and offered to help out free of charge. He wound up becoming interim director, and then was picked to be executive director. “How can a caterer run a zoo?” Mr. Zone says. “I believe in giving people experiences. I believe in interaction. I have a people background, and I feel what I learned about people and business management, I can apply to any job.” His love for his hometown also helps. “My passion for the town made me successful in running the zoo, because I think the zoo is really important to Norristown,” Mr. Zone says. Some people have an old-fashioned view of zoos, thinking of them as “animals in cages,” he says. But modern zoos are about promoting conservation and preservation of endangered species, as well as providing education and entertainment. Elmwood Park Zoo is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. “My greatest accomplishment is that we are touching people with education. We are creating champions of conservation,” Mr. Zone says. “We like to say, ‘A healthy planet, a healthy zoo, a healthy you.’” The zoo is small, only about 16 acres, but it is home to more than 100 species, including zebras, red pandas, and bald and golden eagles. Mr. Zone has had many memorable moments there. One Al Zone Creating champions for animals Al Zone has fond memories of the Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown. When he was growing up in that community, his grandfather would take him to the zoo after school every day until his parents came home from work. “It developed my love for the zoo, which then translated into my love for animals,” Mr. Zone says. “A lot of my upbringing had to do with Elmwood Park Zoo.” Never as a kid did he think that one day he would be the zoo’s executive director. Mr. Zone went to college to study the hospitality industry. He liked to cook and started a catering business, a service that provides food and beverages at large events. He also managed a golf course. By chance, Mr. Zone was on his way to a catering job one day in 2010 when he heard on the radio that the Elmwood Park Zoo would have to close if it couldn’t repay $400,000 in debt. “I was really upset,” he says. He called the zoo 24