LCF Resident Helps Zoo Raise $700K
By Clarice Prittie© La Cañada Flintridge Outlook. Thursday, July 12, 2001.
For La Cañada Flintridge resident, Gary Kaplan, the evening of June 16 will go down in his memory book as a “daunting experience.”
As event chairman, he welcomed the 960 animal-theme clad guests to the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association’s Annual Beastly Ball and spoke with enthusiasm about the zoo’s event.
Kaplan, who is president of the Pasadena-based national executive recruiting firm Gary Kaplan & Associates, said he “broke the ‘male ceiling’ becoming the first male to chair the ball in its 31-year history” He thanked former six-time ball chairman, Mary Urquhardt (now chairman of GLAZA), and said he was grateful for her help, grace and style. Regarding his committee’s support, he said, “You were the wind beneath my wings.”
Kaplan and his wife, Linda, local residents since 1978, were joined at their table by son, Marc, and his wife, Nicole, and son, Jeff. La Cañada friends included Tracy and Martin Mueller, and Beth and Walter McNichols.
The “Wild About Reading” themed ball raised $709,000 for the Los Angeles Zoo Master Plan and education programs.
Actor, LeVar Burton, host of PBS Television’s “Reading Rainbow,” was honored for his commitment to children’s education and actress, Tippi Hedren, received a Fellow Award for her dedication to international conservation. Hedren is founder of Shambala, an animal reserve in Acton.
Silent auction items were showcased in specially designed sets by interior designers. Emcee for the live auction, hosted by Christie’s Los Angeles auctioneer Robert Looker, was actress and zoo commissioner, Betty White Ludden, who peppered her remarks with gentle wit. High bid was three paid elephant washes going for $6,000 each. The “table gorilla” donations raised $19,545 and bigger bids totaled $140,000, all earmarked for the zoo’s Campo Gorilla Reserve.
Entertainment by steel drums set the safari tone as guests departed the tram from the parking lot to “Upper Africa” where salsa and swing music was provided by the group, Tropical Punch. “Lion King”-inspired characters strolled the pathways, zookeepers were out in force with their charges such as snakes, a great horned owl, falcons, opossum, rabbit and guinea pig and guests could also chat with the keepers of giraffes, elephants, hippos, orangutans and chimps.
A wide variety of signature dishes were on hand at food stations throughout the ball area supplied by a cadre of Los Angeles’ top restaurants.
