Bevy of butterflies delights kids, adults alike at 4th annual fest


YOUNGSTOWN

Part of the chorus to the popular 1997 Mariah Carey hit, “Butterfly” – “Fly abandonedly into the sun/If you should return to me/We truly were meant to be” – rather poetically describes a situation that was quite pleasing to Wilbert Torres and his three children.

“We come to this event every year. We haven’t missed yet,” the Youngstown man said, referring to Saturday’s fourth annual Butterfly Festival at Southside Community Garden near Williamson Avenue and Erie Street on the South Side.

Torres and his children, Breana, 5, Trey, 6, and 8-year-old Santonio, held small sponges that had been dipped in nectar or sugar water. Doing so attracted to them several of the estimated 85 butterflies that had been released into a 640-square-foot wooden enclosure – to the delight of hundreds of youngsters and adults alike.

The enclosed butterfly habitat, which is wheelchair-accessible, also features a variety of mulched box gardens with Russian sage, Arizona apricots and other flowers, as well as a ceiling of cross-hatched netting that is 35 percent shade cloth.

The four species of butterflies were monarchs, painted ladies, morning cloaks and black swallowtails, noted Lois Martin-Uscianowski, the garden’s founder and director.

During an informal “release service,” Martin-Uscianowski slowly navigated her way through the enclosure, freeing one or two butterflies at a time from 15-square-inch transparent envelopes that contained dry ice, which helped keep them alive.

Read more about the event in Sunday's Vindicator or on VIndy.com.