Pig house becomes unassuming landmark in San Marco
Pigs don’t usually fly, mow lawns, play foosball, or greet passersby unless they are at Tony Vecchio’s house. The San Marco resident, who is also executive director of the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, has a special place in his heart for pigs, and to commemorate his love for them, he has adorned his yard and front walkway with a few very special swine.
“Pigs are just one of the animals I’m very interested in. In the zoo world there are communities of experts that manage different groups of animals, and at one point I served in that group, the pig advisory group. So, I have a special fondness for pigs,” explained Vecchio. “I learned a lot about pigs on that assignment, and I’ve become a pig fan.”
Vecchio has four concrete pigs in the backyard of his Brookwood Road home that are visible to passersby on Hendricks Avenue. The smallest of the four is tiny unnamed pig with wings that was a long-time-ago gift from his ex-wife. That pig sits atop a wooden fence facing the street because he is comparatively tiny and gets lost in the grass, he said.
More notable is a concrete sow named Renee, that sits under the bushes alongside of his house, while her companion, a large porker named Ferdinand, is a short distance away in the far corner of the yard facing the street. “The day I closed on this house, four-plus years ago, before I even cut the check, I went to a place in Mandarin that sells concrete sculptures. I had a good friend with me to help me select a pig sculpture for the yard. While I was buying that pig, which I named Ferdinand, she was buying the smaller one for me, so I named it after her. That one is Renee,” he said.
But the granddaddy of Vecchio’s swine collection is Winston, a relatively light 75-pound painted pig that was a gift from his children, Anna and Ben. Winston peeks over a small fence to greet pedestrians, joggers, and bicyclists passing by. Made of polyurethane and shipped from Canada, Winston is true Canadian bacon and has personality to boot. He often makes the rounds by playing foosball, mowing the lawn, or helping Vecchio clean up debris in the yard after a storm.
Sometimes dressed in a Superman cape, Winston even celebrates holidays. During those times he dons a Santa’s hat and white beard at Christmas and a New Year’s Eve hat on the last day of the year. Vecchio’s special tradition that all visitors to his home have their photo taken with Winston.
“I don’t have any pets anymore. When you travel, you worry about your pets. Now the only worry I have is that nobody messes with Winston while I am gone.”
But there are other piggies in Vecchio’s yard as well. A small, metal unnamed flying pig sits atop a metal rod as a piece of garden art, buzzing over a butterfly garden that is visible from the street. On Vecchio’s front doorstep facing Brookwood Road is Guiseppe, the small concrete welcome pig. Another Guiseppe resides in side his dining room, welcoming guests with a blackboard where Vecchio chalks in the visitor’s name.
While his home is not overrun with pig statues or stuffed pigs – he said he wants his home to be tasteful — Vecchio does have a few that stand out, particularly Reginald, a custom-made stuffed Visayan Warty Pig, which resides in one of Vecchio’s bedrooms.
Story of Reginald
At the Oregon Zoo, where Vecchio was formerly director, a Visayan Warty Pig exhibit was created to call attention to the rare species from the Philippines that is highly endangered. A company made plush stuffed warty pigs to sell in the gift shop, and that is where Reginald came from.
Vecchio said he first became enamored with pigs through the Species Survival Plan, a program that the United States zoo community cooperatively uses to manage all the animals in zoos throughout the country. said Vecchio, noting that just about every animal at the Jacksonville Zoo is managed by a group of staff volunteers that work with other staff members from zoos around the country. When the program started in 1990 it was a “revolutionary, innovative program,” he said, and as the director of Roger Williams Park Zoo in Rhode Island, he insisted his staff participate in all new committees. When no one on his staff volunteered to be part of the Pig and Peccary Advisory Group and the Rodent and Insectavore group, that manages insect-eating animals like moles and shrews, Vecchio decided to do the work himself.
“No one wanted those,” he said. “When it came to having the national elections, they couldn’t find 10 people to serve on those boards, so I was automatically on the 10-member committee. I was never much of a pig guy until I got that opportunity. We would meet twice a year. People that were working in Borneo and Sulawesi would give reports on the status of the pigs there. I learned so much about pigs. So many pigs are critically endangered. I really developed a soft spot for the plight of pigs,” he continued, noting that pigs are as smart as dogs and can be trained like canines. A recent study at Pennsylvania State University discovered that pigs perform very well playing video games, he said. “Pigs don’t really get much respect. Everyone wants to serve on the lion or tiger group, but no one wanted to serve on the pig group.”
At the zoo in Rhode Island, as well as at the Oregon Zoo, and the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, Vecchio said he has created exhibits for endangered pigs, such as the Babirusa and the Visayan Warty Pig. “They are not usually a high priority exhibits,” he said. “But we have some in addition to the Wart Hogs that have been here for a long time.”
In a way, having a few pigs in his yard is Vecchio’s way of giving back to the community. Many neighbors in San Marco refer to his home as the “pig house,” and the moniker is one he cherishes because it indicates his home has become a landmark of sorts in the community.
“When I was a young boy, my family and I would travel by car and there were a couple of places that became little landmarks for my sisters and I,” said the Pennsylvania native who grew up in Pittsburgh. “We would visit my Godfather who lived 10 miles away, and we would pass a little shack on the side of the road. Me and my two sisters, Kris and Roseann, who I know as Cric, would yell that it was “Leo’s Firehose,” because we had a cousin who was a volunteer fireman and we liked to say it was his home. We knew he wanted to be fire chief, and we would joke that if he ever made chief that would be his house – this little shack. I just remember how much fun it was. We had a couple of other little places like that which meant a lot to us as an inside joke in the family, and we were never bored. That has always stuck with me, and I always thought it would be nice to have something like that for kids in this area that they could watch for as they were walking down the street or driving by. Something to look forward to.
“So, I got the pigs for that purpose,” Vecchio continued. “I’m happy to report that when I’m out doing yard work, I hear the school kids talk about it when they walk down the sidewalk. They get excited about a block away and start talking about the pig house. They say hi to Winston as they go by. Having places like that, which are special to kids, I think it’s important. So, that’s why I have pig art in the yard.”
By Marcia Hodgson
Resident Community News
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