A HOUSE RESOLUTION TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR HOLLYWILD ANIMAL PARK IN SPARTANBURG COUNTY FOR MORE THAN FOUR DECADES OF OUTSTANDING AND TIRELESS EFFORTS IN DEVELOPING THIS EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE FOR THE COMMUNITY AND TO COMMEND THE PARK’S RECENT ENTRANCE INTO AN INTERNATIONAL BREEDING PROGRAM AS PART OF ITS DEDICATION TO CONSERVATION AND SPECIES DIVERSITY. Whereas, in the 1950s, David Meeks and his parents, James and Daisy Meeks, began adding a collection of indigenous animals to their own farm animals in Holly Springs. When the Meeks family moved to a home on Hampton Road in Wellford in 1962, they already had acquired a cougar, a bob cat, raccoons, pheasants, as well as water fowl, goats, and horses; and Whereas, James Meeks applied for a USDA license in order to be able to share his animals, and in 1970, the family opened M & M Zoo by converting the in their backyard family’s private menagerie into a small zoo open to the public. When David and Lucia Meeks were married in 1985, they purchased one hundred percent of his of the zoo, including all land, animals, and home, parent’s portion dissolving M & M Zoo and forming a new business, Little Mountain Zoological Park; and Whereas, because the animals were being used in Hollywood productions, affording major funding for park development, the name was changed to Hollywild Animal Park in 1987. Hollywild receives no federal or state funding for operational support, but since 1999, it has enjoyed nonprofit status and is committed to providing an interactive and enlightening experience for visitors and an enriching and respectful environment for the animals; and
A HOUSE RESOLUTION TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR HOLLYWILD ANIMAL PARK IN SPARTANBURG COUNTY FOR MORE THAN FOUR DECADES OF OUTSTANDING AND TIRELESS EFFORTS IN DEVELOPING THIS EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE FOR THE COMMUNITY AND TO COMMEND THE PARK’S RECENT ENTRANCE INTO AN INTERNATIONAL BREEDING PROGRAM AS PART OF ITS DEDICATION TO CONSERVATION AND SPECIES DIVERSITY. Whereas, in the 1950s, David Meeks and his parents, James and Daisy Meeks, began adding a collection of indigenous animals to their own farm animals in Holly Springs. When the Meeks family moved to a home on Hampton Road in Wellford in 1962, they already had acquired a cougar, a bob cat, raccoons, pheasants, as well as water fowl, goats, and horses; and Whereas, James Meeks applied for a USDA license in order to be able to share his animals, and in 1970, the family opened M & M Zoo by converting the family’s private menagerie in their backyard into a small zoo open to the public. When David and Lucia Meeks were married in 1985, they purchased one hundred percent of his parent’s portion of the zoo, including all land, animals, and home, dissolving M & M Zoo and forming a new business, Little Mountain Zoological Park; and Whereas, because the animals were being used in Hollywood productions, affording major funding for park development, the name was changed to Hollywild Animal Park in 1987. Hollywild receives no federal or state funding for operational support, but since 1999, it has enjoyed nonprofit status and is committed to providing an interactive and enlightening experience for visitors and an enriching and respectful environment for the animals; and