Ark Encounter nest in them. Much of the wood used to build the Ark Encounter was sourced from renewable forests or trees infested by beetles. During construction, former President Jimmy Carter toured the Ark Encounter, accepting an invitation from LeRoy Troyer, president of the Troyer Group. Ark Encounter opened on July 7, 2016, a date (7/7) chosen to correspond with Genesis 7:7: "And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood." AiG also announced that, for the first 40 days and 40 nights of Ark Encounter's operation – an
Captain Noah and His Magical Ark in 1970. The show starred Merbreier as Captain Noah and his real life wife, Patricia Merbreier, as Mrs. Noah. At its height, "Captain Noah and His Magical Ark" was syndicated to twenty-two television stations in markets throughout the United States. During the early 1970s, "Captain Noah and His Magical Ark" attracted a larger local audience in the Philadelphia region than "Sesame Street" and "Captain Kangaroo" combined. Started as a religious-oriented program, "Captain Noah and His Magical Ark" became a daily children's program in 1970. The show aired from 7:00 a.m. to 9 a.m. on weekdays and for 30 minutes on