In May 2023, Melrose Township became the fifth (of now eight) communities in Michigan recognized as a “Monarch City USA” (others nearby include Boyne City, Resort Township, Elk Rapids, Kalkaska and Beaver Island).
In celebration of this regional designation, a new family-friendly event is being planned for Saturday, August 15, called Wings of Walloon. Activities will take place in Melrose Township Park and around the village from 11am until 2pm.
Local resident Lauri Juday, who spearheaded the Monarch City USA initiative, is coordinating festival activities with area businesses and organizations. Families can take part in face painting, sidewalk chalk art, rock painting, free seed distribution, coloring stations, butterfly themed crafts, nature themed books and of course, a butterfly release, among other activities. There will be food—hot dogs, snow cones and soft-served ice cream—available as well.
Juday, who has been fascinated with monarchs since childhood, has been working with others in the area – including the Walloon Lake Association and Conservancy (WLAC) – to create pollinator garden spaces to attract monarchs and other butterflies, bees and birds. She maintains one of nearly 40 garden locations within a four-county area (Antrim, Charlevoix, Emmet and Kalkaska) registered as a Monarch Waystation through the national non-profit Monarch Watch program. Those listed actively propagate pollinator gardens loaded with milkweed (monarchs’ primary source of food) and other nectar plants, while abstaining from the use of pesticides and other harmful substances.
