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Saturday, September 8, 2007
Mei Lan unfazed by city honors
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Imagine you’re the type of local luminary who can’t get through any restaurant in town without stopping to shake hands and slap backs. Despite the demands for your time, you’re up bright and early on a Saturday to preside over a much-anticipated ceremony.
And the guest of honor naps through the whole thing.
If you’re Sam Massell, former mayor and tireless booster of Atlanta, and the honoree is Mei Lan, famous baby panda, you grin and bear it.
Massell, whose many affiliations include the Native Atlantans Club, joined fellow members at the zoo Saturday morning to claim Mei Lan as one of their own.
“She’s a native Atlantan,” Massell said during the brief event. “She will always be, no matter where she lives.”
With that, he presented a membership certificate to Mei Lan, born Sept. 6, 2006. (The panda was behind glass in her dayroom, not to mention asleep, so the zoo’s vice president of marketing, Marcus Margerum, accepted the accolade on her behalf.)
As the zoo wraps up a week of celebrating its famous resident’s first birthday, its staff knows Mei Lan probably won’t be around for many more. Dennis Kelly, the zoo’s president and CEO, says she may be here about another year before heading to China, where scientists hope she’ll play a role in growing the panda population.
Native Atlantan Club member Edna Smith doesn’t like that a bit.
“I would love for her to stay here,” said Smith, who has never lived anywhere but Atlanta. “She’s adorable.”
And sleepy.
After Massell’s remarks and before a club luncheon at the zoo, members strolled through the exhibit to catch a glimpse of their furry new member.
“Come on, baby girl, wake up!” pleaded Jan Appling. “We want to see your precious face.”
Nothing doing. Mei Lan’s glossy black fur gleamed in the patch of sunlight she chose for a mid-morning snooze. She scarcely moved, although mom Lun Lun busily chomped bamboo in an adjoining area.
Visitors on Saturday included Jason Haley and Tonya Krause, who flew in from Harrisburg, Pa., on Wednesday, for the panda’s birthday.
“We were here in December for her naming ceremony,” noted Krause.
Ever the Atlanta ambassador, Massell welcomed the couple to attend the short certificate ceremony, but not without a genial harumph.
“No one flew to me on my birthday,” he quipped.
