Rich on the Road

Photographer Rick Smith and I were Lone Star Adventuring today at Gainesville's Frank Buck Zoo.  It's a neat little zoo, that's re-opened after major remodeling and doubled in size.  If you live north of DFW it's a great place to take the kids -- but what really drew me there is the history behind the place.  What a fascinating story it is.

The fascinating history part is two-fold:

Gainesville Community Circus - From the late 1920s to the late 1950s Gainesville was known as Circus Town USA.  Circus professionals wintered in town and trained amatuers in circus skills.  It was the brainchild of a local newspaperman that turned the whole town into circus performers -- that traveled the southwest giving performances in the summer.  When the circus folded some of the animals -- elephant, monkeys, birds -- went into the zoo.  Wonderful stills and film from the era will be folded into the TV piece I produce along with an interview with one of the surviving performers -- Evelyn Walker who starred in the trapeze act.  At 75 she remains delightfully young at heart and we had a blast visiting with her today.

Frank Buck - The man the zoo is named after is another fascinating and largely forgotten story.  Before Marlin Perkins, before Jack Hannah, before the Crocodile Hunter there was Frank "Bring 'em Back Alive" Buck.  He was a pioneer of the whole zoo industry.  In the late 1920s he began capturing and transporting tigers and elephants and other exotic animals and supplying them to zoos all across America. By the 40's he was a huge celebrity with books and popular movies.  Buck was born in Gainesville and would occasionally act as ringmaster for the Community Circus.  The zoo now has a Frank Buck exhibit room with DVDs of his movies, artifacts from his animal capturing days, books, photographs, etc.

I'll tie it all together for a story that will air two Sundays from now in the 9pm news.  Should be fun.

One other note -- we found a great little restaurant for lunch, Sarah's on the Square -- on the corner of California and Commerce just north of the courthouse.  Check it out.

Rich