November 2007
Weaving a Cultural Tapestry Supporting Milwaukee-area cultural institutions has been a priority for entrepreneur Richard Stevens for more than 20 years. That’s why he joined the Platypus Society. When Stevens started his first company in 1985, after previously working for General Electric, he and his business partner “were strongly committed to supporting public venues such as the Milwaukee Public Museum, the Milwaukee Art Museum, and the Milwaukee County Zoo. We would provide our employees access to these venues, which form the fabric, the tapestry, of our city and our culture,” says Stevens. “We always talk about the quality of life in the communities where we live. The Zoo is part of the quality of life here.” Stevens’ company, Medical Advances Inc., was sold in 1997 and folded into a larger corporation, and Stevens continued managing the medical-device division until 2002. That year he left and started his current company, Molecular Specialties. “We market in North America research instruments made by companies in Europe.” He’s president of the small company, which finds niche markets for specific instruments. Just as with his first company, he wanted to continue supporting Milwaukee’s cultural tapestry. “I feel very strongly about investing in institutions such as the Zoo,” he says. “When you walk into the Zoo, it’s just a different world. It’s a world beyond the neighborhood. We live in Wauwatosa, about a mile and a half from the Zoo. It’s truly a park. There are small forested areas, and then you see these natural habitats for the lions or the elephants. It’s not like everything is compressed into one small area. It was very well-planned, with natural landscaping. At the public museum, you can get overloaded with one exhibit after another. The way the Zoo is structured, you can walk for a while, see an exhibit, look at the lake, walk and see another exhibit, and walk some more.” Stevens and his wife, Linda, brought their two children to the Zoo when the kids were young. Maybe that’s how daughter Monica grew so interested in animals. She majored in biology in college, earned a master’s degree in environmental ecology and then a doctorate in zoology. Today she lives in Wauwatosa and teaches anatomy and physiology part time at Milwaukee Area Technical College. (Stevens’ son, Dan, is a chemical engineer in Minneapolis.) At age 20, Monica worked with birds of prey presentations at the Cleveland Metropolitan Zoo where Stevens’ nephew is a zookeeper. Visiting her in Cleveland convinced Richard Stevens of the teaching value of zoos.
“It’s very educational just going to the Zoo,” he says. His family also takes advantage of the education programs that the Zoological Society of Milwaukee (ZSM) runs at the Zoo. “Now we take my grandson, Antonio, who’s 4, and he loves the Zoo. He likes the elephants and the Dairy Barn.” Antonio (Monica’s son) has been going to the Zoo since age 2. “He has gone to several classes. I just took him to the one on zebras. Linda has taken him, also. It’s great exercise for us. He stops and looks at everything.” So not only has Stevens given to the Zoo and the ZSM, but he also has received the benefits of both. The ZSM’s Platypus Society is an even greater benefit because of the opportunity it offers to mingle with “like-minded people,” says Stevens, who became a Platypus member a year ago. At the Oct. 4 Platypus Society Awards Dinner, for example, he and Linda met Platypus members Gene and Becky Mallinger of Brookfield; Gene has a metal-fabricating company. They compared notes about running a business. It was another educational evening.
By Paula Brookmire
PLATYPUS SOCIETY STEERING COMMITTEE Robert Anger Paul Cadorin Dr. Bert Davis Richard Glaisner Mike Grebe Katherine Hust Karen Peck Katz Maria Gonzalez Knavel Joe Kresl James Kuehn Daniel F. McKeithan Jr. James McKenna Bernard J. Peck Joan Prince, Ph.D. John Sapp Andrew T. Sawyer Jr. (chairman) Judy Holz Stathas
DEVELOPMENT STAFF Beth W. Carona Vice President of Development Katie Hess Annual Giving & Events Coordinator Brooke Fellenz Development Assistant
NEWSLETTER STAFF
Cary Piggot Designer Richard Brodzeller Photographer
The Platy Press is a newsletter for members of the Platypus Society. The Platypus Society is the highest level, donor-member-recognition group in the Zoological Society of Milwaukee’s network of support. Members include about 360 area foundations, businesses and individuals contributing more than $600,000 annually with in-kind services and support. The Platy Press is published four times a year by the Zoological Society of Milwaukee, 1421 N. Water St., Milwaukee, WI 53202. www.zoosociety.org
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Paula Brookmire Editor & Writer Julia Kolker Writer
Barry Sattell (right) and Mike Sattell accepted an award honoring Sattell, Johnson, Appel & Co., S.C., for its outstanding support of the ZSM. Barry Sattell, the accounting firm’s president, serves as treasurer of the ZSM Board and has been active for 20 years in the Platypus Society. Mike Sattell is managing partner of the firm, which has sponsored the Platypus Society’s annual awards dinner since 2001. The company also purchases corporate tables at Zoo Ball, the ZSM’s largest annual fund-raiser. This award, a framed elephant footprint, is called the Loxodanta africana (the scientific name for the African elephant).
PlatyPress
Tom Schafer, president of Avitra LLC, accepted an award honoring the multimedia exhibit-production company for in-kind donations of equipment and time. The award, Tharlarctos maritimus, a framed polar bear footprint, recognizes Avitra for helping the ZSM’s Creative Department to develop interactive exhibits and artwork for the Zoo. In addition to its work, Avitra has given the ZSM discounts on services and products, and helped reduce costs through creative design. Some of Avitra’s projects at the Zoo include a video kiosk showing a giraffe being born, video installations in the Animal Health Center depicting animal care, and a video system and upgrade to the interactive cow in the Dairy Barn.
Platypus Awards Jill Pelisek was honored by the Zoological Society of Milwaukee (ZSM) with its top service award, the Emu Egg, on Oct. 4 at the 26th annual Platypus Society Awards Dinner. The award recognizes Pelisek (left) for her longtime support and dedication to the non-profit ZSM. Pelisek and her late husband, Jack, gave the lead gift for the renovation of Wolf Woods, the Milwaukee County Zoo’s timber-wolf exhibit. Pelisek also has served on the ZSM’s Board of Directors since 1999, and is currently on the finance and the strategic planning committees. She has been a member of the Platypus Society since 1995, and has donated to many Zoological Society annual appeals. The awards dinner was sponsored by Sattell, Johnson, Appel & Co, S.C. Guests enjoyed a gourmet dinner and musical entertainment by a string quartet from Milwaukee High School of the Arts. The evening also recognized award recipients shown here and two who were unable to attend: Milan and Gordana Racic, who were honored for their exceptional support of the ZSM’s conservation programs.
Laacke & Joys was honored with the Gorilla, gorilla, gorilla award for exceptional support of the ZSM’s conservation efforts. Bruce Wolfenberger, vice president of the company’s retail division, accepted the award, a framed gorilla footprint made by one of the Zoo’s gorillas. Laacke & Joys, a recreational equipment company, donates equipment to the ZSM’s conservation staff in Africa. The staff study and protect bonobos in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the ZSM has a conservation station. Laacke & Joys also donates supplies to Birds Without Borders-Aves Sin Fronteras®, the ZSM’s international bird research-education-conservation project. The company has been an in-kind member of the Platypus Society.
Platypus Society member Kaye Lynne Carpenter was honored with the Spheniscus humboldti award for outstanding individual service to the Zoological Society. The award was a framed footprint of a Humboldt penguin. Carpenter has been a member of Zoo Pride, the ZSM’s volunteer auxiliary, for more than 20 years. She has chaired nearly all of the Zoo Pride committees, has served on the Zoo Pride Board of Directors, and has put in nearly 10,500 volunteer hours at the Zoo. She also works as a tour guide, taking VIP visitors on behind the-scenes tours of the Zoo.
e Jo Sandin was honored with the Leontideus rosalia award, framed golden lion tamarin footprints, for “going above and beyond the call of duty” to the ZSM. Sandin donated hundreds of hours to write a book on bonobos, endangered great apes. The book, “Bonobos: Encounters in Empathy,” was published in 2007 by the ZSM and its partner, the Foundation for Wildlife Conservation, Inc. Book proceeds go to help the Zoo’s group of 20 bonobos and to support ZSM bonobo-conservation projects in Africa.
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U.S. Cellular and Kathy Hust, the company’s regional vice president of central operations, were honored for exceptional support of the ZSM’s conservation education programs. John Heimsch (right), U.S. Cellular’s director of marketing, accepted the award on Hust’s behalf and was congratulated by ZSM education director James Mills. The award, the Bubo virginianus, was a framed pair of children’s footprints. Through grants, U.S. Cellular supports programs such as Wisconsin Safari, which teaches children about Wisconsin animals, and Programs for Disadvantaged Youth, which gives students from Milwaukee-area youth centers the chance to attend classes and camps at the Zoo. U.S. Cellular also has provided funds for equipment to make the ZSM’s Animal Adaptations Lab, an interactive classroom, more accessible for disabled students. The company sponsors events such as the Zoo’s Halloween Trick-or-Treat Spooktacular, and has sponsored ZSM events such as Nights in June. Hust is a member of the Zoological Society Board, and the company is a member of the Platypus Society.
Zoological Society Development Office 1421 N. Water Street Milwaukee, WI 53202 Please remember the Zoological Society in your will or estate plan.
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New-Member Profile Company Name: Mandel Group, Inc. Address: 301 E. Erie Street, Milwaukee, WI 53202 Phone: (414) 347-3600 Web site: www.mandelgroup.com Barry Mandel, President
Nature of business/mission: Mandel Group is one of Milwaukee’s most active and most well-respected developers of condominiums, apartments, and neighborhood retail. With locations throughout the area and our new corporate offices in the Historic Third Ward, we invest in metro-Milwaukee. Company history: Mandel Group developments are distinguished by our attention to detail. Each development enhances the neighborhoods in which it is built. Many times we provide the missing pieces that complete the package – like public parks, river walks, and links to the lakefront, shops, and stores that make the city more livable.
Impact on Milwaukee and surrounding communities: Since the company’s inception, we’ve created over $500 million in new property values in Milwaukee and additional value in the suburbs with in-fill opportunities in village centers and downtowns of our suburban communities. We not only design, finance, and develop, but also build and manage the finished product. Our construction company ensures the best practices and best products are incorporated in every development. Our property management company’s singular mission is top service. We strive to do things that matter. Our approach is unique, but good things come from taking a new perspective. Why we joined the Platypus Society: It’s exciting to be a corporate member of the Platypus Society. It offers the Mandel Group another opportunity to give back to the community that we so firmly believe in and to support the nationally recognized Milwaukee County Zoo.
Calendar of Events Jan. 19, 2008 Zoological Society field trip to view bald eagles at Sauk City; 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.*
Jan. 20, 2008 Samson Stomp & Romp for the Zoo, sponsored by Gatorade and Pick ’n Save. Call (414) 256-5412 for information about corporate or group teams for this run and walk. Jan. 31 Puttin’ on the Ritz gourmet dinner and boxing fund-raiser for the Zoological Society. Call Melanie at (414) 258-2333 for an invitation.
Feb. 7 Wines and Beers of the World fund-raiser for the Zoological Society, sponsored by Wachovia Securities; 7-10 p.m., Milwaukee County Zoo.* Feb. 23 Beastly Bowl-a-Thon fund-raiser for the Zoological Society.* March 8 & 9 Behind the Scenes Weekend at the Zoo March 30 Feast for the Beasts Pancake Breakfast, a fund-raiser for the Zoological Society, sponsored by Tri City National Bank.*
At the Platypus Society Awards Dinner: Brookellen Teuber of Waukesha (right) and Laura Vogt of New Berlin attended this event on Oct. 4 at the Milwaukee County Zoo. Teuber, who is Jefferson County’s assistant district attorney, also serves on the Zoological Society’s Associate Board of Directors. Vogt is a corporate recruiter for Fiserv. See inside for award winners. *For more information, call (414) 258-2333 or go online at www.zoosociety.org.