A special celebration will begin at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium.
This year marks the 50th anniversary for a familiar face: Dr. Lee Simmons.
Simmons is the man responsible for transforming the Omaha Zoo into one of the best zoos in the world, the ranking comes from the travel website TripAdvisor.
Most people know him as "Doc Simmons” and starting on Thursday, the zoo will jumpstart its "50 days of Doc."
For the next 50 days, the celebration will highlight his most notable projects and his tenure as a zoo director.
Under his leadership, he added several exhibits like the aquarium, Desert Dome, Kingdoms of the Night and many more.
This 50 day celebration will end on Dec. 1 which is the date Doc was hired.
Before his retirement in 2009, Doc Simmons says he only had 10 employees and a $100,000 annual budget when he first took over.
Well, today that's different.
There are hundreds of staffers and the annual budget is healthy - up in the millions.
Simmons is now chair of the zoo's foundation.
If anyone wants to get in on the fun, they can follow the hashtag: #Doc50 on the zoo's Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.
There will also be Doc-themed giveaways and activities at the zoo for people to enjoy.
For more information on the event, click here.
