INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — There was a 20-year-old 7 ½-foot long yellow rat snake, a 9-foot tall juggler on stilts and dozens of flamework glass sculptures at McKee Botanical Garden captivating visitors during its first ever Jungle Day event Sunday.
Nature, art and history led way to a fun-filled day at the Garden known for its 18-acre subtropical jungle hammock. There was something for everyone, kids and adults alike, as they strolled pathways admiring plants, trees, rocks and ponds, and delighted in a petting zoo, parrot show and a one-act play about the Garden’s founders Waldo Sexton and Arthur McKee.
The day was about celebrating its roots as an 80-acre mosquito-infested swamp that was transformed in 1932 into McKee Jungle Gardens, one of Florida’s top tourist attractions, until it closed in 1976 and was sold to condominium developers a couple of years later.
The Indian River Land Trust was able to raise enough funds to save the 18 acres that weren’t bulldozed, and in 1995 the property was purchased for $1.7 million, followed by $9.1 million that was applied to the restoration for the Garden. Renamed McKee Botanical Garden, the site opened in 2001.
Since then, McKee Botanical Garden has been a private, not-for-profit organization with a mission of “nurturing and enhancing a historic garden in a unique tropical setting for the education, enjoyment and enrichment of all.”
And that mission was well executed at Jungle Day, which was designed for people to pay homage to McKee’s earlier days as the McKee Jungle Gardens and featured activities reminiscent of that time such as the petting zoo.
“This is a very special, spiritual place,” Earl Morgan, chairman of the board, said standing near a lily pond under palm and bamboo trees.
Morgan wrote and co-performed a one-act play about the Garden’s beginnings featuring the two men who made it all possible. Sexton and McKee, two highly successful businessmen who came to Vero in the early 1900s, shared a common passion for nature and with that, a quiet, serene horticultural paradise was formed with an added splash of nature: a bear, crocodile, elephant, spider monkeys and other animals.
“Historically, it was so important to Vero,” said executive director Christine Hobart. “Many local residents have fond memories of childhood visits to McKee Jungle Gardens.
One such person was Sue Jenkins, 64, a native of Vero Beach.
“When family would come into town to visit, we’d always come here. It was the place to go, the top tourist attraction here. All kids love the jungle!”
Patti Radford, 51, also grew up in Vero and had fond memories to share. She said she and her brother would sneak under the fence to get into the park after hours with their German shepherds. Clippings gathered during those innocent forays led way to her brother’s present-day garden full of exotic plants.
“It was always so fascinating with the exotic plants from all around the world,” she recounted. “There were monkeys jumping up and down, and throwing stuff at us. And there was a huge alligator.”
Evidence of the monkeys was seen in one of the many black and white poster-size photographs on display from the Garden’s archives. And visitors could write down memories of their previous visits to the Garden, from whatever decade.
Florida cracker horses, snakes, parrots, chickens, goats, a pig, rabbit and more made a one-day appearance, and children jumped aboard the Safari Train, a lawn tractor pulling six tiny cabooses, to take a short ride in a section of the Garden.
Visitors marveled at a very charismatic cockatoo named Teddy, who on cue from its trainer, kissed a stuffed dog, meowed like a cat, quacked like a duck and whistled to a pleased audience until topping off its performance by pedaling a tiny bicycle along a suspended pole.
Paige Fannin, 6, of Vero Beach, couldn’t get enough of the parrot and other wildlife at Jungle Day, as she hurried off, back to the petting zoo, where she devoted her time to holding chickens and feeding the pig.
“I want to expose her to educational things and this was the perfect thing to do,” Sharman Moore said while watching her grand niece soak up the fun. “She loves animals.”
For a plant-focused activity, visitors were invited to make a paper pot out of newspaper, fill it up with dirt and plant sunflower seeds in it, to then take home and nurture.
Hats made of palms, balloons contorted into sword shapes, face-painting, a bean bag toss and a historical video and exhibit occupied visitors as Key of Life performed music in the background.
Throughout the Garden were glass sculptures by Hans Godo Frabel, one of the world’s most famous flamework glass artists. The art is created at a workbench with a 3500-degree torch. The exhibit, “Frabel REIMAGINED” features 200 sculptures that reflect the artist’s fondness for nature and theater, positioned along the garden’s paths and waterways. The installation can be seen through the end of April.
Mark Tripson, 64, was feeling a bit nostalgic after watching the brief play “Birth of a Garden,” about his grandfather Waldo Sexton.
“When he came here it was an empty canvas,” he said. “He was way ahead of his time – where else would this last?”
Amid the bamboo and palm trees, ferns, water lilies and other magnificent natural features of McKee Botanical Garden, walked three generations of Langes, taking their surroundings in with great satisfaction.
“I come here a lot, I’m a member,” said Brain Lange, who was there with his mother and daughter. “I want my daughter to enjoy it, too.”
