Putt for Penguins 2013

WOW! We just had our 3rd annual Putt for Penguins fundraiser event yesterday (May 11th) at Boone Links Golf Course in Florence, KY. It was a great success and a lot of fun! The WAVE Foundation has a few different fundraiser events throughout the year to raise money for our conservation and education programs, but Putt for Penguins is one of my favorite! It is probably my favorite because our African black-footed penguins get to enjoy the event, too. We have 8 African penguins at the Newport Aquarium, and yesterday we brought 2 of them to the golf course to meet the golfers (their names are Simon and Green Bean). We confused a lot of people by having a penguin out in 65 degree temperatures, but our African penguins loved the warmer weather! They are native to the beaches of South Africa and LOVE the sun and the sand. They can actually take temperatures over 100 degrees and be perfectly happy! This always surprises people, but it makes sense! I love how excited people get when they see the penguins for the first time. You can't help but laugh at a penguin that is waddling around. It is events like these that are a lot of fun, but for a good cause.

We had a great turn out for this year's Putt for Penguins. We had 22 teams with 4 golfers on each team. Bengals great David Fulcher even joined us for the event and one of the prizes for the golf competition was a piece of penguin art signed by him (in black and orange colors, of course!).

We also had a lot of other animals besides the penguins at the golf course. We had an American alligator, red-tailed boa, African pygmy hedgehog and an Indian star tortoise as well. All these animals did a great job meeting the golfers and showing off their unique characteristics!

Aquarium staff (and volunteers) David (left) and Caleb (middle) were in charge of the red-tailed boa at the Putt for Penguins event this year. I snuck in the picture, too at the last minute.




The top right picture below is a group of golfers from the Newport Aquarium. Including the Executive Director of the Aquarium, Eric Rose (far left). The penguin in this picture is Simon. The bottom right picture shows David Fulcher with me and Simon. The bottom left is a picture of Green Bean the penguin checking out the Putt for Penguins sponsor sign on the course. And finally, the top right picture shows me with Green Bean taking a picture at one of the holes.