Fifty Monarch butterflies took wing Saturday afternoon at the Bradford Area Public Library.
In a community event sponsored by the library, participants released Monarch butterflies in a flower garden area on the south side of the library’s main entrance.
The little lepidopterans were purchased from a California company which specializes in live releases. Library patrons were then given the opportunity to purchase one for release in the name of a loved one, living or deceased.
Judy Carr, director of programming at the library, organized a full program to accompany the release. The Olean (N.Y.) Barbershop Chorus, under the direction of Eva Hillman, led off the festivities in the Community Room. The 12-man group, occasionally broken down into quartet format, offered such familiar fare as “On the Sunny Side of the Street,” “Under the Boardwalk,” and “Hello Mary Lou, Goodbye Heart.” Audience participation was solicited (and given) for “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” and “God Bless America.”
After the chorus ended with an “Irish Blessing,” Carr introduced the concept of “Butterfly Wishes.”
According to this Native American legend, “If you have a secret wish, capture a butterfly and whisper your wish to it. Since butterflies cannot speak, your secret is ever safe in their keeping. Release the butterfly, and it will carry your wish to the Great Spirit, who alone knows the thoughts of butterflies. By setting the butterfly free, you are helping to restore the balance of nature, and your wish will surely be granted.”
Carr said the library would not guarantee the granting of wishes, but averred that the release of butterflies into nature was a positive event.
Original poems with a butterfly theme were read by Joy Pascarella and Angela Nuzzo. The names of those whose memories were honored with a butterfly were read by Marie Troskosky, who heads the library’s teen reading program.
Excitement in the room swelled as library personnel distributed the butterflies to the event participants. They came in small triangular packages with tiny lettering commemorating the date and place of the event. Tabs along the sides of the little boxes were to be pulled when the thing was to happen, but that was to wait until everyone walked outside.
After the boxes were distributed, the last indoor event was the blessing of the butterflies by the Rev. Stacey Fussell, pastor of the Church of the Ascension.
Outdoors, the weather belied earlier forecasts of rain, as the sun shone brightly on the garden flowers, in an area planted with the assistance of participants in the library’s children’s programs. Ellery Signor read her poem written for the occasion, and it was time for the butterflies to come out.
They were tentative at first. (Small wonder! They had been flash-frozen, stuck in a small box, and shipped 2,500 miles to wake up in the dark, then suddenly exposed to sunlight.) Most stood for a few seconds on the edge of the box, then seemed to get with the program and shove off in a brilliant flash of orange and yellow and black. One crash-landed on the sidewalk but was quickly rescued and sent on its way.
The end was rather anticlimactic, as the butterflies scattered to the four winds. But participants left with the knowledge that they had honored their loved ones, contributed monetarily to the children’s room expansion project at the library, and enriched nature just a little bit with their action. Plus, there were all those “butterfly wishes” that might still come true.
