After
so many requests and with the help of our friend and neighbor, Emily
Moreland, we agreed to open the doors to GH one time only … in 2007, at
least. We charged $50 per person for a personal tour of the GH facility by
Steuart and I, which included meeting Joe and Oliver. This fee also included
my home baked chocolate chip cookies, which I only do occasionally. By charging, not only
did we raise much needed funds, but it also meant the people were really
interested in what we were doing, and not just looking for a way to pass the
time. We made some new friends and it was a great success. We had to limit it to a small enough group to manage, but we raised enough to make it worthy of considering repeating in the future. One local paper ran an ad for free including a photo of Oliver and despite the challenges – (it’s a good hike to see the facility) our guests seemed to enjoy it, as evidenced by one neighbor who put up photos and video and his impressions in a blog, dated 20Aug07. Or, Google "Blue Ridge, GA + Gorilla Haven blog" and you should find it.