April 30, 2008 12:57 pm
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There’s a new word that has come to the forefront in the travel and vacation industry in the last few years. It’s called togethering. It’s a term used for vacationing with one’s extended family or friends.
Typically, it means vacationing or visiting a location in which the adults can relax and have their entertainment together while the kids, nearby, can have theirs.
The term and idea of togethering isn’t new.
An October 2003 press release from Walt Disney World used the term to announce the company’s “Magical Gatherings” program.
The term was actually trademarked in November 2003 by the travel marketing firm Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell (YPBR).
But neither group can claim invention; that distinction is thought to belong to musicians Kenny Burrell and Grover Washington Jr., who, in 1985, first used the word in their jazz album Togethering.
According to YPBR, statistics show that families plan to take more vacation time in the vicinity of their homes this year as there continues to be an emphasis on family following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Eight in 10 of their respondents said they planned to vacation with extended family or friends – togethering – a trend on the increase.
Few attractions in the state can offer families a better chance for togethering than the North Carolina Zoo, particularly with the park’s upcoming spring ZooFling, an array of events from a Mother’s Day weekend to Earth Day celebrations to a major new exhibit renovation and opening.
The fun starts this weekend and continues through May 10-11.
Recently, the zoo was listed as the third most visited attraction among North Carolina’s public and private museums and historic sites.
It’s the first time the zoo, as a state agency, has been included in the annual survey.
In the survey, conducted by Carolina Publishing Associates of Matthews, the zoo followed the Biltmore House in Asheville and Charlotte’s Discovery Place.
The zoo’s high finish had much to do, undoubtedly, with its highest visitor attendance in 10 years and the fourth largest attendance since its opening.
“It’s gratifying to have someone independent of the zoo confirm what we know – that the zoo is consistently one of the state’s top tourist attractions,” said Rod Hackney, the zoo’s public relations manager.
Topping this year’s new exhibits and events at the zoo is the opening of the park’s $8.5 million Watani Grasslands Reserve, an expansion and improvement project for the zoo’s African elephants and southern white rhinoceros, along with changes to the adjoining African Plains exhibit for antelope.
These improvements have enabled the zoo to increase its collection to seven elephants and nine rhinos, dramatically improving the zoo’s ability to breed both species and placing the zoo at the forefront of the effort to sustain a viable captive population of both species.
Zoo guests this spring will also be treated to “Feast of the Beast,” April 12, when guests can meet keepers and discover the secrets to animal appetites, care and wild lifestyles.
On April 19 and 20, the zoo celebrated Earth Day, which will include arts and creative programs, games, “green” talks and demonstrations, entertainment, costumed characters and demonstrations of the zoo’s use of biofuels for its vehicles and equipment.
The park will close out April with “Creature Comforts,” Saturday, April 26, an opportunity for visitors to meet keepers, who will talk about animal enrichment at the zoo. The zoo continues its togethering opportunities in May with the celebration of “Birds & Blooms,” May 10 and 11.
In addition to Mother’s Day activities, with discounted admission for moms, the park will celebrate the annual International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD) and will feature the park’s more than 30,000 plants.
So, together at the N.C. Zoo in April and May – and throughout the year – for one of the state’s best attractions and entertainment bargains and one of the nation’s great zoos.
Tom Gillespie lives in Trinity and is a journalist and public affairs specialist at the N.C. Zoo. For more information on the zoo’s plant and animal collections, special events and education programs, go to their Web site at www.nczoo.org
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