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Annual Report 2012 Texas State Aquarium Board of Trustees

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Annual Report 2012 Texas State Aquarium Board of Trustees Texas State Aquarium Texas State Aquarium 2710 N. Shoreline Corpus Christi, Texas 78402-1097 361.881.1200 texasstateaquarium.org RECYCLES ANNUAL REPORT 2012 TEXAS STATE AQUARIUM BOARD OF TRUSTEES Lee R. Jordan Chair Judith Hawley Past-Chair Deneece Ann Squires Vice Chair DEAR FRIENDSDEAR FRIENDS Bruce S. Hawn Vice Chair Denise Tavares Secretary Paula Dodd Treasurer Some of you Smightome orecallf you that mig h2t0 1re1call was th aat banne 2011r w yeasar a fobar nnerthe Aqua year rfiumor t; hethe Aq openinguarium ; ofthe th ope ening of the Larry McKinney At Large Member HEB Splash PaHErkB h Selpedplash dPraivrke haelped 12% incdrirveasee a 12in% annual increase attendanc in annueal. Afteratten daann cexcee. Apftionallter any exceptionally Rich D. Tuttle At Large Member Larry Urban At Large Member pleased to repoWret toar eyo pleau in sthised atonn urealpo reprto rtot tha yot,u b yt halatm, ostby analmosty measu arney, 201meas2 wasure , anothe2012 r was another extraordinaryext yerarao frodir ntheary Tyeeaxasr foStater the Aqu Texasari uSmtat. eOur Aq uattendancearium. Our to atteppendda 560,nce 0topped00, makin 560g ,000, making Trustees Robert W. Maxwell, Jr. 2012 our busiest201 2ye oarur since busie gsrtand yea ro sipeningnce g,r aandnd opeup aboutning, a 4n%d uovp eabor 20u11t 4. % W oev egener 201rated1. W ove egenr erated over Joe Adame Robert A. May $10 million in$1 op0e millioratingn rienv enuopeerati, anotherng reve highnue, amanotrkher for h uigsh. Tmhaer k for us. The Esperanza Andrade Julie McNeil opening of Stingopenrayin gLago of oStingn, theray secondLagoon , majorthe s ecomponentcond major ocompof nent of Barry Andrews Mark Meyer our new Master Plan, was a big hit and certainly helped our Allen G. Borden Larry Meyers our new Master Plan, was a big hit and certainly helped our Reagan Brown Josephine Miller performance. performance. Willard E. Brown, III Maureen Miller Our Mission We are also Wver ya rproude also ofve rouy rp ractivitiesoud of othatur activitie most sof t hoatu r most of our Julie A. Buckley Patty Nuss Connecting people with nature and members and guests never see, but are critically and equally Darrell G. Coleman J. Ted Oakley members and guests never see, but are critically and equally John W. Creveling, Jr. Rakesh Patel inspiring conservation of the Gulf important in imporealizingrtan tou inr rmissionealizing ofour connecting mission o fpeople connecti witngh people with Thomas C. Dobson Mike Pusley of Mexico. nature and inspinaturering aconsend inrspivationring coofns theervatio Gulfn ofo f Mthexie cGuo. lOf onfe Mexico. One Elinor Donnell Dan Richter example is ouexampler Second is Chances our Seco Wndildl Cifhea Rehabilitationnces Wildlife R Perhogabilitatioram. n Program. John F. Dorn Alice H. Sallee Our Vision With generousWit suhp pogenerrt fromous sutheppo Eratr l frCom. Sams the FoundationEarl C. Sa, mins Foundation, Pat Frost Keleigh H. Sasser To be a nationally-recognized Robert R. Furgason Frank J. Scanio, III Aquarium leader in creating rehabilitation rprogehabilitatioram. Sincen pr og20r0a5m, more. Since than 200 51,00, mo0r eshore thanb i1,0rds00 shorebirds Eddie L. Garcia Mike Shaw entertaining, educationally-enriching and majestic birds of prey have been treated by our animal care S. Mark Gottlich Celika Storm and majestic birds of prey have been treated by our animal care Rob Hall Sam L. Susser programming; conducting wildlife staff and eitherteam released and e itbackher rintoeleased their back nat uinratol habitatstheir nat orur alha hveabitats foun do ra hhomeave fo atun thed a Thexaomse at the Texas Joni Harrel Nathan Taggart rehabilitation; and supporting State AquariumState or Aqanotheruarium A oZrA-accredite another AZA-accd facilitry.edited These facilitbirdsy . becomeThese bi ramds bbassaecodmoers afmorba ssadors for R. Scott Heitkamp Sylvia A. Whitmore conservation. their brethrent hinei rnatu bretrehr anden ininstill nat urine all an wd hoinstill visit in us all a wh senseo visit of usap preciationa sense of fappor thesereciatio animan forls t hese animals Charles A. Hicks and the wild palacesnd th ethey wild occu placespy. they occupy. Gloria Hicks Trustees Emeritus Peter Holt R. C. Allen Finally, we waFnitn atolly , uwpde awtea nyto uto o unp pdraoteg ryeossu wointh p trhoeg rexsse cwuittiho nt hoef eoxuerc tuetnio-nye oarf oMuars ttern -Pyleaanr. Master Plan. Susan F. Hutchinson Charles C. Butt With our fundWitraisingh our f efunasibdilityraisi nandg f easibilitybusiness aplanningnd busine andss plaforecastingnning an dw foorrek cacompletsting weo, rouk cor mplete, our Flavius Killebrew Peggy Lasater Clark Board of TrusteesBoar dov oefr Twhelminglyrustees ov esurwhppelmiortedng lmy osuvingppo frotedrwa mrdo wvinithg ftheorw eaardrl yw, quietith the phase early ,of q uaiet phase of a Donald E. Kingsbury Arthur W. Zeitler major campaignmajo tor rcampaigaise then ntoecessa raiser yt hfundse necessa to constry funrudsct theto co Cnastribrubctean the Wing Car ibbuilbeadingn Wi. Things building. This Edward A. Martin 25 years ago, 25still y heaoldsrs ag veor, ys tillstrong holds appeal very st foror nugs . appealOur inte forpreti us. Ourve f ocusinter pwreillti beve thefoc usSian will Ka’a be nt he Sian Ka’an Biosphere ResBiosperve,h alongere R etheser Easteve, alornn gedge the Eofa stheter nY uedgecatan o peninsulaf the Yucata inn the pe nQuintanainsula in tRoohe Qu stainteta na Roo state TEXAS STATE AQUARIUM LEADERSHIP of Mexico. Thisof remaMexicrkao. b Thle isregion rema, rhokabmlee rtoegio sonm, heo ofm ethe to longest some o uf nthde rlogrounngestd unrivdeerrsg onro uneadr trhiv ers on earth and the secondan dla trhgeste seco barnrdier la rreegestf, will barr takeier ryoeeuf, onwill ata jouke rynoeyu othroughn a jou rtropicalney thr ojungleugh tsropical, caves ,j ungles, caves, Tom Schmid, President & CEO mangrove forestmasn, gtropicalrove fo rtideests ,pool tropicals, co rtideal reefs pools and, co, ultiral mreatelyefs a nface-to-faced, ultimately with face -to-an incrediface wbitlhe an incredible Julio Flores, Vice President of Finance & CFO collection of shacollectiorks. Yonu o wf sillh ahreaksr. Ymouuch w illmore hea rabout much this mo ambitiousre about t hprogis ambitioram ovuser p therog rnaextm o sivxe r the next six to 12 months. Paul “Rocky” Kettering, Vice President of Development to 12 months. However, for Hnooww, eenjveor, yfo ther n ofallw, eandnjo yyo turhe afallqu arniumd yo. Turod aqayu isa raiu gmreat. Tod daayy isto a visigretat! day to visit! Nicole Andrade, Director, Human Resources Liz Gallagher, Director, Sales Jack Nyitrai, Director, Maintenance Operations Tom Schmid Deneece Squires Leslie Peart, Director, Education & Conservation Tom Schmid Deneece Squires President and CEO Board Chair Justin Sefcik, Director, Guest Services President and CEO Board Chair TALENT Doug Lewis, Maintenance Mechanic/Exhibits Fabrication Texas State Aquarium guests enjoy beautiful, educational exhibits that showcase the animals, but they probably don’t think about the work and skill that go into creating those exhibits. That’s where Doug Lewis is the expert. For 23 years, Doug has been involved in the Aquarium’s in-house fabrication of exhibit components, from design to materials, construction to mechanics. His most recent projects include the new Hawn Wild Flight Theater set and the 6,000 square-foot rehabilitation flight cages at SeaLab. “The flight cages are like the final training ground for our birds in rehabilitation,” says Doug. “There are three separate corridors, each 180 feet long. If the bird can fly to the end and make the turn, and the vet says ok, they’re ready to go. It was a great project because rehabilitation is such an important part of what we do at the Aquarium.” Doug’s Aquarium handywork has included Seahorse Seatopia, Oddysea, Amazon and more. But the Aquarium grand opening was a little nerve-wracking. “I built the crates to move the 13-foot sawfish and a 400-pound grouper. I really didn’t sleep much before the move; I was concerned about those fish. Once they were safely in the tanks and I got the thumbs-up, After more than two decades, Doug says there has I could rest easy.” never been a dull moment at the Aquarium. “When I started, there was nothing but the main building. It’s Aquarium exhibits are designed to be educational and been great to watch it all grow steadily because the visitor-friendly, and each project begins with close Aquarium is important to the people of South Texas. collaboration with the exhibit development team, including This is a wonderful venue to learn about the Gulf, and the members of our animal care, education and marketing more you learn, the better you’re going to treat things.” staff. “I have to understand any special needs and what they want in the construction. It’s all about what’s best for And he still loves the work. “For 23 years, I’ve enjoyed the animals,” asserted Doug. going to work every day. This is an adventure!” 2 PARTNER Flint Hills Resources On the surface, it might seem odd that a refining and chemicals company would financially support an aquarium. However, in the case of Flint Hills Resources and the Texas State Aquarium, it is a natural match – and a win-win partnership. “As a company, when we talk about financial support and corporate stewardship, we focus on education, environmental preservation and enhanced quality of life for the residents of our communities,” says Valerie Pompa, Flint Hills Vice President and Manufacturing Manager. “In our support of the Texas State Aquarium, we’re hitting all three areas of focus.” Since 1989, Flint Hills has been a leading corporate supporter of the Aquarium. The company’s broadest initiative is the Aquavision distance learning program, Walt Schumacher and Valerie Pompa which to date has enabled more than 46,000 elementary school-aged children to experience the Aquarium without leaving their classrooms. The program incorporates knowing they did. It can awaken and foster a greater science, math and reading lessons through various features appreciation of science and the environment; and those and exhibits.
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