620 E. Riverside Ave. • Decatur, IL 62521 • 217-422-5911 • www.decatur-parks.orgFebruary 2012

Customer Service Tip

Winter Keeps Scovill Zoo Busy

“What do you guys do all winter?” This is the most common question Scovill Zoo employees are asked this time of year. Well, let me tell ya, even though the zoo is closed, we are still very active during the winter. OfficeManagerKathyfinishedinven-tory a few weeks ago and this past week 66 boxes of gift shop merchandise ar-rived in time to be inventoried (again), sorted, priced and stocked. This time of year for the keepers is more challenging than the summer. They dress in layers to attend to the animals outside (petting zoo, camels, wolves, etc) and then have to start shedding layers as they attend the animals inside and then back outside again. If the snow gets too high, they use sleds to deliver hay and straw. In the office, we are talking aboutanimals , current exhibi ts , and future exhibits. Our “To Do” list is growing daily as the April 6th Opening Day inches ever closer. We do have two new animals on zoo grounds. We received an eagle from a rehab center in Quincy, Illinois last No-vember. This bird is missing the tips ofeachwingandcannotflytoohighoffthe ground. He will keep our current ea-gle “Abby” company. The person man-aging the ring-tailed lemur population in zoos recommended that we send out our male and receive a new male. This

WINTER AT THE ZOO

EMPLOYEE UPDATE

FIT TIP

by Ken Frye, Scovill Zoo

move is to help with the species’ genetic diversity. Our male will be heading to South Carolina and the new lemur came from Philadelphia. He will be easy to spot next spring due to the fact that he is missing part of his tail. Hopefully, this new male will be a suitable mate for our femalelemur.Wewillfindoutnextfallduring mating season. If the new male has that romantic charm, we will have a lemur baby in the spring of 2013.

February 11 & 18Golf Demo Days9 a.m. - 2 p.m.DISC Indoor Golf Center

February 11ValenDine5 - 10 p.m.Hickory Point Banquet

February 14Last Day for Wellness Challenge

February 20 Perform! Once On This Island Ticket Sales Begin

When answering the phone, please greet callers with a pleasant voice and helpful tone. Project a positive image for our organization and enthusiasm for your job. This will lay an excellent foundation for the rest of the call and ensure the best possible experience for the customer.

Mark Your Calendars!

Date Location Time 2/17 South Shores 4 - 6 p.m.2/24 Harris School 5 - 7 p.m.2/25 DISC 10 a.m. - noon3/02 Oak Grove 4 - 6 p.m.3/03 DISC 10 a.m. - noon3/09 Baum School 4 - 6 p.m.

The Decatur Youth Baseball & Softball League is for boys aged 4 - 14 and girls aged 4 - 15. For more information call Steve Fox at 429-3472.

2012 Registration Information

age. This number will give you your max heart rate. Because you want most of your workouts in your target

heart rate zone, multi-ply your max heart rate by .65 and .85. These numbers are 65% and 85% of your maximum heart rate. Here is the simple calculation for a 30 year old person:

Remember your range the next time you are on a piece of cardio equip-ment to see if you are maximizing your workouts!

Here’s to You...Park Notes February 2012Fit Tip with Samantha: Too Hard a Workout?According to the CDC, adults need to do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity every week. Moderate-intensityactivity is difficult,but an individual can still form sentences during exercise. Vig-orous-intensity ac-tivity is themost difficult, causing aperson to break after a couple of words in a sentence to take a breath.

How hard are you working out? If you want the most benefit duringyour workouts, try to stay in your heart rate zone. To calculate your target heart rate zone, take 220 minus your

Customer Service NomineesThe customer service nominees for December were Henry Denton, Jim Phil-lips, Mike Schleifenbaum, Brad Yetter and the Young Park Singers.

The “Pride of the Park Winners” for the month of December are the Young Park Singers.MeganMooneywasoutshoppingwhenoneofourspecialrec-reation participants saw her. Immediately knowing who she was, he told her that his birthday was over the weekend and that she and the Young Park Singers were invited to his party.Aftermaking arrangements,Megan and theYoungPark Singers stopped by the birthday party and sang Happy Birthday and a few Christmas carols. The young man was very excited about the special visit. The YoungParkSingerswillreceivea$25giftcertificatefortheircustomerserviceefforts.ThankyouMeganandtheYoungParkSingersforgoingaboveandbe-yond to put a smile on the faces of our special recreation participants!

ValenDineSwing NightAre you looking for a special place to celebrate Valentine’s Day? Treat your date to the Park District’s ValenDine Swing Night! Enjoy a romantic evening of dinner and dancing featuring the Sande Hackel Orchestra at the Hickory Point Banquet Facility on Satur-day, February 11. Employees can enjoy the buffet dinner and dance for only $30 per couple or $15 per individual.

Reservations are due by Wednes-day, February 8. Call 422-5911 today!

AnniversariesEmployee anniversaries during the month of February include: Roger Chaney, Mechanic (10 years), Ken Frye, Zoo (3 years),Amanda Hall, Zoo (10 years), Kurt Rogers, Red Tail Run (8 years), Carol Smith, DISC (1 year), Phil Tapscott, Admin (3 years), Kathy Winter, Zoo (9 years), andAron Wisley, Red Tail Run (14 years).Congratulations!

Birthdays02/06 KentWinchester,Zoo02/14 MichaelSchleifenbaum, Mechanics02/19 EliasStein,Marketing02/20 Sean Gremo, Zoo

The 2011 employee of the year is Scovill Zoo’s Nicole Zinn! All nominees for the year 2011 were eligible for the end of the year drawing which was chosen randomly. Nicole will receive a $100 Visa gift card. Congratulations Nicole and thank you to all of you who were chosen monthly as Customer Service nominees!

ValenDine Evening Cocktails 5 - 6 p.m. Dinner 6 - 7 p.m. Dancing 7 - 10 p.m.

• 220 - 30 = 190• 190 x .65 = 123.5• 190 x .85 = 161.5

Employee of the Year!