From the First Mate's Photo Album - Zoo Pics

"Lets Go to the Zoo!"

Here are a few pictures taken at the Louisville Zoo on 24 Aug 2012... there are a lot of photos, click on one of them (suggest the bear above) to get another window with larger images of all in this blog.  The duck below was just a few inches from my leg when I took this photo!

The below photo was the best that we saw of the botanical gardens at this zoo on this trip.

Above left is a giant turtle... these guys are big & heavy!  This is a close-up of a sea lion just before the big show.  Upper left shows Becky making contact with this big guy.  Upper right is a very nice looking jaguar... just beautiful!  Below is one of Louisville's young Polar Bears.

 And in the middle of the zoo is a Pioneer Cemetery and here is a list of who is buried there.  An African and an Asian Elephant working together for a very nice show that we were lucky enough to catch.

That cannot be me with angel wings... it is not me, it is Indiana Bones who might be an angel! Wrestling a Kamoda Dragoon is not what an angel would do, but TSGS Director Becky West is not a typical angel... she is my wife!  Below is Evansville's Mesker Park Zoo photos... taken on Monday, 20 Aug 2012.  Look at the botanical garden near the zoo entrance and close to the Amazonia Exhibit.

 Above is some kind of Spoon-billed bird.  Below to the right is a wild snake crawling around in the temporiarily closed Praire Dog exhibit.  And just look at the teeth of that small gator!

 

 One of my favorite exhibits since I was just a little kid when it had monkeys on it, is Mesker Park's "Monkey Ship!"  They use it now for kiddie bumper boat rides.  Great new use for one of the zoo's older great exhibits!!!  OK, how many of you can have a leaf with your name on it as adopting a Zoo animal?  Anyone can... it only takes $25 for the smallest donation.  Actually, I represented the Ohio Valley SAR Chapter in adopting an American Bald Eagle and they put my name on the leaf instead of the Chapter - that will be corrected tomorrow!

 Below is one of the two most playful otters at the zoo... a favorite with the kids and for me and Becky.  The Jaguar is young and not yet full grown, but is a nice looking animal.





 

Above in these last four photos in upper left is a beautiful Tiger, then to the upper right is an old Rhino with missing tusks.  Lower left is one of the Gibbons monkeys that just love to swing around showing off!  Here are two large, but not giant turtles, posing for my camera.

- Photos taken by JGWest & Becky West.

From the FIRST MATE's PHOTO ALBUM...

Another one of God's beautiful sunsets!

Taken on Interstate 64 on way back home from Louisville Zoo on 06 Jun 2009. Becky & I had such a nice trip to Louisville. We ate at Joe's Crab Shack, toured a nearby car cruise-in and local bands playing music (fund raiser for children) and then to the zoo where we witnessed a wedding in the cemetery in the zoo! This sunset was just a wonderful close to a great day. Many have liked the sunsets on this blog, so I thought I would share this one with you.

- Photo taken & submitted by JGWest

Brief TSGS Officer Profiles - Becky West

Becky West was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the Tri-State Genealogical Society. She was recently photographed at the Louisville Zoo and seems to have wings like an angel! Believe me, as her husband for 40 years, this was a staged photo! But like the volunteers of TSGS that are willing to serve as officers and committee members, they are all truly angels!

Becky graduated from Bosse High School, attended Lockyear Business College, got married and started raising a family that consisted of 3 sons and a husband. When the youngest was 10 years old, Becky entered the world of employment outside the home. Most of that time has been at the Little Sisters of the Poor nursing home in Evansville as a nurses aide.

For almost 40 years, Becky has served as her husband's personal secretary for his many non-profit organizations & political community service involvement. This was the Young Democrats (YD's), 4-H, Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), TSGS (over 30 years). She assisted her husband in each of these organizations as advisor, sounding board, secretary, remedial task master, and supporter. She has become one of the most experienced organizational "non- board member" to get elected to a Board of Directors! :)

Becky was a runner-up in the first Miss Evansville Pagent in 1967, was elected President of the Eighth Congressional Young Democrats (YD's), was a volunteer Adult 4-H Leader for over 20 years and is currently very active with the Ladies Auxillary of the Sons of the American Revolution. With the members of the Ohio Valley Chapter of SAR, Becky and a few other wives march (in Colonial dresses) with the SAR Color Guard in parades & other events. Becky was adopted as a baby and finally found her birth family at the age of 42... she has developed an interesting presentation for interested groups concerning her "Journey to the Beginning - An Adoption Story" to discovery her birth family. Becky wrote a poem to her deceased birth mother that most have stated was a real "emotional"message. She not only assists with my SAR "Flags Over America" programs, but she serves as the "pack-horse" helping me pack, load, carry, set-up and take down over 160 flags used in the presentation. Come to think of it maybe she is an angel... she has to be after putting up with me for 40 years!

Thanks for serving, Becky... and Welcome Aboard TSGS!

- Submitted by JGWest

"Wedding in a Cemetery in a Zoo!"

Ok, you go to a zoo to see animals (sometimes botantical gardens); but at our recent visit to the Louisville Zoo, we found a nice little cemetery, too! Later, as we passed the area of the zoo with the cemetery, we observed the photo session of a wedding party after the vows were repeated... where? in the cemetery in the zoo! Click on photos for a larger image.



Above is the wedding party bridesmaids getting their photo taken. We noticed that the ladies had very nice black & white floral design sun dresses, bright yellow high-heeled shoes with matching yellow necklaces & earrings. The groomsmen wore black tuxedos with yellow handkerchiefs and ties.

Here is the cemetery in the zoo that the wedding took place. This confirms the new wave or trend to get married in cemeteries as this blog recently reported. We posted a blog on here about the cemetery with a few more photos.

On our way out of the zoo, we came upon some of the groomsmen and commented on the wedding, they pointed out that they all wore yellow socks and yellow personalized monogramed tennis shoes. Ross let me take a photo of his shoes. My thought is that this was a really neat wedding with a creative young couple starting a fresh life together.


-Photos taken & submitted by JGWest

Marker/Plaque/Monument Monday

Cemetery inside the Louisville Zoo!
Marker of Jenkins Phillips

Phillips/Durrett/Clark Cemetery inside the Louisville Zoo

Today's Grave Marker is a Revolutionary War Veterans Plaque for Jenkin Phillips



- Photos taken & submitted by JGWest