Zoo leader named MAN OF THE YEAR

Al Zone, executive director of Elmwood Park Zoo, (center) is flanked by officers of Norristown’s Madonna del Soccorso di Sciacca (MSS) Lodge, from left: Dave Carpani, Richard Catanese, Charles J. Tornetta and William J. Griffin III, during the lodge’s Man of the Year Banquet in April. More than 250 people turned out at the banquet to see Zone honored for his accomplishments at the zoo, including growing its audience from 100,000 visitors a year in 2011 to more than a million this year. The zoo, now celebrating 100 years, has been undergoing a $30 million project to rebuild its entrance and add a state-of-the-art animal hospital. Zone’s vision is to make the zoo a sustainable Norristown destination that will endure for another century.