Ready for spring, young and old learned all about butterflies at an interactive and educational program with help from a butterfly habitat consultant on Saturday.
‘Rick Mikula is a high energy entertainer who fills an hour quickly with factual information about butterflies but does so in fun and sometimes comical way,’ writes Brandywine Community Library Director Lynne Priester to The Patriot.
‘There were giggles and laughs from both young children and senior citizens as well. We learned how to find butterflies and care for them in our homes using recycled items. Rick used props to ‘dress’ himself and explain how a butterfly sees and interacts with the world around it.’
More than 130 people of all ages attended ‘The World of Butterflies with Rick Mikula’ program co-sponsored by Brandywine Community Library and The Lutheran Home at Topton on March 15.
‘The program was recommended by another library as an outstanding educational and very entertaining event and it was all of that and more!’ said Priester. ‘Rick is an international expert on butterflies, having appeared in many forms of media including Animal Planet and the Discovery Channel.’
According to his website, http://holeinhand.com, Mikula is ‘owner and operator of Hole-In-Hand Butterfly Farm (in Hazelton) and MonaMe Kennel. He is president of the International Butterfly Breeders Association and Vice President of Education for the Canadian Butterfly Breeders and Exhibitors Association. He also serves on the Board of Directors for The Vermont Envirosphere Project. He is a past Secretary and Treasurer of the New Jersey Lepidopterist Society, which initiated the Tiger Swallowtail in becoming the New Jersey state butterfly. Rick is also co-founder of Butterflywebsite.com, which is the oldest and largest butterfly web site in the world. He is also the pioneer and inventor of the releasing butterflies at weddings and funerals and has helped to make it a global phenomenon.’
The butterfly enthusiast is also the author of numerous books, including ‘The Family Butterfly Book’, ‘The Butterfly Fandex’ and ‘Garden Butterflies of North America.’ He was awarded of the Garden Writers Association of America’s highest award The Quill and Trowel for excellence in communication. He writes regular columns for ‘Environment Pennsylvania’ and ‘People, Places, and Plants’ magazines and has been featured in more than three dozen magazines and hundreds of newspapers worldwide. He also supplies both live and mounted butterflies for movies, TV commercials, magazines, newspapers, and photographers both professional and private, according to his website. Read more about his programs and activities at http://holeinhand.com.
Priester said, ‘Brandywine Community Library holds programs such as The World of Butterflies to provide educational opportunities to our community. Brandywine Library continues to provide information to the community about the world through books and quality educational programs.’
The next scheduled program is the library’s Summer Reading kick off program on June 11 when Eyes on the Wild & Wallaby Education and Rescue Facility will be teaching about wildlife by bringing in six exotic and touchable animals.
