Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo Celebrates Centennial Year with “Wild About Reading”

Children Invited to 23 Area Libraries on June 18 to Search Books on Bears for 500 Hidden Prizes
 
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – June 8, 2022 – Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo Director Gregg Dancho announced today that something sweet is coming to area libraries: a ferociously fun way to win prizes at the Zoo while supporting literacy and reading. To celebrate the opening of a new Andean bear habitat along with the Zoo’s 100th birthday, the Zoo is sponsoring 500 sweet prizes designed as “Pots of Honey. Libraries in 16 towns throughout the area are participating in the giveaways.

Prizes to include:

• Five hundred “Honey Pot” prizes hidden in children’s books
• Yearlong family membership
• Free passes –both four packs and individual
• Free plush toys
• Zoo Adoption Kits
• Discounts at the Zoo gift shop
• Ice Cream Cones
• Carousel Rides
• Two Grand Prizes: One Free Child’s Birthday Party at the Zoo—and a ZOOMOBILE VISIT to a child’s classroom.

 
On Saturday, June 18, children and their families are invited to the libraries to search through books on bears, both fiction and non-fiction, in the children’s book departments.  Libraries participating in the “Pot of Honey” search are in the following towns: Trumbull, Wilton, Milford, Weston, New Canaan, Monroe, Stratford, Easton, two branches in Fairfield, Danbury, Cheshire, Beacon Falls, Seymour, both branches in Shelton, Hamden, and all five branches in Bridgeport.
 
The Zoo’s official birthday celebration is scheduled for Saturday, June 25th. Also, later this summer, the Zoo’s newest habitat for Andean bears, (Tremarctos ornatus) will open.  The spacious habitat features a landscaped outdoor yard with multiple opportunities for climbing and engaging in social behaviors. 
 
“We’re unbearably excited to offer our ‘Wild About Reading’ prize search to area children,” Zoo Director Gregg Dancho said.  “Educating children about wild animals and wild places is core to our mission and celebrates our 100thbirthday by encouraging a love for reading and wildlife.”