31 Days of Halloween: Brookfield Zoo

Tuesday, October 25 2016 00:00

31 Days of Halloween: Brookfield Zoo - Boo! at the Zoo

Written by James Zahn

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31 Days of Halloween: Brookfield Zoo - Boo! at the Zoo

As we head into the last weekend before Halloween, families in the Chicago area that are looking for some not-so-scary, but definitely fun-filled adventure should head out to Brookfield Zoo for the return of the annual Boo! at the Zoo. Presented by Chicago's own Ferrara Candy Company, Boo! at the Zoo kicked off this past weekend, and will showcase fun events from 10am-4pm on October 29 & 30, 2016. Sharing the goodness with the local community, the folks at Ferrara have donated more than 10,000 pounds of candy, and have provided more than 300 volunteers to aid the Brookfield Zoo staff in making this spooktacular event a memorable one, with trick-or-treat stations located throughout the zoo, and plenty of fun photo opps as well! But that's not all...

In the spirit of giving back, Ferrara Candy Company is sponsoring 400+ neighbors with complimentary admission and transportation to Boo! at the Zoo. Our family had the opportunity to visit the zoo to check out a special "Animal Encounter" that was being presented as part of the Ferrara event to guests from a local park district. There we learned about Georgette - who, at 37, is one of the oldest living Turkey Vultures in the world!

A photo posted by James Zahn (@therockfather) on Oct 23, 2016 at 8:39am PDT

While the overall vibe of being at Brookfield Zoo while seeing it fully decked-out for fall and Halloween was awesome, one unexpected bonus to an autumn visit was something we'd not previously considered as frequent summer visitors to the zoo... how active and lively the animals are. Often times, we've visited the zoo on very hot days where the animals were just sunning themselves or trying to cool off. During an October visit, we saw giant bears playfully swimming... sea lions chasing each other from water to land and barking like pups... a full wolf pack awaiting their feeding... and meerkats, monkeys and gorillas celebrating Halloween. And how do they celebrate? With pumpkins, of course!

Zoo Collage

We also managed to catch one of the best dolphin shows we've ever seen, took a season-ending ride on the carousel, and The Rock Daughters™ were able to trick-or-treat early, scoring all kinds of sweet treats, like Trolli, Now & Later, Lemonheads, Black Forest Organic and more.

Ferrara Candy Company - Boo! at the Zoo

For a full schedule of Boo! at the Zoo activities, check out czs.org/Boo. Thanks to Ferrera Candy Company for inviting us to take part!

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James Zahn

James Zahn is best-known as The Rock Father™, a media personality, commentator, adventurer and raconteur. He is the Owner, Publisher, and Editor-in-Chief of THE ROCK FATHER™ Magazine. In January, 2019, after nearly a decade of publishing The Rock Father™ Magazine, he joined Adventure Media and Events as Senior Editor of The Toy Book—the leading trade publication for the toy industry since 1984, as well as The Pop Insider — a destination for all things pop culture, and The Toy Insider — the leading consumer guide for toys and games. He is also editor of The Toy Report, a weekly newsletter published by The Toy Book each Thursday. Zahn has over 27 years of experience in the entertainment, retail and publishing industries.

He regularly serves as a Brand Ambassador and spokesperson for several Globally-recognized pop culture and lifestyle brands in addition to consulting for a number of toy manufacturers.

Creatively, James has directed/edited music videos, lyric videos, and album trailers for bands such as FEAR FACTORY, has appeared as an actor in feature films and commercials, written comic books, and performed in bands. He currently serves as an artist manager and video director for PRODUCT OF HATE, whose debut album was released by Napalm Records in 2016, distributed by ADA/Warner Music in the U.S. with Universal Music handling global. A new album has been completed and is set for release this year.

Zahn and/or his work have been featured in/on CNN, NBC, ABC, WGN, CBS, GCTN, G4, The Chicago Tribune, Forbes, MarketWatch, Reuters, BusinessWire, Fangoria, Starlog and more. He's appeared as a music expert on CNN's AC360 alongside Anderson Cooper, and has been interviewed by Larry King. In the past he served as a writer for the Netflix Stream Team, Fandango Family and PBS KIDS, penned articles for Sprout and PopSugar, and was a contributor to Chicago Parent.

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