Become a monarch champion

Duluth festival will teach public how to help tough yet delicate insects

BY ALISON STUCKE

Monarch butterflies are kind of a big deal in Duluth. Every year, thousands of monarchs visit our area during their migration journey from southern Canada and the U.S. to Central Mexico in the fall, and back again in the spring and summer. Many of them live out a portion of their life cycle — from egg, larvae, caterpillar, chrysalis and beautiful butterfly — here in Duluth. They bring us beauty and joy each year.

Monarchs are so important in our town that they have their own festival, planned this year for Saturday, June 9, at the coppertop church (First United Methodist) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The third annual Duluth Monarch Festival will be a day of fun and learning for people of all ages, honoring the beautiful monarchs that flutter about our local skies and flowers.

The festivities will include:

• Live monarch eggs, caterpillars and adult butterflies

• Milkweed seeds free with admission

• Monarch-rearing houses

• Monarch-related craft projects and face-painting for kids

• Treats such as butterfly-shaped cookies and Love

• Creamery’s ice cream

• Eduardo Sandoval’s food cart, El Oasis del Norte, in the parking lot

• Milkweed plants and pollinator plants for sale from Dan Schutte’s Shoreview Natives in Two Harbors

• Informational booths, including local Master Gardeners (St. Louis County Extension), Northeastern Minnesota Beekeepers Association, Duluth Flower and Garden Society, and Wild Ones with native plants

• Guest speakers and/or a panel discussion on monarchrelated topics

• Monarch merchandise for sale

• Internationally-known Duluth author Linda Glaser will have a table with some of her many books: “Magnificent Monarchs,” “Brilliant Bees,” “Compost!” and more

• A Monarch Mascot, distributing butterfly stickers to kids

• Monarch DVDs shown all day in the church’s little theater

• The event is hosted by Duluth Monarch Buddies, a group that works to restore monarch habitat and educate people about the ecology of monarchs and other pollinators, said Tom Uecker, group president. Everyone is welcome to join this group, whose meetings are at 6:30 p.m. on the last Monday of the month at the coppertop library.

“We always look at our festival as a welcome to monarchs,” said Carolyn Schroeder, group secretary and coordinator of the event. “The No. 1 goal of the festival is to educate the community on the plight of monarchs and how threatened they are, especially by the use of herbicides and pesticides. We want adults and children to recognize monarch eggs, caterpillars, and the adult butterflies. Also, to understand the importance of milkweed plants and nectar plants for monarchs.”