Thursday, January 28, 1999
Adopt a lizard, say 'I love you'
BY JIM KNIPPENBERG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Oh mercy, here's something that gets us fevered up: Scaly skin and a fleshy flap hanging from the chin.
Pant.
That's what the zoo is counting on: That you'll pant enough to adopt an iguana.
It's the annual Valentine's Day A.D.O.P.T. (Animals Depend on People Too) deal, says zoo spokesman Chad Yelton, wherein they suggest you adopt an animal for a loved one. Instead of giving candy or something that goes to the hips.
In exchange for $40 (it goes to care and feeding), you get a picture of said animal, fact sheet, certificate of adoption and, if you adopt an iguana, a bean bag iguana.
There are about 150 animals available, Yelton says, including elephants, gorillas, leopards, polar bears, a walrus, chimps and, for true romantics, a poison dart frog.
Zoo director Ed Maruska adopted a frog last year for his Valentine; two years ago, it was an anteater.
Pretty mushy, eh?
Traditionally, Yelton says, flamingos are one of the most popular — “probably because of their color,” he guesses. Madagascar love birds are big because they mate for life; any species of love bird goes well too. As do big cats and elephants.
But some people are, well, strange. Like the guy (whose name zoo folk won't reveal) who always adopts a black widow spider for the missis. Or the guy who adopts a Jacob sheep, a breed with two, four or six horns.
SING IT: Oh, so that's how former Cincinnatian Ron Bohmer got the lead in Broadway's Scarlet Pimpernell. People prayed a lot.
That from Mary Jo Katona, producer of the Back to Broadway series. “I knew he was up for it,” Katona said, “so I had the cast pray for him every night onstage. I figure it's 3,000 prayers.”
Guess the prayers didn't hurt, but we're pretty sure Bohmer got the role because of what he does: Sings plenty well. The 1979 School for the Creative and Performing Arts grad was here in Sunset Boulevard in '96. He was also the Phantom in Phantom of the Opera and did Les Miz,too.
He goes in to Pimpernell sometime in March.
But first: He's here Saturday to sing with Back to Broadway, the west side-based revue of a zillion show tunes. It's a benefit for the AIDS hospice Caracole.
CALM DOWN, BETSY: Meanwhile, off in the sweaty world of sports, a couple of local broadcasters who made good are popping up in a new book.
Like former Channel 5 news anchor Betsy Ross, a k a Betsy the Bruiser. Or Dan Patrick, formerly of Mason, coming out of the car racing closet. Or Jason Jackson formerly of Evendale, explaining why he's not a ball player.
We found it in Did You Know? (Howie Schwab and Shelley Youngblut, Hyperion; $12.95).
Ross, an ESPN anchor, lives here and commutes to the Bristol, Conn., studio, racking up frequent flier miles by the zillions.
She pops up in the “Personnel Files” section, explaining the abrupt end of her high school basketball career.
Seems she was in a heated game of one-on-one with her mom. It was so heated that, even though basketball isn't that much of a contact sport, mother Ross ended up with a bloody nose.
Because, young Ross explains, “she was driving the lane; what was I supposed to do?”
Patrick, meanwhile, admits that he's a “proud member of the (race car driver) Dick Trickle fan club.” Then there's Jackson, who admits he's a better drummer than ball player but, being an Ohioan, loves football anyway.
Psst! appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Have an item to report? Call Jim Knippenberg at 768-8513; fax: 768-8330.
Psst! appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Have an item to report? Call Jim Knippenberg at 768-8513; fax: 768-8330.
KNIPPENBERG ARCHIVE