Volume 3, No. 5. March 14, 2003
A century
of fun
First, a prelude.
Eight years ago, Thad Lacinak, the corporate curator of animal training for
Busch Entertainment, was waiting at the Orlando, Florida, International Airport
for his grandmother, Corrine Luken, to disembark the airliner from her home
in Cincinnati, Ohio. The plane apparently emptied, she had yet to emerge. Then,
here she came helping another elderly woman walk up the skyway. “Who is
your friend?” Lacinak asked. “I don’t know her, but, the poor
old thing, she could hardly walk,” Luken replied. Astonished, Lacinak asked
his grandmother the age of the other woman, and she replied “I think around
70.” Which would mean Luken was 22 years older than the “poor old
thing” she was assisting.
And now Luken is 100, and for her century birthday last Friday she became the
oldest person to participate in SeaWorld Orlando’s false killer whale interaction
program. “The oldest we’ve had before that was, like, 80, so she beat
the record by 20 years,” Lacinak said. It was his idea to offer the gift
to his grandmother. She proudly has followed his 30-year career with the SeaWorld
parks ever since he was an apprentice trainer back when Luken was just 70. “I
think where I got my desire to work with animals was somehow inherently from
her. She’s always loved animals.”
Still, she was a little leery of doing the interactive program at first, especially
when her grandson said it would put her in the water with a false killer whale.
“I’m not getting in with a killer whale!” she retorted. When
Lacinak explained the difference between the Shamu-famous orca and the pseudorca
of the interactive program, she agreed on one condition: that Lacinak himself
accompany her in the water.
They found an extra extra small wet suit for her, and she wore a Lycra suit
underneath to help slide the wet suit on—not that she needed any such help.
“She was in it in no time; next thing we know she’s standing out there
waiting for us,” Lacinak said. She waded into the 74-degree-water, the
whale swam up with its mouth open and she fed and petted the creature. She also
got to feed and pose with the real killer whales. The staff of trainers joined
in the occasion by presenting her a booklet containing pictures from the day,
and one trainer, Randy White, modified a poem he had written for his own grandmother—who
died before he was able to give it to her—and included the verses in Luken’s
keepsake book.
Lacinak said the pseudorca was a perfect animal for the interaction program
with his grandmother because it is so unique and gentle. “Who knows, for
her 101st birthday maybe we’ll do the dolphins at Discovery Cove.”
THE LOOP is written and produced by Eric Minton, Minton Enterprises, LLC. To see more examples of Eric Minton's work and Minton Enterprises services, visit www.ericminton.com.
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