The Great Bend City Council Monday night approved permissions for the Wine in the Wild at Great Bend Brit Spaugh Zoo. These included serving alcohol within the gates of the zoo on Sept. 15, have city staff and zoo assistance for the event to have small animal encounters to showcase Great Bend and the zoo, and to be on the zoo grounds after hours for this ticketed fundraising event.

“The city administration, the Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Parks Department and the zoo staff hope to bring back the popular zoo fundraiser Wine in the Wild,” said Christina Hayes, CVB director and community coordinator. This event used to be hosted by the Zoological Society, but now staff would like to be able to “really make a bang for the buck” and help the zoo raise funds to help get some of the needed equipment.

“Our goal is to sell 250 tickets to this event, gain sponsors and expose the zoo in a positive way to help raise funds,” she said.

In 2015 and 2016, the society hosted the gathering. “It was a wonderful fundraiser for the zoo and the committee plans to bring this event back as a annual City/Zoo event,” Hayes said.

Rosewood Winery will obtain the appropriate permits and licenses to serve and sell the wine and The Spread Catering will make and serve the appetizers.

The committee made of Ashley Burdick, Hayes, Larami Klein and Michael Dawes will make sure that proper insurance coverage is obtained, all attendees will be checked to be sure they are 21 years of age, and live entertainment will be provided as well as a mixture of silent auction items to help raise additional funds.