Sunday, March 15, 2009

Gee Gee's albums. #3


Scan11227, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Posted by Buckles at 3/15/2009 06:31:00 AM

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The trainer is Archie Brand with one of his "Sparky's". (I "borrowed" the canteen holder fish pouch from him.) Archie had a show for years at the Como Park Zoo in St. Paul, MN and a great sport show act. He got into sea lions when he brought some as an attraction for his gas station in Carthage, MO (also the home of Marlin Perkins). He was an intuitive trainer that got great results with sea lions.

I met him when I first started working with sea lions. He and his wife Alli came over to the Zoo and he introduced himself -- a nice, quiet man who looked like he had a successful gas station on Route 66. That night we went to the sport show and I was amazed at what he a Sparky could do -- a great act. He had a heart attack a few years later and retire and his step-son took the act over.

He was a friend of Johnny Herriott, don't know how they met.

15 March, 2009 07:36
Chris Grieder said...

The show still goes on at Como Zoo in St Paul, MN but now one of the zookeepers does more of a educational act. After his step-son did the act for many years his step-sons daughter did it for a while and then moved on to other ventures. I have lost track of how many "Sparkys" have done the act.

15 March, 2009 21:24
Anonymous said...

Spark the Sea Lion was a big deal at Como Park. They flew the American flag, the Minnesota flag, and the Sparky flag.

Archie also had the feeder fish concession at the big sea lion exhibit. "You can give them the act if you get a good deal on the fish concession."

16 March, 2009 06:50

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