DENVER — When the weather outside isn't fit for man, it's time to go see the beasts. That's exactly what Jillian Flynn did on Wednesday when she spent her snow day at the National Western Stock Show.
The petting zoo sure beats math class, she said.
"This is way more fun than sitting and doing work," said Jillian, a third-grader from the Cherry Creek School district. "I just like having a day where you don’t have to worry about any homework and stuff like that."
Luckily for Jillian, the Stock Show doesn't close for snow – at least not this amount of snow.
"Frankly, if it was a 40 inch snowstorm, we might have to think twice," said Paul Andrews, Stock Show president and CEO. "But not for 7 inches."
He said a portion of his team of more than a thousand workers positioned plows across the grounds last night and made sure the parking lots and walkways were clear, with only a small delay to the day's events.
"We’re like the original Pony Express," Andrews said. "We never close."
Naomi, 9 years old, came to see the petting zoo with her family today, too. She was in luck. Because school was canceled, field trips of students scheduled to attend the Stock Show also were canceled – about 5,000 fewer kids for her to jockey with for prime positions.
Naomi minced few words when explaining why she preferred the petting zoo over class – and at risk of upsetting her teachers, engaged in a little snow day slander:
"Class is boring," she said. "Here is more fun, and you can pet the animals and go around and explore."
9NEWS is a corporate partner of the National Western Stock Show.
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