Sarah King cuddles a Pygmy goat kid tha t will be on display for the Baby Animal Days drive thru Saturday April 1 through April 4.
WELLSVILLE – America West Heritage Center, located at 4025 S. Hwy 89-91 in Wellsville, will hold their Baby Animal Days a little differently this year due to the global pandemic. The event scheduled for April 1-4 was changed to a drive thru event because COVID-19 threw a wrench into the long -standing spring tradition.
The event was originally canceled, but it got new life when the organization took a new look on how to conform to Utah Governor Gary Herbert’s requests to practice social distancing while holding on to something so well liked by the public.
The center is hoping to capitalize on kids and parents going stir crazy from being homebound for the past few weeks.
“When the effects of the shutdown hit we were gearing up for the regular Baby Animal Days,” Wendy King, the front desk manager, said. “When the virus thing hit we had to downsize and let all but a skeleton staff go.”
The folks at the center recently found a creative way to keep the long-standing tradition alive.
“We found another organization going through the same thing and we followed their lead,” she said. “After passing the idea past the Bear River Health Department, and getting their okay, we went to work and changed things.”
They are still holding the well-liked spring attraction, but they are changing the way it is done and hoping people will support it.
“Families will be able to drive thru and look out of their car windows to see baby bears, lambs, piglets, calves, kids, foals chicks and ducklings,” she said. “The animals will be contained in pens as close to the road as we can feasibly get them.”
No one will be able to leave their cars or touch the animals.
“We are anticipating the tour will last 25 minutes,” King said. “We want people to schedule a time on line so we can regulate the cars as they go through so they don’t bunch up.”
“The public restrooms will be closed and there will be no concessions sold,” she added. “We hope to hold regular animal days in May if things get better.”
King said if families have binoculars they might want to bring them. They hope people will try to drive though slowly to see everything there is to see.
Cost will be $20 per vehicle and the need to have seat belts for every passenger in their car.
This is generally the biggest fundraising event of the year for the non-profit organization, King said.
For more information about Baby Animal Days go to their website: awhc.org.