The third annual Memorial Butterfly Release is set to be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at Boyle Park, 150 Grand Ave. in Mancos. The event offers community members a way to honor loved ones who have died. It is free and open to the public.
The event is hosted by Pasco Hospice and Pasco/SW’s Moving Mountains Foundation, Inc., a local nonprofit affiliated with The Finding Home Foundation, Inc., Melinda Smith, PASCO community liaison, said.
“The Memorial Butterfly Release is also part of Pasco Hospice’s annual bereavement efforts to provide an opportunity for families and community members to come together to remember, honor and celebrate the lives of those we have lost,” Smith told The Journal. “We wanted to create something meaningful where people could gather together, share their memories and find comfort in knowing they are not alone in their grief.”
The ceremony was formerly held at Cortez’s Montezuma Park, where it took place for the past two years, but has moved to Boyle Park to accommodate more people and to welcome participants from more communities in the area.
Attendees will release a butterfly in memory of a lost loved one. There will be 480 butterflies ready to be released. The first year, there were 250 butterflies, and last year there were 350.
“Going from 250 butterflies our first year to 350 the second year and now 480 this year has been incredibly meaningful to us,” Smith said. “It shows how much the event has grown and how many people want an opportunity to publicly honor and remember someone they love.”
All are welcome to attend, regardless of whether they have a connection to the hospice services or the foundation.
“Each butterfly is released by someone attending the event in memory of a loved one, and seeing hundreds of butterflies released together has become such a beautiful and emotional part of the ceremony,” Smith said.
Three food trucks ‒ Mona Makes, Yia Yia’s Greek Connections and Philly Cristos ‒ will provide complimentary meals. A DJ will also be on site, and free nonalcoholic beverages will be offered.
“We really wanted this to feel like a true community gathering, a place where people can come together, share a meal, remember those they love and support one another,” Smith said.
bduran@the-journal.com
