November 2008
March 2009
It’s Their Family Place Mike Carter and his family like visiting the Milwaukee County Zoo on Christmas day. It’s a family tradition. “Whenever we’re in town for the holidays, we go to the Zoo and have our picture taken there,” says Carter. “We like that the Zoo is open 365 days a year.” The Zoo’s accessible hours and family-oriented atmosphere are a great benefit to the city, explains Carter, vice president and chief financial officer of Northwestern Mutual. “I’ve always enjoyed the Zoo. It’s something I wanted to get more involved in.” In 2007, he joined the Zoological Society of Milwaukee’s Board of Directors. At the same time, Carter and his wife, Nancy, joined the Platypus Society, the ZSM’s highest-level, donor-member recognition group. The ZSM and the Platypus Society help maintain the Zoo as a family attraction and a community resource, say the Carters. “The Zoo is really one of the biggest values that we have in the city,” Mike notes. “It’s open to everybody, it’s accessible and it can make a full day of entertainment.” Mike and Nancy know first-hand the benefits of the Zoo for families and children. They often take their three kids – Haley, 15, Ryan, 11, and Harrison, 6 – to the Zoo. It’s a great way to enjoy the outdoors and learn about nature, says Nancy. The kids particularly like Zero the polar bear and Macaque Island, home to Japanese macaques. All three Carter children have taken the ZSM’s conservation education classes and summer camps. “The classes are an opportunity to connect the kids to animals,” says Nancy. “They’re a good learning experience, and they give the kids a different view of the Zoo.” For example, last summer 6-year-old Harrison attended the Zoo’s Clues camp, in which kids learn how keepers care for animals, and then help solve a Zoo mystery. On a later visit, Harrison told Nancy all about animal enrichment toys that zookeepers place in the primates’ exhibits to help the animals use their natural instincts. The Carter family also attends Zoo events such as the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel a la Carte and the holiday-themed Breakfast and Lunch with Santa, sponsored by Racine Danish Kringles, in December. Mike and Nancy cite Zoo Ball, the ZSM’s biggest annual fund-raiser, as their favorite “grown-up” event. “Zoo Ball is one of the most fun charity fund-raisers we’ve attended,” says Nancy. “The Zoo is a unique venue which adds to the event!”
Looking to the future, Mike Carter would like to join ZSM committees dealing with finance and development. “We need to find a way to grow and sustain and improve the Zoo,” he says. “You can’t create this from scratch; it’s built over generations.” Carter himself has watched the Zoo change over the years. Growing up in Delavan, Wis., he often visited the Zoo on school field trips. The late, great Samson the gorilla, one of the most popular animals in Zoo history, “made quite an impact,” he says. Today, new exhibits such as the MillerCoors Giraffe Experience make an impact on the Carters’ kids–the next generation of zoogoers. By Julia Kolker