Como Friends ANNUAL REPORT 2013 GrowingGrowing StrongStrong 2013 Contribution to Como Park Zoo and Conservatory TOTAL 2013 DONATION: $1,457,761 Capital Campaign .......................................... $350,000 Marjorie McNeely Conservatory ............................... $559,849 Gardener Positions, Training, Operations ........................... 242,156 Contribution to MMC Endowment ................................ 248,911 Restoration of the Japanese Garden Tea House ....................... 51,482 Fern Lobby Improvements ....................................... 15,300 Signage for the Pollinator Garden ................................... 2,000 Como Zoo ................................................. $260,020 Phase One Improvements to the Giraffe Exhibit ...................... 154,270 We inspire Zoo keeper Positions & Annual Operations .......................... 91,050 community Landscaping for Polar Bear Exhibit ................................. 10,500 Anesthesia Machine ............................................. 4,200 generosity Education ................................................... $75,969 Education Positions & Annual Operations ........................... 71,200 to advance Transportation Funding ........................................... 2,769 Como Park Zoo Cheney Family Scholarship ........................................ 1,500 New Costumes for Story Time ........................................ 500 & Conservatory Marketing .................................................. $79,979 as a destination In-Kind Services Promoting Como ................................. 41,849 Marketing Plan for Gorilla Forest Opening ........................... 30,000 where people Mobile Website ................................................. 8,130 Volunteer Services ........................................... $33,500 from all walks Staff Positions & Annual Operations ................................ 31,000 of life can gather, Youth Scholarships ............................................... 2,500 Como Campus ............................................... $45,390 learn and enjoy Airlock and Lighting on Porch ..................................... 25,000 Campus Projects ............................................... 17,390 the natural Pressure Washer ................................................ 3,000 world. Advocacy ................................................... $53,054 3 2 Dear Como Friends supporters, Como Park Zoo and Conservatory has counted on a long list of champions over the last century, from Horace Cleveland, to Sparky the Sea Lion (numbers I through VI…), to the more than 1,380 individuals who volunteered at Como this year. Every voice committed to Como has helped strengthen this legacy, but one visionary who deserves special notice this year is our friend Leonard Wilkening, who died in January 2013 at the age of 87. Leonard assembled the board and staff that first incorporated Como Friends. As our founding board chair, he was hard-headed about ethics and sound fiscal policy, and soft-hearted about Como’s capacity to build community and widen horizons for people from every walk of life. A great promoter of public and private partnerships, Leonard believed that communities are stronger when public dollars are met by private supporters willing to put their voices and resources behind the organizations that matter most. Leonard was proud of Como Friends’ progress over the last decade, investing more than $35 million in projects like Tropical “ Wilkening Encounters and Polar Bear Odyssey while keeping Como free of was a fierce charge for the two million visitors who come to Como each year. champion At Como Friends, we were proud to see Leonard’s legacy in our first carried on this spring with the unveiling of two long-awaited decade. improvements that proved the power of the public/private ” partnership he envisioned for Como. In April, the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory invited visitors to The Ordway Gardens, a beautiful new wing dedicated to Como’s first-class Japanese botanical collection. In June, Como Zoo pulled the curtain on Gorilla Forest, a progressive new habitat for an expanded troop of western lowland gorillas. The first was funded by private contributions, the second by the citizens of the state of Minnesota, but neither improvement would have been possible without the commitment of generous corporations, foundations, and individuals like you. Your continued support makes a powerful case for Como every day. At Como Friends, we feel so fortunate to have had the support of a fierce champion like Leonard Wilkening in our first decade, and to enjoy the continued confidence of the volunteers, sponsors, members and donors listed in the following pages, who helped to keep Como growing strong in 2013. Thank you for all you do for Como! Jackie Sticha Anne Hazelroth Field PRESIDENT BOARD CHAIR 5 4 THE Ordway A family legacy and private contributions created a long-awaited addition to the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory Gardens OVER THE LAST TWO DECADES, painstaking training “Watching the Japanese Garden develop from and tender care have turned the Marjorie an unnoticed corner of Como to a nationally McNeely Conservatory’s array of Bonsai into one ranked garden has been a thrilling experience of the nation’s premier collections—and one of for the Ordway family,” Marla Ordway says. Como’s best-kept secrets. With limited display “We’re excited at the way The Ordway Gardens space for these delicate trees—some more than a wing will encourage visitors to rediscover the century old—many of Como’s most valued potted outdoor garden, and learn more about Japanese trees were confined behind the scenes, on grow- culture along the way.” ing benches in the Conservatory’s greenhouse. The economic recession forced Como to All of that changed in April, when Como postpone construction of the new wing for two unveiled The Ordway Gardens, a new wing full years while the volunteer committees of the to the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory that Campaign for Como worked to secure the full combines year-round display space for Bonsai $2.8 million in constructions costs from private with an inviting new path into the Charlotte donors. One benefit of the extended timeline Partridge Ordway Japanese Garden, creating was the chance it gave Como’s horticultural a harmonious connection between these two staff to “remodel” the Japanese Garden to treasures of Como’s horticultural collection. reflect the original vision of Masami Matsuda, “The Ordway Gardens are a wonderful addition the renowned landscape designer chosen by “The Ordway Gardens are a to the Japanese Garden and the Conservatory,” Nagasaki, Japan to create the garden for its perfect example of what private says Marla Ordway, a Como Friends board sister city of St. Paul. contributions make possible,” member, who adds that the Japanese Garden Community support for The Ordway Gardens says Como Friends board has had special interest to the Ordway family. was so enthusiastic that not even a surprise April member Greg McNeely, seen here with Phil Ordway and Charlotte’s daughters first proposed a Japanese snow storm and freezing temperatures could John “Smokey” Ordway, Jr. garden at Como in the early 1970s to honor their keep Como Friends members and donors away The In April, a crowd of Como mother’s strong interest in gardening. A family from ribbon-cutting previews in April. “ Friends supporters came to the gift in 1978 established the Japanese garden Ordway Gardens wouldn’t have been possible freezing cold ribbon-cutting as a living memorial to Charlotte Partridge without the commitment of thousands of people ceremony for this $2.8 million Ordway. Thirty-two years later, Charlotte’s son, who want Como to be the world-class destination wing to the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory. From left: Marla John “Smokey” Ordway, Jr., carried the family’s our community deserves,” says Como Friends Ordway, Mayor Christopher commitment to Como forward, providing the lead board member Greg McNeely. “The Ordway Coleman, John Ordway, Nancy gift to ensure the creation of the Bonsai Terrace Gardens are a perfect example of what private Nelson, Carol Weston Hanson. and pedestrian path that invites visitors to see this contributions make possible at Como every day. historic garden in a new way. People really care about Como” 7 6 Gorilla Como Zoo’s newest habitat expands the perspective for primates and Forest people ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS visitors to Como Zoo’s new Gorilla Forest noticed when it opened in June was the striking new view. Instead of visitors gazing down on the gorillas, Como’s seven western lowland gorillas now observe families and field trip groups from a grassy, elevated pitch. “It’s a small shift, but from the perspective of the gorillas it’s a huge improvement,” says senior zookeeper Jo Kelly, who says the discomfort of “being looked down on” is just one of the traits humans and great apes share. “The new design puts them more at ease, which is why visitors have had such a great glimpse of the gorillas’ natural behaviors since they moved in.” Giving Como Zoo’s gorillas the great care they deserve was a passion for Arlene Scheunemann, a long-time Como Friends board member and volunteer who died in 2013 just before the exhibit opened. A former Zoo Docent, Scheunemann helped lift Como Zoo’s profile as a leader in primate care by successfully hand-raising two gorilla infants and ten orangutans in her family’s St. Paul home in the days before Como had the facilities to care for zoo babies. “Arlene