November 15, 2022

The new Monarch Butterfly Garden on Edgewood Lane has emerged under the leadership of Sallie Kate Park, with the support of members of the Active Minds group and members of the Garden and Grounds Committee. It will honor Rev. Alexandra McGee’s ministry with the UU Congregation of Charlottesville, and will be called “Rev. Alex’s Monarch Butterfly Garden.”

The development of the plan for this butterfly garden has followed a winding path over several years. It began in the Active Minds group. After Rev. Eric Wikstrom resigned, Rev. Alex was preaching more frequently. The Active Minds group wanted to get to know her better, so they invited her to meet with them. She was able to join them on two occasions before the Covid pandemic closed the church. Her visits were much appreciated by the group.

At the time Ed Wesely was a regular attendee of Active Minds, and he frequently reported on his efforts to support the movement to preserve the Monarch Butterflies, which were becoming an endangered species. Ed even brought Monarch butterflies to meetings, to share information about them, and display their beauty to the group.

Rev. Alex became interested in the Monarch butterflies, and planted a milkweed plant near the Edgewood Lane parking lot to attract and help preserve them. But not all milkweed plants are helpful in supporting the lifecycle of the Monarch butterfly, and the milkweed plant that Rev. Alex planted was the wrong kind.

Walter Hoffman and Dick Somer, members of the Garden and Grounds Committee, found the right kind of milkweed plant growing in the woods on Elizabeth Breeden’s Biscuit Run property. They brought some of those milkweed plants and planted them at church in the Native Plant garden in front of Summit House.

After Rev. Alex’s ministry here ended, Sallie Kate Park wanted to honor her in some way. She learned that there was a particular kind of butterfly bush which would support the entire life cycle of the Monarch butterfly. She decided that those bushes should be planted in the area where Rev. Alex had planted her milkweed, and that the garden area should be called Rev. Alex’s Monarch Butterfly Garden. She proposed this plan to the Garden and Grounds Committee and to the Active Minds group, and eventually got the agreement of both groups to support her plan.

The right kind of butterfly bushes were ordered and planted at the designated site, together with milkweed from the Native Plant garden. Leaders of the Garden and Grounds Committee, Walter Hoffman, John Nolen, and Elizabeth Breeden worked with Sallie Kate to complete the planting. A sign to mark the garden was ordered.

Rev. Alex’s Monarch Butterfly Garden was dedicated on Tuesday, November 15 at 11:30. Rev. Tim Temerson led the dedication ceremony. Grounds Committee members, Active Minds members, and friends of Sallie Kate Park attended.