GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Grove picnic area outside John Ball Zoo's main entrance was full of music and the smell of freshly-grilled burgers and hot dogs on Monday night, as the zoo hosted its annual West Side Community Celebration.
"We've done these for the last couple of years, and tonight, we've had the weather bless us with a beautiful day, and the community is coming out just to hang out and really learn about the zoo and also engage with their neighborhood organizations," said Andy McIntyre who serves as the zoo's chief operating officer.
"Events like this are really awesome because it brings the community that's around us out just to engage as community. Our core values include conservation, education and community, and that's really what this allows us to do - just engage everyone in the community."
Along with the food and music, the celebration included activities for children. Amongst the crowd favorites was a chance to visit with some of the zoo's animals up close.
"I think what I look forward to the most at events like this are smiles on people's faces at the end of the day, just knowing that they've enjoyed themselves and had an opportunity to connect with other members of the community here at a place that we cherish," McIntyre said.
"The zoo's really been a treasure of the community for many years. We see that in many ways, that people from our local area and our nearby community come and enjoy the facility, and we engage them in our conservation education programming as well, but we also do attract from a wider area. But it really starts here at home with our area in Kent County, and the west side is really where it starts."
Coming up, the zoo will be hosting Dino Adventures. From July 15 to November 10 there will be 20 life-sized, animatronic dinosaurs teaching people about ancient wildlife.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Watch 13 ON YOUR SIDE for free on Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV and on your phone.