Josh: We’re actually transplants from Boston. As soon as we moved here, we needed to kind of re-find our favorite places. Our affinity for the Minnesota Zoo grew pretty quickly, as a consequence of the early pandemic days. My wife and I got tickets during a daytime visit, just to go for a walk somewhere different and fun. I think after that we realized that we wanted to have a relationship with the Zoo. We knew pretty quickly that there was more to this place than just a place to take our child to see animals.

So then, fast-forward, as the Zoo’s approach to the pandemic matured, we were visiting more, and it became one of our favorite places to go. And as our child was getting older, her appreciation for the Zoo grew as well. It wasn’t just ‘ooh, aah, animal,’ there was learning to be done. There were cool experiences to be had at the Zoo. So that helped us a lot as well, and I think that’s the most direct line to the Treetop Trail involvement, which is that we plan on being Zoo members for a while and continuing our daughter’s love of animals. When we saw the Treetop Trail opportunity, my imagination started to spin. What if we helped with this and had a little bit of a legacy to leave here?

We’d donated to the Zoo before either through memberships or one-offs. At the end of the day, I wanted something that my daughter could see and getting at the donor level where her name could be on a sign. I could imagine seeing her being old enough to appreciate that someday. Then I went looking for the level where there’s an inscription involved. For our first big legacy gift, that felt like a safe amount of money for us. It was the right level for the perks and what we could reasonably afford to do in the short term.

As Josh’s daughter grows, she’ll grow with the Treetop Trail, experiencing the fun and educational programming she’s come to love at the Minnesota Zoo on its newest attraction. And further, she’ll be able to look back at the gift her parents gave in her honor — and the gift they helped provide to Minnesotans.

Andy: My son went into the U.S. Marine Corps right out of high school, and unfortunately, in 2011, he took his own life. Debbie and I regularly visit Ian over there at the Fort Snelling Cemetery, but when we heard about the Treetop Trail, what occurred to me was, “I’d love to have someplace other than a cemetery headstone to go and remember my son.”

I’m absolutely enthralled with all the ideas and all the possibilities that the Trail allows. I’ve asked for my son, Ian, and my daughter and two grandchildren’s names to be put on the leaf rather than anything to me, because this really isn’t a donation for a legacy for myself. I want to make it for my kids and grandkids. Looking back at the fond memories I have of my kids growing up and going to the Zoo, plus now the grandkids, this was just absolutely perfect, and we love the opportunity to support the Treetop Trail and to have a little brass leaf on the wall that the grandkids can point to, and my daughter and I can point to for her brother and my son. It’s just going to be a really positive thing.

As you look to the future, what are you most looking forward to on the Trail?

Debbie: Walking around with two very small children, their sightlines are quite low, which is why the crawl-through spaces and the bear cave are lovely. But when they get bigger and they can’t fit into those, then they can be up on the Trail and look down and see those areas that you don’t otherwise. I look forward to it. Whilst I can remember going to zoos as a child myself, it’s somewhat dim and distant. But now I see the joy on their faces, and the joy of seeing it was different from last time they went to the Zoo. It’s the unexpected — it’s the excitement in them. That’s what I see coming in the future and look forward to most.