Get close to monarchs during Lake Nokomis festival

Enjoy cross-cultural food, dance and games on Sept. 10

Send a monarch butterfly on its amazing journey from Minnesota to the mountains of Michoacan, Mexico during the Monarch Festival at Lake Nokomis on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2010.

“It doesn’t really matter who you are or where you come from, people find the monarch fascinating,” said Nokomis East Neighborhood Association (NENA) Executive Director Rita Ulrich.

The purpose of the Monarch Festival, according to Lis Young-Isebrand of the Monarch Lab at the University of Minnesota, “is to bring our diverse community of people together to celebrate and learn about monarchs.” 

She pointed out: “Adult monarchs weigh less than a paper clip (about half a gram), yet they are able to fly over 2,000 miles to Mexico in the fall and back to Texas in the early spring. And, they are beautiful! The monarch is simply amazing.”

In its third year, the Monarch Festival combines cross-cultural food, music, dance, habitat-awareness and dance. Events begin at 10 a.m. and continue through 4 p.m. on Sept. 10. Monarchs will be tagged and released throughout the day. The steamroller operated by ArtOrg will return; last year’s collage is on display in the Nokomis Recreation Center.

The Kid’s Butterfly Fun Run walk/race starts at 11 a.m. Participants are encouraged to wear butterfly wings, antennas or caterpillar costumes; prizes will be awarded for the best outfits.  Register online for $10 before the race at www.monarchfestival.org, or pay $15 the day of the race.

“It’s a lot of fun,” stated Mary Lynn Pulscher of the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation.

Pulscher encourages those in the neighborhood to bike or walk to the festival. A section of Lake Nokomis Parkway near 50th next to the Naturescape will be closed during the event. Over 5,000 people are expected.

More at www.monarchfestival.org

The festival is organized by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, the Nokomis East Neighborhood Association and Community Celebration of Place. Learn more at the bilingual web site: www.monarchfestival.org.

The 2011 stage line-up features performances by Mariachi Mi Tierra, the Javier Trejo Trio (Mexican/Americana), Larry Long (American folk), the Tropical Zone Orchestra (salsa), KetzalCoatlicue (Aztec dance), Ballet Folklorico Mexico Azteca (traditional dance), Larrie Yazzie (Native American Fancy Dance) and Batak (fusion jazz).

Pedro Fonseca of the Tropical Zone Orchestra is excited to again bring Latin rhythms to the festival. “Our show promotes the mutual sharing between people beyond boundaries,” Fonseca observed. “If the ecosystems and small creatures work in harmony, we should be able to do so.”

Strengthening the U.S./Mexican relationship

In addition to introducing attendees to Monarchs, the annual festival works to strengthen the relationship between Mexico and the United States. In the last decade, the number of Latinos residents in the Nokomis neighborhood has doubled, and this festival is a response to that, noted Ulrich. Signs at the festival will be in both Spanish and English, and organizers are looking for bilingual volunteers to staff games. To volunteer, call 612-724-5652.

The migration of the monarch is being threatened by loss of habitat in both the United States and Mexico, pointed out Ulrich. “It takes people growing milkweed and the various other native plants that support monarchs along the route,” she observed.

The upper midwest is an important region to the monarch because the milkweed that grows easily in the region sustains the summer breeding population, according to Young-Isebrand. But the monarch is only in the area for four months of every year. Young-Isebrand views the festival as a way to encourage attendees to consider other parts of the world that monarchs depend upon and to connect with other communities to preserve monarchs.

“In addition, the efforts we take to preserve monarchs are ultimately healthy for us, too -- not using pesticides, for example,” said Young-Isebrand. “I think people know this inherently and take action to save monarchs ultimately to improve habitat for all organisms, including humans.

Help preserve the monarch butterfly

Helping preserve monarchs for future generations is easy, according to Lis Young-Isebrand of the Monarch Lab.

“Monarch larvae will only eat milkweed, so if you want to help monarchs plant milkweed -- any species!” Young-Isebrand stated.

Other native plants provide necessary shelter and food (nectar) for the monarch. “Cultivated plants are often bred to have showy flowers and may not provide any nectar.  Plant native plants, along with the showy cultivated plants, and you will attract and help butterflies of many species,” said Young-Isebrand.

Refrain from treating gardens with insecticides because, as they are insects, the butterflies will also be killed.

Milkweed and other native plants will be for sale during the Monarch Festival. Or, make a milkweed mudball to take home.

Gardens along Lake Nokomis support Monarch butterflies

NENA practices what it preaches. In 1998, the Naturescape was established on the northeast side of Lake Nokomis. A steep hillside was transformed into a perennial garden that provides habitat for songbirds, butterflies and other insects.

The Naturescape was the direct result of community residents telling the neighborhood association they valued the environment during the creation of the Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) plan, noted Ulrich.

When you walk down to the Naturescape, you will see monarchs, stated Ulrich.

In 2001, a variety of aquatic, wet prairie and upload native vegetation was planted along the shoreline of Lake Nokomis. In September 2004, a native shrub garden was installed alongside the hillside prairie garden. Volunteer gardeners meet each Tuesday evening through the summer to maintain the Naturescape. To find out more, call the NENA office at 612-724-5256.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Migrating monarchs (adult monarchs in Minnesota at the end of August) will live for up to nine months while the summer monarchs (monarchs in Minnesota in early May through early August) will live for only six weeks. 

• Larvae (caterpillars) will only eat milkweed.

• Adult butterflies must have ample supply of native flowers to nectar from to make their 2,000-mile migration. 

• Pesticides kill butterflies along with the other unwanted insects (which then can kill birds, etc.). 

• Much about the monarch butterfly remains a mystery, even to the experts. “It is known that monarch use the sun and the earth’s magnetic field to migrate, but this doesn’t explain how they are able to migrate from a huge region (basically the entire eastern U.S.) to small areas in the mountains of Mexico,” pointed out Young-Isebrand. Help answer some questions by tagging monarchs and making a report whenever a tag is found. “This information allows scientists, and others, to track the migration route and success of monarch butterflies,” said Young-Isebrand. Learn more at www.monarchwatch.org.

- Information from Lis Young-Isebrand of the Monarch Lab

See original story printed at http://www.longfellownokomismessenger.com/mainstory.html