Volume 3, No. 2. January 24, 2002
Fish
star
What the South Carolina
Aquarium in Charleston needed was a better way to get children interested in
the attraction. The aquarium already had six mascots. Instead, Angel Passailaigue,
public relations manager, wanted someone who could think like a kid, talk like
a kid, relate to kids and be approachable for kids.
Obviously, what she needed was a kid.
So, Passailaigue came up with the Aquarium’s Sea Star, a statewide contest
to choose a boy or girl between the ages of 8 and 11 who would become the aquarium’s
official spokesperson for one year. Introduced last week as the first-ever Sea
Star was Marty Liner, a 9-year-old from Summerville, South Carolina, who decorates
his bedroom as a boat cabin, builds model ships, lists 20,000 Leagues Beneath
The Sea as his favorite movie, counts the Living Sea as his favorite
Walt Disney World attraction and loves to wear a white captain’s hat.
“He was so energetic and hyper,” Passailaigue said of their first
meeting. “It’s four in the afternoon and I’m going, ‘Ohmygosh,
this is exhausting.’ And his parents are so wonderful. I feel like I married
into a great family.”
She needs to feel that way for the amount of time she’ll be spending with
Marty. In fact, before the aquarium signed on Marty his parents had to sign
a memorandum of understanding pledging both their support of their son’s
role at the aquarium and promising that neither they nor Marty would inflate
their egos and turn the gig into a celebrity stint. “We had professional
actors apply,” Passailaigue said. “That was a turn-off because we
weren’t looking for an actor. We were looking for real kids who could relate
with other kids and had an interest in marine life and aquatic activities.”
Passailaigue dreamed up the program in October. “I just love kids. I’m
a kid at heart,” she said. “My whole office is filled with toys. I
love Toys R Us, I love Nickelodeon.” A week later she and her volunteer
staff had finished the application form and sent it to schools across the state,
with only a press release to market the program. She received 200 applicants
with their 250-word essays and teacher’s letter of recommendation. The
responses came from every region of the state.
The staff culled
the group down to five finalists who visited the aquarium with their parents
to meet a panel of six judges and audition via a mock television interview with
Nina Sossamon, anchor for the local NBC affiliate.
Ironically, Marty was not one of the finalists. When one student had to bow
out because of illness in the family the day before the audition, Marty was
chosen as the alternate. “He had 24 hours to prepare,” Passailaigue
said. “We were just blown away by his ability to jump in. He seemed natural
and comfortable.”
Those were important traits for a child who has a number of television, radio
and newspaper interviews lined up. He will be judging the Aquarium’s national
drawing contest on its web site, soliciting e-mails from other children with
suggestions and questions for the aquarium, providing input on exhibits, programs
and signage, and assisting in the opening of a new exhibit this summer and other
special events. Being a Sea Star is not all work and no play. Marty is entitled
to four behind-the-scenes tours with a staff member of his choice, and he will
coordinate a free trip to the aquarium for his third grade class at Pinewood
Preparatory School.
As polished and professional as Marty seemed in his audition, he is in many
ways a typical 9-year-old. That comes across in his quote that Passailaigue
put in her press release announcing Marty’s selection. “I just LOVE
going to the Aquarium and really enjoy telling other kids about the experiences
I have had while visiting,” she wrote Marty stated. “I hope to get
more kids to come see it for themselves, especially programs like the dive show—it
is so COOL.”
©2002, Minton Enterprises
LLC
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