Marcie Lee takes a photo as her son Benjamin holds a piece of clover upon which his butterfly sat as they join in the butterfly release on the opening day of Shangri La's Eco-Fest 2021: Butterflies & Blooms, celebrating Earth Day. The event continues through Saturday. Photo made Thursday, April 22, 2021 Kim Brent/The Enterprise
Kim Brent/The Enterprise
Area families celebrated Earth Day by enjoying the gardens at Shangri La in Orange and releasing Painted Lady butterflies on the opening day of the annual Eco-Fest, whose theme this year is “Butterflies & Blooms.”
Volunteers and staff gathered on the Great Lawn to distribute the envelopes containing the butterflies and offer instructions on how and where best to release.
Young and old participated in the first butterfly release Thursday morning.
Among them was the Lee family. Marcie Lee helped her sons Benjamin and Isaac carefully fold back the corners of their envelopes to reveal the colorful butterflies contained within as their great-grandmother Marlene Huckaby, one of the original workers at Shangri La, looked on.
While most of the butterflies quickly flitted away across the garden, Benjamin’s was slower to take flight. It rested atop a sprig of clover he’d pulled from the ground and then his fingertip for several minutes before finally flying away.
The free event requires advance registration for a two-hour time block beginning at 9 a.m. through closing at 5 p.m. to maintain smaller crowds for COVID-19 safety. A limited number of separate tickets are available to reserve a butterfly for each time slot’s release.
Although this year’s event is foregoing vendors and hands-on activities, take-home activities for children are provided., and each family receives a free butterfly-friendly plant before exiting.
Shangri La is also launching its Junior Naturalist Program during the event, which continues through Saturday. The program includes four nature-themed books for students in 2nd through 5th grades, and upon completion of the series, children will receive a Junior Naturalist patch.
kbrent@beaumontenterprise.com
