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Lonely giraffe gets e-mail, while doc gets
private parts
By Bill Whitaker
If Santa Claus has received less attention from local children
this Christmas season, the drive to find Bart the Giraffe a "buddy"
is probably to blame.
Students in Abilene and beyond quickly zeroed in on an imaginative
Leadership Abilene campaign to raise $20,000 to buy a female mate
for Bart, the Abilene Zoo's lonesome giraffe. The spirited campaign
has urged each and every youth to buy an inch of the new giraffe
for $5.
Thus far, schools big and small have helped, including Abilene
High, where more than $1,400 was raised. Another $200 came from
the math department. Much of the money is in memory of Jarrett
Forehand, the late 18-month-old son of AHS math teacher Jeannie
Forehand. The infant idolized giraffes.
What's more, computer-savvy folks -- some young, some just
young at heart -- have been regularly e-mailing Bart through the
giraffe's very own web page, set up by Colleen Crawford at Leapfrog
Technologies. The address is http://www.abilene.com/bart.
And, yes, Bart always writes back.
Most of the e-mail dispatches seek to console Bart, whose mate
died earlier this year. Typical is the following:
"Hi Bart,
My name is William. Sometimes my friends call me Willie. I
am 8 years old and I live in Eula. I hope you find another giraffe
friend. I will help you find a friend. I will send my allowance
this week to help find you a new giraffe friend. It will buy two
inches.
Don't be lonely and don't be sad. I want to be your friend.
All the kids here in Abilene want to be your friend. You have
more friends than any other giraffe I know. But I know you want
to be with another giraffe like you.
We will all help you find a new giraffe friend to live with
you.
-- Your new friend, William"
Students and teachers have been resourceful at raising money.
One e-mail speaks of a campaign to raise funds at Sam Thomas Elementary
by turning in cans for cash. Another e-mail from a girl named
Christi speaks of yet another fund-raising push.
"Dear Bart,
My mother is a second-grade teacher at Valley View Elementary.
She and her kids, along with the rest of the second grade, are
selling Christmas chocolate pops to raise money for you to get
a new buddy. I'm going to help if I can. My name is Christi Gesting
and I'm going to think of other ways to help raise money also.
Good luck with your money drive and we'll be sending some soon.
Love, Christi"
Most unusual e-mail transmission: Somebody from Penn State
who has a web page devoted entirely to giraffes and wanted to
provide a link to Bart's page here in Abilene.
PARTS AND SERVICE
Speaking of efforts to buy Bart a buddy, the spirited campaign
got its most bizarre boost recently from Dr. Randy Harrison, who
specializes in obstetrics and gynecology.
Dr. Harrison and his wife noticed the campaign's unusual method
for raising funds: For $5, you could buy an inch of Bart's new
buddy for the zoo, for $100 you could buy a spot, for $1,000 you
could buy the neck.
So the Harrisons asked if, for a $1,200 contribution, they
could buy the new female giraffe's entire reproductive system.
Leadership Abilene's Janet Ardoyno was amazed the Harrisons even
had to ask.
"I told 'em that, for that, they could have bought "Bart's"
reproductive parts, too," she said.
Not to be outdone, local eye doctor Jimmy Wadley committed
$500 to buy the new animal's eyes.
DINNER IS SERVED
Giraffes have always proven popular at the zoo, which raises
funds here and there by selling animal-shaped Christmas tree ornaments.
However, the zoo's resident jaguar "Wailer" is also
popular and has spurred sales of wooden and plastic ornaments
of wild cats this year.
"Actually, Wailer is a Texas native," Abilene Zoological
Society board member and past president Dottie Scott told me.
"In fact, he was hand-raised. But, of course, being a wild
animal, he got too big for that. But he still loves the attention
and he's very popular with the children."
Dottie says Wailer wins the children over by coming up to a
shatter-proof window and interacting with the kids in a way that
makes the small fry feel all warm and fuzzy when they leave.
"They run up to see him and he runs up to see them,"
Dottie said.
Of course, zoo officials later admitted, the reason ol' Wailer
is continually running up to the window to see the small fry is
because he's licking his chops and sizing them up for dinner.
But why scuttle such a wonderful illusion?
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Copyright ©1996 or
1997, Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps. Publications
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