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WALTZ on the Wild Side celebrates 20 years of entertaining patrons and raising funds for the Tulsa Zoo.
WALTZ always brings out a crowd to dine and dance the night away. More than 40 restaurants are participating in this year's event.
The Tulsa Zoo is celebrating 20 years of its annual fund-raiser, WALTZ (We All Love the Tulsa Zoo) on the Wild Side, with the help of those who put on the first black-tie event those many years ago.
“It was a really unique idea to go to the zoo in a tuxedo,” says co-chair Gae Bachle of the first WALTZ. “People thought that it probably wouldn’t work, but everyone was so intrigued and we had a fabulous turnout.”
That event, for which guests donned tuxedo jackets with animal-print ties and cummerbunds paired with safari shorts, began a tradition at the Tulsa Zoo.
Bachle and Kay Schermerhorn are this year’s event co-chairs — the pair also chaired the first WALTZ after Mary Collins, then Tulsa Zoo Friends’ executive director, asked them to devise a plan for a new fund-raiser.
Collins, the 2010 event’s honorary chair, had heard of black-tie events at other zoos around the country but didn’t know how Tulsans would respond to such an idea. Bachle and Schermerhorn set out to create a lasting event that people would want to revisit year after year.
Collins says that thanks to a large steering committee and the impressive turnout the first year, WALTZ has become the zoo’s largest fund-raiser. Collins says the event has grown from hosting 550 guests initially to maxing out the guest list at 1,500.
At WALTZ, more than 40 local restaurants offer small “taste bites,” Schermerhorn says. She says that the first year of the event, trying to encourage local restaurants to participate in this far-flung idea was a tough sell.
Musical entertainment is a highlight at any WALTZ, and this year The Stars and Earl Clark, who both performed at the first WALTZ, will be filling the air with musical hits.
One of the highlights of the event, according to Bachle and Schermerhorn, is that it attracts several age groups to the zoo for an evening of fun, food and dancing.
“It’s a place where young and old meet,” Bachle says, adding that the younger attendees and different restaurant options each year allow the event to be ever-evolving.
Each year the event has grown, and with its growth, the zoo expands and strengthens its services. WALTZ benefits one aspect of the zoo each year. Over the past 20 years, the event has raised money to support such endeavors as the Elephant Encounter Museum, Siamang Island, coral reef exhibit, Masaai Village, California sea lion exhibit, the African penguin exhibit and many others.
This year’s WALTZ will benefit the Asian cats. The zoo’s total campaign will include a new tiger exhibit, snow leopard exhibit, Komodo dragon exhibit and a new front entry.
New to WALTZ this year is a Family Patron VIP Party on June 3, which invites associate sponsors and above to spend an evening at the zoo with behind-the-scenes tours, activities, food and more.
More than anything, WALTZ organizers aim to entertain those who attend and create a lasting legacy at the zoo, Schermerhorn says.
“I think it’s the event that is the most fun to attend, both as an organizer and as a guest, in the city of Tulsa,” she says.
