Madawaska Valley Hospice Palliative Care held its fifth annual Memorial Butterfly Release at Water Tower Park in Barry’s Bay on Sunday July 28. MV Hospice Clinical Director Karen Wagner welcomed the crowd, many of whom had attended the Release in previous years. She said butterflies are symbolic of hope and transformation, and their release is a healing experience for family and friends after the loss of a loved one. On arrival many people had placed handmade memorial cards and poems around the water tower. (At top: Painted Lady on coneflower)
Guest speaker and retired grief counsellor Dawn Cruchet (above in front of memorial cards) discussed aspects of the grieving process and then guided attendees to prepare for the Butterfly Release. Volunteers passed through the crowd handing out boxes containing individual butterflies to those people who had ordered them. Children without individual butterflies were invited to help release a group of them together. Cruchet encouraged everyone to focus on what their butterfly meant to them personally. At the signal, about three hundred Monarch and Painted Lady butterflies were gently released – some en masse and others from individual boxes. There was excitement and wonder as they warmed their wings in the sunshine and then fluttered into the sky. Many butterflies settled on the flowers in the park. Click BELOW for a brief video of Caspar, Lizzie and Michelle Bozak releasing a butterfly.
Left: Wendy Wolak and granddaughter Stella release a butterfly in memory of Wendy’s mother-in-law who introduced her to the Madawaska Valley 35 years ago.
Mark Kellett (above right) from Lucy’s Butterfly Farm displayed some caterpillars and butterflies, and answered questions about the insects. Butterfly farmer Lucy-Anna Perna raises them at her farm in the Ontario Highlands region. Visitors learned that there are no negative ecological aspects to releasing these butterflies in Barry’s Bay.
Executive Director Lisa Hubers thanked everyone in attendance, musician Reg Corey, event sponsors, St. Francis Valley Healthcare Foundation and the many Hospice and Gardening Society volunteers who had worked hard to ensure a successful Butterfly Release.
