director's den - Henry Vilas Zoo

egistration open: Zoo Run Run 2010
FREE Zoo! Stick around after the race to enjoy food, free Capital
Brewery beer, music and more!
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Ready...set...GO! Join the Henry Vilas Zoo and Suzy Favor Hamilton
for an even bigger and better Zoo Run Run! Participating in this run
raises money for our Zoo Century renovation campaign and that
means you are making an investment in our community and helping
sustain the legacy of our wonderful, free Zoo!
You can look forward to: Running with SUZY! That’s right, Suzy
Favor Hamilton will be returning as our Featured Runner. She will be
joined by her running club to help raise money for Madison’s beloved
There are three ways to register. 1. Online at active.com. The
deadline for online registration is Thursday, September 23, 2010 at
11:59 p.m. PST. 2. By mail. Go to vilaszoo.org, click on the Zoo Run
Run logo and download the printable brochure. Mail check and the
completed registration form to: Zoo Run Run, Friends of the Zoo, 606
S. Randall Avenue, Madison, WI 53715. Entries must be postmarked
no later than Friday, September 17, 2010. 3. On-site race weekend
registration and packet pick-up September 25, 2010 from 11 a.m. to
4 p.m. in the Zoo’s Visitor Center. 4. Race day registration will be
in the main tent in the center of the Zoo on September 26, 2010 from
8:30 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. We look forward to seeing you there!
a few very special thank yous...
A very special thanks to Liliana’s Restaurant for
raising nearly $2,000 for the Henry Vilas Zoo! Liliana’s
Restaurant, owned by Executive Chef David Heide,
hosted the second Annual Mardi Gras Henry Vilas
Zoo Benefit on Sunday, February 21, 2010. It was
great fun for everyone, young and old alike, with live
professional musical groups, stilt walkers, magicians,
balloon makers, face painters, and more.
“Seeing the joy on kids’ faces as they watched the stiltwalkers
or had their faces painted meant even more
to all of us at Liliana’s when we thought about how the
proceeds would be used,” said Dave as he reflected
on the event. “We were so proud to be a part of
something great, and we can’t wait for another chance
to help out.”
Thanks to the Monroe Street Merchants
Association for sponsoring the Monroe Street
Chocolate Walk as a fundraiser for the Henry Vilas
Zoo. This incredibly successful event took place on
April 24th and raised more than $3,000 for Madison’s
favorite zoo! Big thanks to all of the participants who
contributed to this event, perusing over 20 restaurants
and shops on Monroe Street, sampling gourmet
chocolate treats and gifts such as the mini Death
by Chocolate sundae at Michael’s Frozen Custard
and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Egg Roll’s from
Bluphies.
Thanks to Kohl’s Cares-Associates in Action for a
wonderfully successful Earth Day Event.
“Kohl’s Cares is a unique and wonderful program
that puts our associates out in the community. We
volunteer our time to help others. In return, Kohl’s
corporate recognizes our efforts by supporting the
charities that we volunteer for with a $500 grant.
Our Earth day event with the Zoo was unbelievable.
It’s the first time that Kohl’s offered an extra $1000 for
events with a “go green” theme. When we realized just
how much money we were looking at, we decided to
have all 3 Madison stores work together. Then came
the challenge of picking the lucky recipient. Hands
down, it had to be the Henry Vilas Zoo. Everyone in
the community uses the Zoo. People come from miles
around just to go to the Zoo. Our donation would
effect thousands of children. Working with the DNR
handing out trees was the added bonus. It was fun to
see the faces of the little kids when they found out that
they got to plant a tree when they got home. All three
Madison stores were able to work together. This is the
first time that this is ever happened. It was a great day
and one that we will all talk about for a long time. We
look forward to next year’s Earth Day and hope that we
again can be part of it.” – Mary Deppe