive will be
full pores of whatever beverage will be hosted in that pavilion,
(05:47):
so you can have the VIP experience. That's a little
bit of an elevative experience, if you will, and people
have often enjoyed that. This is the second year we're
bringing about the VIP area as well, so that's always
a good time. But yeah, if you get the general
emission ticket, you can get your different samples of beverages
throughout the park, and also we will have food for
(06:09):
sale from vendors for those tickets as well, so it's
gonna be a good time, no matter how you decide
to enjoy it. You'll be able to have entertainment from
some of our musical guests. You'll get a chance to
meet some of our animal ambassadors that'll be on hand.
Some of the musical guests that will have will be
Jacob Flores. We'll have the Luna Jams band. We'll have
(06:31):
a DJ pool board greeting people as they walk in.
We'll have harp who's always there with his still drums
and we enjoy him every time we have things at
the zoo. And then we'll have a drum circle as well.
So I mean, if you need to get your dance on,
if you need to get your drink on, if you
need to munch on some good food, or if you
just need to have a date night, like you said,
it's going to be all available to you on the
(06:53):
twelfth of September.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
And I want to say, first of all, thank you
for all of the Arkansas representation in there. Of these
great folks that you've been naming off here Little Rock
food trucks, Arkansas food trucks, Arkansas distilleries and breweries, a
lot of them right here in Little Rock. Definitely no
shortage of craft. I'm the beverages in the state and
(07:16):
all of them pretty much going to be gathered right there.
And then of course o'loney's is just fantastic. We love
o'loneys for what they do. And also I want to
point out that you guys have still got the Dragon
Kingdom going on and you'll be able to walk through
that absolutely enjoying too.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
Dragon Kinos deal with us since March. They are flying
away on September the twenty eighth, so this event will
still be available for you to be able to see
the dragons. And if you've not come to see the dragons,
it'll be such an extra treat for you to see.
These are fourteen animatronic dragons that actually move and flap
their wings as you walk past them, and it's just
a fun, nice little detour and a way to experience
(07:56):
something fun.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
If they zoo absolutely yeah. I took the family around
spring break times this year and it was just fantastic.
So a lot of great chances to see them before
they leave out at the end of September. And of
course you said about animal ambassadors, can you tell me
a little bit more about that, So we.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Have a a group of animals at the zoo that
we call them animal ambassadors, and they're special for a
couple of reasons. One, you can't just see them when
you come to the zoo. They have a special suite
if you will, where they live because they are stars.
They get out and they represent the zoo out in
the public. So if you have a child that has
(08:36):
talked about hey mom, the hey dad, the Little rog
zoo came to our school today and they maybe met
the penguin or an armadillo or something like that, that
was one of our animal ambassadors. And those animals have
the job of representing their species to help children and
kids and whoever's in the audience understand the conservation message
that we have at the Little Rock Zoo. So we
(08:56):
will have some of those animal ambassadors out with their
meeting the people. And it can be anything from a
snake to an on meridilla. Like I mentioned, it might
be our one of our ant eaters. It might be
our little we have a miniature horse. It may be
our new bearded dragon Steve, whom I'm falling in love with.
It just depends on what's available and what animals in
(09:22):
the mood to be on stage that day, so it's
always a good time to see exactly who's going to
greet you at the doors.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
That is fantastic. Now let's talk about this for just
a second. Here, tickets thirty five in advance, forty at
the door, VIP experience for one hundred. Now you do
have to be twenty one and over, yes, and you
do have to have a valid ID.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Now, if somebody wants to get the tickets in advance,
you can purchase general admission or VIP online.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Absolutely. There. You can go to our website littlerock zoo
dot com and go to click on in our middle
of the page there on that event listing, and they'll
take you to our website to get those tickets. And yes,
you need to bring your ID to show that you
are twenty one. You may look every bit of twenty one,
but you won't be admitted in if we can't have
that ID to prove that you are old enough to
(10:12):
be at the event.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Super easy to find that, by the way, it's the
extra fund tab. And then right there is Zoo Brew
and you get all the details the scheduling. You can
even add it to your personal calendar. There for September twelfth,
starts at six pm. It is a twenty one and
up event, but it is so worth it, y'all. It
is a fantastic time out there, and all the proceeds
(10:32):
helping the Arkansas Zoological Foundation and the Little Rock Zoo
to help it grow and develop. So a lot of
fantastic stuff going on. And I do want to point
out you mentioned that the dragons are there until the
twenty eighth. They are You also have another special event
going on on the twenty eighth. Tell me a little
bit about this.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
We do. So the September twenty eighth will be our
third installment, if you will, of a new partnership that
we started with Southern Bankoorp and Southern Bangkcork came to
us and they said to us that they liked what
we were doing to improve accessibility to the zoo for residents
of Little Rock. And we have a concerted effort just
(11:12):
to make sure that anyone who wants to come to
the zoo can you know, we have heard some feedback
that sometimes there could be some cost barriers, and so
we said we wanted to put some things in place
to address that. And so one of the things that
we did. Thankfully, Southern Maincourt stepped up is they wanted
to sponsor Southern bankcoor Little Rock Community Days, and it's
(11:36):
been it will be four times this year before the
end of the year. So this September twenty eighth is
the third time we will have done it. But it's
a day for people who are residents of Little Rock
and you prove that by an ID that has your
address on there or a utility bill. You get to
come to the zoo and you can pay for your
admission for just two dollars wow. And your parking is
(11:57):
one dollar wow. And yeah. So it's a great day
to bring out, to bring yourself, to bring your families,
bring your kids, to enjoy the zoo as Little Rock residents.
And we've received a lot of comments from people asking, well,
why does Little Rock And the reason why we chose
to honor and celebrate Little Rock residents is because those
are the folks who vote. Those are the folks who have,
(12:20):
with their taxes have supported the zoo. And the fact
that you know they have given that support monetarily with
their taxes and sometimes with their vote for making sure
that things pass like bonds and things like that we
wanted to tell them, thank you, we see you, we
appreciate you. We know part of the reason that we
are here is because of the things that you do
for us. So that was our thank you to them.
(12:41):
So so Southern Vangcourt came and said we want to
walk along with you and that thank you. Can we
do this and we said absolutely, So the twenty eighth
will be the third of that day and all day long,
two dollars admission for people who are residents of Little Rock.
Now that doesn't mean if you live in Conway or
Jacksonville or North Little Rock that you can't You just
don't get the discount. But we're welcoming everybody that day,
(13:05):
but a special day for residents of Litera And as a.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Dad of three, I thank you very much for that,
because you know you think about it and just just
getting to the zoo, all five of us going in
there for ten bucks, that is an absolutely incredible deal
parking for a dollar. So if you've got a family,
you want to take them to the zoo September twenty eighth,
that's gonna be perfect weather, It's going to be cooling off,
(13:28):
great time to just spend the day at the Little
Rock Zoo and see all the animals and all the sites.
So that is coming up September twenty eighth. Be sure
to mark your calendar on that. So a lot of
big things going on with the Little Rock Zoo. Joy
the Carousel Day. Let's talk about that one more time.
That's coming up on the tenth. That's the tenth and
you're going to be open Lates Will Carousel Solne Day eight.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
And also I wanted to make sure that I said
the restoration that has been happening with the carousel has
been done by the Little Rock Repair Shop. So we
thank those folks for the work they've done to the
individually take off those horses, they get the paint off,
and they take it down to no paint and then
restore it to original colors. So it's been beautiful. So
(14:11):
that's another reason to come out that night to see
some of the horses that have been restored. So Little
Rock Repair Shop, we thank you for that.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Work absolutely, and it is fantastic work. We've been a
few times this year and seeing some of the some
of the changes and some of the updates that have
been made to that is absolutely outstanding. But that is
the one hundredth Birthday celebration coming up on the tenth. Yes,
Arkansas Symphony Orchestra is going to be there and helping celebrate,
and a lot of fun stuff that is covered with
(14:37):
your season pass or it is a standard gate ad
mission to the Little Rock Zoo. And then Zoo Brew
and Cocktails too coming up on the twelfth, that is
a twenty one and up event. Tickets are available Little
Rock Zoo dot com. Dozens upon dozens of craft brews
and cocktails, o'loney stepping up again this year, and of
(14:58):
course all the great brew and distilleries across the state
of Arkansas. I know you mentioned Origami out of Hot Springs.
They're brand new, I guess over the last year.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Or so, their second appearance at this zoo.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
And if you've never had a chance to get to
Hot Springs to visit them there, now you have a
chance to see them at the Little Rock Zoo. So
plan that girls night, that date night, that gather your
friends and just go have a great time at the zoo.
With that, all the details on the website, and last
but not least, the community discount with Southern Bancorp that's
(15:33):
coming up on the twenty eighth, That is the last
day for the dragons, so that's an extra incentive to
make sure that you get out there exactly. So a
lot of things going on at the zoo. Joy, thank
you for taking some time coming to talk with us today.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
Looking forward to all you have to do in September. Yeah,
and looking forward to having this discussion again in the
coming weeks and months as we head toward Christmas.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
For sure. For sure.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Thanks for listening to Talk the Rock Public affairs and
community events from the iHeartRadio studios.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
In Little Rock.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Be sure to subscribe to this podcast and listen next
week as we talk to more guests about public service,
local charities, and events going on in your neighborhood.
Welcome and thanks for tuning in for Talk of the
Rock public affairs, community events, and public services for Central
Arkansas from the iHeartRadio studios in Little Rock. Here's your host,
DJ Taylor.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
And thank you for joining us. I'm joined by Joy
matt Lock. Shei's the marketing director for the Little Rock Zoo. Joy,
it's good to see how you been.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
I've been well. I've been doing really well. Thank you
for having me again.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Absolutely, we got a lot to talk about. The zoo
has so many different things going on, and I want
to start out. First thing on the calendar is the
one hundredth birthday of the carousel, and you're going to
have a big celebration going on.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
We are. I don't think a lot of people know
that this carousel that we have and is called Over
the Jumps, was only one of four built like it
in nineteen twenty four. Oh wow, and it's the last
one in existence that's still operational. And it's an extremely
unique carousel because on some curcils that you get on,
(00:55):
the horses themselves move up and down. Our complete carousel
moves as if it's one piece O wow. And it's
an undulating floor, so it goes up and down as
big as one big piece, So that's what makes one
of the things of our carousel unique. Plus the fact
that it's one hundred years old. It's also been given
an awards by the National Carousel Association, so we are
(01:17):
quite proud of it and the fact that it's still
being used every day. So we said it's time to celebrate,
so we will do that on September the tenth, and
that will be an event that goes from four pm
to eight pm. So actually the zoo will be open
all day that day, from nine am to eight pm.
So if you buy a ticket that lets you stay
(01:38):
on through to the party, if you come just for
the party, it's still your zoo admission price to get in.
And we are anticipating lots of people to come, lots
of visitors, lots of people who remember being on the
carousel as the little kids, lots of people who were
part of that original group friends of the carousel who
helped restore some of those horses to come out there.
(01:58):
We're going to have the Arkansas the Orchestra, We're going
to have some dignicitaries like the Mayor will also be
visited and joined by our sponsors, Centennial Bank, who sponsored
for this event, they'll have representatives there as well. And
then we also have the Little Rock Civitans be there,
who were also quite pivotal in helping us get that
carousel up. So it's going to be a shin dig.
(02:22):
And if you love carousels and if you love you know,
reminiscing and spending some time with a little bit of nostalgia,
that's going to be the place to be.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Absolutely, and you're talking to one of the people. I
was a kid when I rode that thing the first time,
and I've shared that with my kids now. It's absolutely
an incredible piece of what I would call Little Rock history.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Absolutely, absolutely this.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Carousel and just a fantastic time for everybody. If you
are a season pass holder for the Little Rock Zoo,
of course that that counts as your admission to the bars,
absolutely standard ticket price for the day, So lots of
great opportunities to take the family out to the zoo
and celebrate the hundredth anniversary, one hundredth birthday of this
amazing carousel. And then just a couple of days later,
(03:04):
let's talk about the perfect date night. I am all
for this. My wife and I love it and it's
it's now got a new name. So I got to
ask about this zubrew and cocktails too. Where did that come?
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Cocktails too? So this is our second year having renamed
the event because we decided that we wanted to offer
more than just Kraft Bears. I mean, craft Fears is
enough to bring anybody out, oh sure, And of course
we did for several years, and we said, you know,
what if somebody is just not really that much of
a beer fan, what if they wanted to have something different,
So let's offer some cocktails. So last year was the
first year. We're bringing it back again this year and
(03:36):
we'll also have some mocktails as well, so if somebody
in your group is going to be the designated driver,
he or she can come, still enjoy some beverages and
still get everybody home safely. So we are excited for
this event. It's kind of our, if you will, a
secondary fundraiser that we do throughout the year. Of course
everybody knows Wild Wines sure, and then Zubra and Cocktails
two is what we do for the fall. And we
(03:58):
are so excited that once again we're going to be
sponsored by O Looneys. They are presenting sponsors. They always
come through for us for our twenty one plus events,
and we thank Jonathan and his great crew at Loonies
for their help every year, and we're so glad to
partner with them again. And we really have a really
(04:19):
nice and exhaustive lineup of the different beverages that will
be available for people to enjoy that night. So I'll
go through just some of them, like we'll have Mom
and Dad water or Mom water and Dad water. We'll
have or agamisaki, We'll have Ozak Beer. Stone st will
be there. We'll also have Guillermo's there with some beverages.
(04:42):
We'll have Mellow SIPs there. Rocktown Distillery will be represented,
as will Delter Dirt Distillery. We'll also have Flyway Brewery
Company and lots of people, lots of our friends that
make sure that we have a good time on the
weekends and you can make sure you have a good
time with us on September of the twelfth, of that
Thursday night, Black Apple will be there. And I should
(05:05):
have said this will have kind of two levels of tickets, Okay,
So the ticket that you can buy the door is
the forty dollars ticket. That's your general admission, and if
you're a planner, you can get your ticket early and
only spend thirty five dollars. If you'd like to have
a little bit of a more exclusive experience, you can
get the VIP ticket that costs one hundred dollars and
(05:26):
that ticket will get you into the VIP Area, an
exclusive area. You'll have some entertainment it's just for the
folks there in that pavilion, and you'll actually have your
food catered by Fantastic China in the VIP Area, and
in that area, the beverages that you receive will be
full pores of whatever beverage will be hosted in that pavilion,
(05:47):
so you can have the VIP experience. That's a little
bit of an elevative experience, if you will, and people
have often enjoyed that. This is the second year we're
bringing about the VIP area as well, so that's always
a good time. But yeah, if you get the general
emission ticket, you can get your different samples of beverages
throughout the park, and also we will have food for
(06:09):
sale from vendors for those tickets as well, so it's
gonna be a good time, no matter how you decide
to enjoy it. You'll be able to have entertainment from
some of our musical guests. You'll get a chance to
meet some of our animal ambassadors that'll be on hand.
Some of the musical guests that will have will be
Jacob Flores. We'll have the Luna Jams band. We'll have
(06:31):
a DJ pool board greeting people as they walk in.
We'll have harp who's always there with his still drums
and we enjoy him every time we have things at
the zoo. And then we'll have a drum circle as well.
So I mean, if you need to get your dance on,
if you need to get your drink on, if you
need to munch on some good food, or if you
just need to have a date night, like you said,
it's going to be all available to you on the
(06:53):
twelfth of September.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
And I want to say, first of all, thank you
for all of the Arkansas representation in there. Of these
great folks that you've been naming off here Little Rock
food trucks, Arkansas food trucks, Arkansas distilleries and breweries, a
lot of them right here in Little Rock. Definitely no
shortage of craft. I'm the beverages in the state and
(07:16):
all of them pretty much going to be gathered right there.
And then of course o'loney's is just fantastic. We love
o'loneys for what they do. And also I want to
point out that you guys have still got the Dragon
Kingdom going on and you'll be able to walk through
that absolutely enjoying too.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
Dragon Kinos deal with us since March. They are flying
away on September the twenty eighth, so this event will
still be available for you to be able to see
the dragons. And if you've not come to see the dragons,
it'll be such an extra treat for you to see.
These are fourteen animatronic dragons that actually move and flap
their wings as you walk past them, and it's just
a fun, nice little detour and a way to experience
(07:56):
something fun.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
If they zoo absolutely yeah. I took the family around
spring break times this year and it was just fantastic.
So a lot of great chances to see them before
they leave out at the end of September. And of
course you said about animal ambassadors, can you tell me
a little bit more about that, So we.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Have a a group of animals at the zoo that
we call them animal ambassadors, and they're special for a
couple of reasons. One, you can't just see them when
you come to the zoo. They have a special suite
if you will, where they live because they are stars.
They get out and they represent the zoo out in
the public. So if you have a child that has
(08:36):
talked about hey mom, the hey dad, the Little rog
zoo came to our school today and they maybe met
the penguin or an armadillo or something like that, that
was one of our animal ambassadors. And those animals have
the job of representing their species to help children and
kids and whoever's in the audience understand the conservation message
that we have at the Little Rock Zoo. So we
(08:56):
will have some of those animal ambassadors out with their
meeting the people. And it can be anything from a
snake to an on meridilla. Like I mentioned, it might
be our one of our ant eaters. It might be
our little we have a miniature horse. It may be
our new bearded dragon Steve, whom I'm falling in love with.
It just depends on what's available and what animals in
(09:22):
the mood to be on stage that day, so it's
always a good time to see exactly who's going to
greet you at the doors.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
That is fantastic. Now let's talk about this for just
a second. Here, tickets thirty five in advance, forty at
the door, VIP experience for one hundred. Now you do
have to be twenty one and over, yes, and you
do have to have a valid ID.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Now, if somebody wants to get the tickets in advance,
you can purchase general admission or VIP online.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Absolutely. There. You can go to our website littlerock zoo
dot com and go to click on in our middle
of the page there on that event listing, and they'll
take you to our website to get those tickets. And yes,
you need to bring your ID to show that you
are twenty one. You may look every bit of twenty one,
but you won't be admitted in if we can't have
that ID to prove that you are old enough to
(10:12):
be at the event.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Super easy to find that, by the way, it's the
extra fund tab. And then right there is Zoo Brew
and you get all the details the scheduling. You can
even add it to your personal calendar. There for September twelfth,
starts at six pm. It is a twenty one and
up event, but it is so worth it, y'all. It
is a fantastic time out there, and all the proceeds
(10:32):
helping the Arkansas Zoological Foundation and the Little Rock Zoo
to help it grow and develop. So a lot of
fantastic stuff going on. And I do want to point
out you mentioned that the dragons are there until the
twenty eighth. They are You also have another special event
going on on the twenty eighth. Tell me a little
bit about this.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
We do. So the September twenty eighth will be our
third installment, if you will, of a new partnership that
we started with Southern Bankoorp and Southern Bangkcork came to
us and they said to us that they liked what
we were doing to improve accessibility to the zoo for residents
of Little Rock. And we have a concerted effort just
(11:12):
to make sure that anyone who wants to come to
the zoo can you know, we have heard some feedback
that sometimes there could be some cost barriers, and so
we said we wanted to put some things in place
to address that. And so one of the things that
we did. Thankfully, Southern Maincourt stepped up is they wanted
to sponsor Southern bankcoor Little Rock Community Days, and it's
(11:36):
been it will be four times this year before the
end of the year. So this September twenty eighth is
the third time we will have done it. But it's
a day for people who are residents of Little Rock
and you prove that by an ID that has your
address on there or a utility bill. You get to
come to the zoo and you can pay for your
admission for just two dollars wow. And your parking is
(11:57):
one dollar wow. And yeah. So it's a great day
to bring out, to bring yourself, to bring your families,
bring your kids, to enjoy the zoo as Little Rock residents.
And we've received a lot of comments from people asking, well,
why does Little Rock And the reason why we chose
to honor and celebrate Little Rock residents is because those
are the folks who vote. Those are the folks who have,
(12:20):
with their taxes have supported the zoo. And the fact
that you know they have given that support monetarily with
their taxes and sometimes with their vote for making sure
that things pass like bonds and things like that we
wanted to tell them, thank you, we see you, we
appreciate you. We know part of the reason that we
are here is because of the things that you do
for us. So that was our thank you to them.
(12:41):
So so Southern Vangcourt came and said we want to
walk along with you and that thank you. Can we
do this and we said absolutely, So the twenty eighth
will be the third of that day and all day long,
two dollars admission for people who are residents of Little Rock.
Now that doesn't mean if you live in Conway or
Jacksonville or North Little Rock that you can't You just
don't get the discount. But we're welcoming everybody that day,
(13:05):
but a special day for residents of Litera And as a.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Dad of three, I thank you very much for that,
because you know you think about it and just just
getting to the zoo, all five of us going in
there for ten bucks, that is an absolutely incredible deal
parking for a dollar. So if you've got a family,
you want to take them to the zoo September twenty eighth,
that's gonna be perfect weather, It's going to be cooling off,
(13:28):
great time to just spend the day at the Little
Rock Zoo and see all the animals and all the sites.
So that is coming up September twenty eighth. Be sure
to mark your calendar on that. So a lot of
big things going on with the Little Rock Zoo. Joy
the Carousel Day. Let's talk about that one more time.
That's coming up on the tenth. That's the tenth and
you're going to be open Lates Will Carousel Solne Day eight.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
And also I wanted to make sure that I said
the restoration that has been happening with the carousel has
been done by the Little Rock Repair Shop. So we
thank those folks for the work they've done to the
individually take off those horses, they get the paint off,
and they take it down to no paint and then
restore it to original colors. So it's been beautiful. So
(14:11):
that's another reason to come out that night to see
some of the horses that have been restored. So Little
Rock Repair Shop, we thank you for that.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Work absolutely, and it is fantastic work. We've been a
few times this year and seeing some of the some
of the changes and some of the updates that have
been made to that is absolutely outstanding. But that is
the one hundredth Birthday celebration coming up on the tenth. Yes,
Arkansas Symphony Orchestra is going to be there and helping celebrate,
and a lot of fun stuff that is covered with
(14:37):
your season pass or it is a standard gate ad
mission to the Little Rock Zoo. And then Zoo Brew
and Cocktails too coming up on the twelfth, that is
a twenty one and up event. Tickets are available Little
Rock Zoo dot com. Dozens upon dozens of craft brews
and cocktails, o'loney stepping up again this year, and of
(14:58):
course all the great brew and distilleries across the state
of Arkansas. I know you mentioned Origami out of Hot Springs.
They're brand new, I guess over the last year.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Or so, their second appearance at this zoo.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
And if you've never had a chance to get to
Hot Springs to visit them there, now you have a
chance to see them at the Little Rock Zoo. So
plan that girls night, that date night, that gather your
friends and just go have a great time at the zoo.
With that, all the details on the website, and last
but not least, the community discount with Southern Bancorp that's
(15:33):
coming up on the twenty eighth, That is the last
day for the dragons, so that's an extra incentive to
make sure that you get out there exactly. So a
lot of things going on at the zoo. Joy, thank
you for taking some time coming to talk with us today.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
Looking forward to all you have to do in September. Yeah,
and looking forward to having this discussion again in the
coming weeks and months as we head toward Christmas.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
For sure. For sure.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Thanks for listening to Talk the Rock Public affairs and
community events from the iHeartRadio studios.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
In Little Rock.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Be sure to subscribe to this podcast and listen next
week as we talk to more guests about public service,
local charities, and events going on in your neighborhood.
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