A Wonder-ful Aviary

The 85-year-old, nonprofit Wonder Gardens is undergoing a renaissance from vintage roadside attraction to botanical garden and nature center

Jim and Julie Oberweis Golden Pheasant Pavilion
Jim and Julie Oberweis Golden Pheasant Pavilion

Wonder Gardens recently dedicated the Jim and Julie Oberweis Golden Pheasant Pavilion in one of the garden’s four Victorian-era solariums. The Oberweises, who live in Bonita Bay, donated $75,000 to create the exhibit where four golden pheasants and a mated pair of violet turacos fly freely and wander the enclosure’s lush landscape and waterfall. “Their donation covers the creation of the exhibit and its ongoing care and maintenance,” says Wonder Gardens President/CEO David Rahahę:tih Webb. “It also supports the care of the birds,” which were chosen for this exhibit’s habitat. (A limited number of visitors each day can purchase food to hand-feed the birds.)

Jim and Julie Oberweis. Photo by Zee Anna Photography
Jim and Julie Oberweis. Photo by Zee Anna Photography

The solariums, built in France, were donated to the Wonder Gardens in 2018. The Oberweises recently became full-time Bonita Springs residents after Jim’s retirement as chairman and owner of Oberweis Dairy, founded by his grandfather in 1915 in Aurora, Illinois. He also served in the Illinois Senate. The 85-year-old, nonprofit Wonder Gardens is undergoing a renaissance from vintage roadside attraction to botanical garden and nature center. Since 2020, seven new exhibits have been added to the three-and-a-half-acre refuge for 300 rescued and rehabilitated birds and reptiles, and a record-setting 105,000 visited it in 2021. 

Facebook Comments