Pollination Celebration Day

Come and celebrate the pollinators in our world at Hitchcock’s first Pollination Celebration Day! We will have events and activities for the whole family, including honey tasting, a pollinator scavenger hunt, and a monarch migration obstacle course. Make your own wings and march in our pollinator parade! See a demonstration of how to make your own waterproof beeswax container lids! Attend our workshop on how to make your garden more friendly to pollinators! And of course, learn about magnificent monarch butterflies, learn how to tag them, keep track of them and contribute to science. Bring a picnic and stay for the whole thing! This event is rain or shine.

Sunday, September 23, 11am-3pm
Members: $4 Children/$7 Adults
Non-members: $5 Children/$8 Adults
Buy tickets in advance. Tickets will also be available at the door!

Sponsored by:
Western Massachusetts Master Gardener Association and Shumway Services

While you’re visiting for Pollination Celebration Day…

Stop by Hitchcock’s Community Gallery located in the Community Meeting Room to view the current exhibit — MELTING ICE AND RISING SEAS: Environments at Risk: Greenland by Rhea Banker, and have a chance to bid on your favorite pieces in a silent auction. All proceeds benefit the Hitchcock Center’s programming. Silent auction bidding will continue at our next Second Saturday Science day on October 13th. Or, look for the “Buy It Now” price to take home the piece you love right away!

POLLINATION CELEBRATION SCHEDULE

11:00am-3:00pm Caterpillar Lab
The Caterpillar Lab is not to be missed! The Lab will bring their live caterpillar program to the Hitchcock Center featuring a range of amazing native caterpillars featured on their local food plants.

11:00am-1:00pm Beeswax Food Cloth Demonstration
Did you know that beeswax can be used to make reusable and compostable food storage wraps? They can be a great alternative to single-use plastic and you can make them at home! Come learn about the process and the few simple ingredients needed to make your own substitute for single-use sandwich bags, snack bags, and plastic wrap.

11:00-1:00pm Wing Making and Face Painting
Who do you want to be in the Pollinator Parade – a monarch butterfly, a honeybee, a hummingbird? Decorate wearable wings, have your face painted, or just make a pollinator on a stick you can march with at this crafty table!

12:00pm-12:30pm Pollinator Gardening Workshop
The Western Mass Pollinator Network s a non-profit, all-volunteer grassroots project formed in 2016 with a goal of inspiring the creation of 1,001 Pollinator Gardens in western Mass. Come to a short workshop about easy things you can do to make your own yard more friendly to pollinators and tour some of the Hitchcock Center’s native pollinator plantings. www.wmassbees.org

12:30-2:30pm Pollinator Obstacle Course
Migrating to Mexico is not easy for monarch butterflies! Try the migration obstacle course to see the challenges these butterflies face on their journey!

1:00pm Pollination Parade & Picnic
Bring your wings and pollinators on a stick! We’ll march around the Hitchcock Center and “pollinate” flowers along the way!

1:30-2:00pm Bee Hotel Demonstration and Building
There are many kinds of bees that need our help. One way you can do that is to make a simple bee hotel for your backyard out of bamboo! Visit the UMASS Entomology Outreach Club table to learn about these bees and make your own bee hotel to take home.

2:00-3:00pm Monarch Tagging Demonstration and Collecting
Get up close and personal with monarch butterflies! Learn all about the monarch life cycle. Help catch, tag, and release monarchs as they begin their annual migration to Mexico.
Who do you want to be in the Pollinator Parade – a monarch butterfly, a honeybee, a hummingbird? Decorate wearable wings, have your face painted, or just make a pollinator on a stick you can march with at this crafty table!

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Hitchcock Center for the Environment