Farewell, old friends

Dear Editor,

Like a number of circus fans and people who enjoy seeing elephants perform or visit zoos that have them, I am sad.

Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus is phasing them out after 200 years. For me it is like saying farewell to some old friends.

When I was about 5 years old a young recent high school graduate from Nebraska lived with our family in Denver.

In exchange for helping my mother with household chores, she was given free room and board. She also baby sat me.

Her boyfriend briefly worked for Ringling Brothers Circus helping care for the elephants. They took me to see the circus. After it was over I got to see one of the elephants up close. I petted it.

Elephant skin is thick, but tender. It felt soft like velvet to me.

Like many other residents of Denver I visited the City Park Zoo many times.

I always spent time at the elephant compound watching those gentle giants.

They were Asian elephants whose ancestors lived in India, Cambodia, Ceylon, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

When I was a student at the University of Denver I worked at a community center with children who were under-privileged. We took them for a picnic lunch and a visit to Denver's City Park Zoo.

A baby elephant that was given the name of "Cookie" was a favorite attraction. The kids and adults loved her. Sadly, some sick person fed her ground glass and she died a tragic death.

Belle Fonfies, an owner of the Denver Post, left a large sum to the city park elephant compound for major improvements.

In Nebraska, the Omaha Zoo has a special group of elephants.

At least a dozen circuses in the U.S. still have elephant acts. It is difficult to move elephants to different locations, however.

Like many others I feel very sad about the future of the elephants, even if they are sent to a 200-acre center in Florida by Ringling brothers.

Helen Ruth Arnold,

Trenton, Neb.