The Fifth Annual Butterfly Release in aid of Madawaska Valley Hospice Palliative Care got off to a flying start on May 23 with help from the students of St. John Bosco School in Barry’s Bay. Cathy Mask’s class (shown above) decorated the Hospice, St. Francis Memorial Hospital (SFMH) and St. Francis Health Centre with personalized butterfly collages to mark the start of the Butterfly Release fundraising campaign. Donors have until July 5 to reserve butterflies to commemorate friends and family. MV Hospice Executive Director Lisa Hubers said their goal is to release between 250 and 300 Monarch butterflies at the Water Tower on Sunday, July 28 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Lisa Hubers help Alex Recoskie hang her butterfly
The school children were on best behaviour as they proceeded through the St. Francis Valley healthcare facilities choosing where to hang their pictures. Mask said they had put quite a lot of work into producing the colourful art pieces. Helped by six Hospice volunteers on two separate days, the children had spent about an hour a day working on their butterflies. First they cut out the wings and applied coloured tissue paper to the box shapes. On the next day they became quite excited when they realized that instead of an anonymous butterfly, their own photo would be the butterfly in each child’s picture.
Butterfly made by Kenzie Dombroskie
Mask said her Senior Kindergarten/Grade 1 students really “got it” when she explained that just as butterflies are transformed from caterpillars to cocoons to flying beautiful creatures, there are changes in human existence also. The event has personal significance for Mask too. After her Grade 4/5 class decorated butterfly pictures last year, she brought her young grandchildren to watch the butterflies being released. The children made cards at an activity table to commemorate an infant grandchild of hers who had died. Mask said the experience was very peaceful and positive. Everyone was happy to see the butterflies fluttering and to watch clusters of them resting on the butterfly-friendly garden planted by volunteers from the Madawaska Valley Horticultural Society.
MV Hospice volunteer Dylaina Wood with Alex Recoskie’s butterfly
Dylaina Wood is an SFMH nurse who currently is Team Lead for the new EPIC patient health information system. Wood also volunteers for Hospice and following the death of her father-in-law Stanley Beanish arranged for their family to attend a butterfly release. She said it was a surprise part of a family get-together and their relatives were overjoyed with it. Wood said it was a turning point for one family member who had struggled to let go of grief. She said she was surprised at the effect of the simple ceremony. When relatives attended a family wedding at St. Mary’s in Wilno, they watched the butterflies on the shrubs in front of the church and recalled the experience of the butterfly release.
Hubers said the event is inter-generational and organizers find that people often return each year for the ceremony, enjoying the brief words and peaceful music in a relaxed atmosphere. MV Hospice volunteers and grief counsellors are on hand to support attendees.
Gardeners and nature lovers who are concerned about the environmental aspects of the butterfly release will be pleased to know that MV Hospice carefully researched any possible issues. They order the butterflies from a butterfly farm in the Ontario Highlands region and were reassured to learn that there are no negative ecological aspects to releasing Monarch butterflies in Barry’s Bay.
MV Hospice Palliative Care is taking orders for butterflies from now until July 5. They cost $35 each, or three butterflies for $100. Call 613.756.3045 ex 350 to order. Or click HERE to order online from St. Francis Valley Healthcare Foundation.