CALM birthday entertaining

calmbirth032: CALM birthday entertainingA little rain fell on May 3, but it didn’t dampen the spirits of those who came out to celebrate the California Living Museum’s (CALM) 20th birthday celebration in Bakersfield.

“When the rains came, visitors just took refuge in the gift shop waited out the wet weather and came back outside to join in the fun when the drops stopped,” said Debby Kroeger, CALM manager. “Very few people left.”

Kroeger reports that there were some people that enjoyed the experience so much that they came out again the next day, May 4, for the second day of the birthday celebration. There was plenty of excitement no matter which day visitors selected. Much of it was generated by Julie Scardina, Sea World’s wildlife ambassador. Scardina put on six shows during the two days, working with wild animals in CALM’s amphitheater.

“Julie was absolutely wonderful,” Kroeger said. “Her knowledge of animals is vast and her enthusiasm and professional presence made it very enjoyable. And then she went the extra mile for the visitors. After each show, Julie would bring out animals and invite people to come up to touch them while she answered questions. She was so accommodating even to the point of posing with visitors and animals for pictures. The people just loved her”

The animals, which ranged from an alligator-to-a bald eagle-to-a 12 foot long Burmese python were courtesy of “Zoo-to-You” from Paso Robles. Zoo-to-You is a nonprofit organization that brings live animals to schools and other venues to educate students of all ages about wildlife and the environment. Many of the shows were standing room only.

Besides being captivated by Scardina’s shows, visitors had a chance to observe sights that they might not normally see. At 12:30 and 2:30, those who wandered by the black bear habitat witnessed the frisky, friendly and almost theatrical antics of resident bear Dart. Trainer Ginger LeBlanc, a professor at Bakersfield College, was putting Dart through command and reward exercises, and the bear didn’t disappoint the crowd. At various times, she would raise up on hind legs extending to her full height, as if to get a better look at the audience. Then, she would sway back and forth resembling a balletic toe dance. Dart even bid farewell with what appeared to be a wave.

Speaking of bears, CALM will unveil its new one-year-old bear cub later this month. It has received more than 500 suggestions from Kern County students in the “Name Our Bear” contest. Birthday visitors had a chance to donate to CALM and vote for their favorite name from a list that had been pared down to five finalists. The final five are Bruin, Cinnamon, Joaquin, Sierra, and Ursus. The winning name will be announced at the cub’s unveiling.

For those that wanted more information, Russo’s books was on site selling wildlife and nature books. Adding an artistic flair were students from Rosedale Middle and Foothill High schools creating wildlife paintings under the direction of consultant Eve Nuanez.

Those that worked up an appetite were lured by the smell of barbecue to taste the offerings prepared by Chuy’s restaurant.

“The weather did cut down on the attendance a little bit,” Kroeger admitted, “but we still had 1,200 to 1,500 come through the gate which is great testimony to how much the people in this community want to support CALM. And there were other positives. At each presentation, I gave a visitors’ test to see how many new attendees we had and a great show of hands rose each time. And, one of the things that made us feel really good about the future was the fact that we sold 67 new family memberships. That was really nice.”
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