Of the many pleasures available at The Dancing Horse/Animal Gardens complex in Delavan, Wis., two kids were most thrilled to see a bird.
"It's Echo," said 10-year-old Samantha O'Brien.
"I can't believe it's really Echo," said her sister, Sydney, three years younger.
Echo was one of the performers in the Exotic Bird Show, which followed The Dancing Horses presentation, which followed some time spent in a petting zoo where the girls fed and played with all many animals, from goats to sheep to all sorts of animal babies. The staff, mostly young, and all personable and helpful, contained many people earning college credits for their work with the animals.
One thing that distinguishes Echo from the other creatures on display and in action: Echo is a TV star.
The O'Briens live in the Lakeview neighborhood with their parents Jennifer and Jack and so are far removed from the wonders of the natural world. They do, however, have a television set and often sit in front of it at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays watching the NBC program "America's Got Talent."
"We just fell in love with Echo," says Jennifer. "We never voted for a contestant before voting for Echo."
Seeing Echo in the feathered flesh, so to speak, was one of the many surprises the girls experienced during a day at The Dancing Horse/Animal Gardens, a lovely facility that stretches across 40 rolling acres.
"I had no idea this is where Echo lived," said Samantha. "Now we can come see him any time."
The Dancing Horses/Animal Gardens is the creation of Dana Montana, born of her lifelong love ofhorses sparked on childhood visits to her grandparents' home in nearby Lake Geneva. Montana, who would become something of a television star herself in the 1980s ("The Phil Donahue Show," "20/20") because of the sensation she created by featuring nude male dancers at her club, the Sugar Shack. It is still in operation and still a Mecca for yet another generation of bachelorettes and their partying pals.
Montana is a savvy show person and The Dancing Horse/Animal Gardens (thedancinghorses.com) reflects that. The horse show is the centerpiece and it is polished and exciting and choreographed with a Las Vegas-style pizazz in a comfortable and intimate indoor theater that offers lunch and dinner shows.
"This is a fabulous place, better than anything I could ever have imaged," says Jennifer. "So much interaction with the animals."
But back to Echo.
The bird is a 15-year-old double yellow headed Amazon parrot and his trainer is Sarah Hoeft, who began working here as a horse trainer when the place opened eight years ago. She and Echo auditioned for "America's Got Talent" in Chicago earlier this year.
"The producers called me and were interested in having one of the horses audition," says Montana. "I told them, 'Hey, I've got this very special bird.'"
And so, Sarah and Echo, who talks and can sing a number of songs ("Jingle Bells" and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," among his favorites), came to Chicago, auditioned and were selected from among an astonishing 50,000 other acts across the country to be among this season's contestants. With a bit of TV experience in their background (they have appeared on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno"), the pair did well, first in Las Vegas and then in Los Angeles, before being eliminated in the semi-finals.
Thanks to the Internet, there are all manner of video clips of Echo and Sarah doing their thing. But roughly 90 miles from downtown Chicago they are available for your viewing, in the feathered flesh, so to speak, along with seven other performing birds and other things we citybound folks so rarely get to see.
More from Rick Kogan: Listen to singer Josie Falbo, authors Frank Cicero and Michael Tyler, and the Andy Brown and Petra Van Nuis duo on "The Sunday Papers With Rick Kogan," 6:30-9 a.m. Sundays on WGN-AM 720. See WGN Radio's Mr. Fix It, Lou Manfredini; Chinese Fine Arts Society president Julie Ma; Chicago rock super group Candy Golde and more onstage at "Chicago Live!" hosted by Kogan, at 6:30 Thursday evenings at the Chicago Theatre; go to chicagolive.com for more information.