Volume 3, No. 17. September 12,2003
New Arrivals
It’s
an eagle exhibit!
Knoebels Amusement
Resort in Elysburg, Pennsylvania, announces the arrival of two American bald
eagles, August 22, 2003. Measurements: two eagles, two rooms, one of them off-exhibit.
Long, long time ago, Knoebels had a petting zoo. The arrival of two bald eagles
named Henry and Hattie after the park’s founders is the first time Knoebels
has had live animals on display in at least 25 years.
Knoebels got back into the animal exhibiting business by mere happenstance.
A veterinarian in Florida knows Page Knoebels, cousin of park President Dick
Knoebels. Both the vet and cousin have an interest in animal rescue. The vet
had the two eagles which, due to injuries, could not return to the wild. He
happened to see a feature about Knoebels on the Discovery Channel, and when
he ascertained the connection between his friend and the park, he decided Knoebels
needed eagles.
“I think that had we thought about it as getting into the animal business,
we would have had trepidations,” said Joe Muscato, Knoebels’ marketing
director. “But it was more like, ‘Oooh, eagles!’ This ia a patriotic
family with the Iwo Jima monument replica in the park, and these were birds
that needed a home. This just seemed the right thing to do.”
Nevertheless, it was a complicated thing to do because of strict permit procedures
the park had to go through with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The eagles
must be displayed to provide an educational opportunity to the public—“We’ll
build this into our school outings,” Muscato said—and the public must
have unimpeded access to view the raptors. This requirement caused a hiccup
in the process because Knoebels is an amusement park; Muscato said the park
had a hard time convincing federal agents that every bit of the pay-as-you-ride
park is unimpeded.
Meanwhile, with direction from a Pennsylvania raptor club, Dick Knoebels himself
went to work on the exhibit itself. When it was done, club members looked at
the rock and tree strewn exhibit in astonishment. “They said, ‘You
needed to build a habitat; you didn’t have to build the best one in the
world, but that’s OK,’” Muscato recalled. Even at the official
welcoming ceremony August 22, featuring local officials and state representatives,
Knoebel could not help pointing out his special brand of craftsmanship: “The
cables you see supporting the structure are from the 16-car Elie Ferris wheel
we’re not using anymore,” he told the crowd “in typical Dick
fashion,” Muscato said.
The exhibit’s draw, of course, are Henry and Hattie. “From that moment
(of the opening ceremony), a steady stream of people will wander up and look,”
Muscato said. “People really get excited about it. People really just like
seeing these two eagles up close and personal.”
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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