Modesto’s first Pollinator Fest — fun for the kids, good for the environment
The “polli”-nation was out in the La Loma Native Garden on Sunday morning.
A parade including bees, butterflies, bats and a Buettner (as in musician Neil, strumming and singing as he led the procession) made its way along the garden path to kick off the first Modesto Pollinator Festival.
Visitors to the free event on Encina Avenue were shown how to make a mason bee house. How to attract native pollinators with native plants. Kids got to enjoy face-painting and make crafts like pollinator buttons, bee masks and butterflies on sticks.
Ladybugs and painted lady butterflies were released into the garden. A four-panel mural by artist Bianca Barrett of native pollinators and plants was unveiled.
A wealth of information was available at tables staffed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Forest Service, the California Native Plant Society, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Modesto Junior College Great Valley Museum, the Stanislaus Audubon Society and others.
Festivalgoer Shayne Mayo-Yurek, 9, said her favorite part of the event was learning from Great Valley Museum outreach program teacher Fred Yerzy how to build a house to lure mason bees. “I’m learning that bees don’t hurt people and they’re good for the environment,” she said.
The festival was the first time the Native Plant Garden, established in 2017, has been used as an educational resource to share with the community the importance of native plants and pollinators to the environment, festival organizer Rhonda Allen told the crowd. “Now we have a purpose for the garden as well as enjoying its beauty.”
She told parents how grateful she was that they cared to bring their children out. “To pause for a moment in our busy lives and to think about the environment and what we can do to help the environment thrive and how wonderful it is that parents are teaching their children how important our environment is.”
