Pictured: Donielle Harpster, 6, of Morro Bay walks through the Charles Paddock Zoo on Saturday with her mother, Lisa. Harpster said her favorite part of the event are the goats and the tigers. [Photo by Heather Young]

Heather Young

Staff Writer

In its first year back in city control, the Charles Paddock Zoo\\\\\\\'s 16th annual Zoo Boo brought in more than 1,000 people to its one-day event on Saturday.

The past several years, the event has been held over two days, but this year zoo director Alan Baker wanted to go back to basics. Control of the event was returned to his staff so the Zoological Society could focus on raising money for the zoo rather than spread everyone too thin doing the same things.

The zoo opened at 5 p.m. to an already long line of costumed children and adults waiting to enter the annual zoo event. The children and their parents then walked around the zoo looking at animals, playing games for prizes, going through the haunted house and getting some snacks.

There were several different game stations and everyone, Baker said, was a winner.

\\\\\\\"It\\\\\\\'s a great place for my kids to be in a safe environment,\\\\\\\" said Carey Gelos of Paso, who has attended five years in a row.

Sofia Gelos, 5, of Paso said her favorite part of Zoo Boo is \\\\\\\"the lions. The tigers.\\\\\\\"

Miguel Martinez, 5, of Morro Bay was dressed as a police officer and his mother, Lucy Martinez, said \\\\\\\"he\\\\\\\'s real excited.\\\\\\\" He said his favorite part is playing the games.

Dressed as Chinese takeout, 10-year-old Jaz Zuniga of Atascadero said he likes attending Zoo Boo because \\\\\\\"there is cool stuff and animals. I like the haunted house.\\\\\\\"

In addition to the many attendees, there were many volunteers including students from various clubs, 4-H clubs and scout troops.

\\\\\\\"It\\\\\\\'s fun,\\\\\\\" Atascadero High School senior and Key Club member Jennifer Lloyd said. \\\\\\\"You get to see the kids and all their costumes and stuff. Good volunteer efforts.\\\\\\\"

Near the entrance to the zoo, zookeeper Luke Beyler of Santa Margarita kept watch of the Harry Potter area, which he said was the \\\\\\\"Charles Paddock Zoo School of Witchcraft.\\\\\\\"

An addition to this year\\\\\\\'s Zoo Boo was the vegetable decorating contest. Many people, all of ages, entered the contest. Winners have not yet been announced.

For more information about future Zoo Boo events, call 461-5080.

Winners for the Vegetable Decorating contest:





Adult

First-place: Pat Cairns

Age 7 to 12

First-place: Jaycee Miner

Age 6 and under

First-place: Bailey Elkins

There we no entries for Business or 13 to 19 age group.





For the complete article see the 10-30-2009 issue.

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