On Wednesday, December 30th at 6:36 p.m., Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. (center) welcomed Nutley residents Melissa and Carlos Zuniga (at right) and their two daughters, 3-year-old Gabriella and 5-month-old Arianna, to the Holiday Lights Spectacular at Essex County Turtle Back Zoo as the 750,000th visitors of 2015. The family was presented with a large stuffed bear, a gift basket and a one-year membership to the Zoological Society of New Jersey.
It was just two weeks ago that Turtle Back Zoo’s annual attendance reached 700,000 for the first time, which made it the 11th consecutive year a new attendance record had been set. With the County Executive are (from left) Essex County Parks Director Dan Salvante, Turtle Back Zoo Director Brint Spencer, Myrtle the Turtle and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The Holiday Lights Spectacular continues to Sunday, January 3rd. (Photo Courtesy of Essex County)