Pleasantville Garden Club Honors Legacy and Life at Annual Butterfly Fair

By Elaine Clarke 

In the weeks leading up to the annual Butterfly Fair, members of the Pleasantville Garden Club meet before sunrise in Barnhurst Park to work on the pollinator garden—creating a space where butterflies and other pollinators can thrive.

For years, resident Ed Impara was a constant presence during those early mornings.

A master gardener who trained at the New York Botanical Garden, Impara died last October after a battle with cancer. As the club prepares for this Saturday’s (Aug. 2) fair—the first without him—his absence is deeply felt.

Senta Stitch, a Valhalla resident and club master gardener, organizes the fair every year, and has been doing so for more than a decade. 

“He was amazing and wonderful to work with,” Stitch said of Impara. “He knew the name of every tree in North America.” 

Last week, club members even installed a sign Impara had made for the garden that educates about pollinators.

Stitch and her fellow volunteers are now carrying on the work Impara loved.

“He contributed greatly to that garden,” she said. “Ed was very proud of it.”

Free Fun

Running from 9 a.m. to noon, families will have the opportunity to learn more about butterflies and pollinator gardens. The event is free, and registration is optional through Mount Pleasant Parks and Recreation’s online portal.

“I think having a butterfly fair is cool,” Stitch said. “Butterflies are very important to the life cycle of the plant.”

There will be many different events at the club to educate and entertain families, such as crafting and gardening. 

“It’s a teaching garden about pollinators,” Stitch explained.

Most years, Stitch said, there is also a butterfly release.

“One year we had a butterfly hatch out and then it flew right on to [the shoulder] one of our members,” she said.

To raise money for the club, a “pollinator basket” with a variety of different pollinating plants is raffled off. 

“Our master gardeners put it together,” she said. “I’m sure that it costs over $150 to put it together with really beautiful plants.”

Feast for the Eyes

In addition to the fair, the club organizes flower installations for the Town of Mount Pleasant, holds a yearly plant sale to raise money for the group, and offers scholarships to students. 

“We give scholarships every year to two students [who] graduate from high school and want to go on to college in dealing with the environment they’re interested in, either plant science or the environment,” Stitch noted. 

She hopes Saturday’s event will teach families more about butterflies and their importance to the ecosystem. 

Three-fourths of the world’s flowering plants and 35 percent of the world’s food crop depend on pollinators like butterflies. In addition, butterflies play a vital role in maintaining a balanced biodiversity—the variety of plant and animal life within an ecosystem. 

Beyond all the important science, perhaps the most compelling reason to visit is simply witnessing the beauty.

“The garden means a lot,” Stitch said. “I think the garden will be pretty for the butterfly fair.”