Nathaniel Hunt was soaking wet, but he didn’t care.
His butterfly had emerged from its tiny cardboard container and opted to stick around, perched on his finger, as a beaming Nathaniel showed him off to a Langley Advance Times photographer.
If Nathaniel seemed to have a good instinct for the best camera angle, it might have had something to do with the fact that his grandfather, the man whose memory he was honouring, was the late Harry Hunt, who used to take photos for the Aldergrove Star newspaper.
Harry Hunt’s daughter Laura and son Bob attended the sixth annual butterfly release at Krause Berry Farms.
“Dad did it for two years after mom passed,” Laura explained.
“Then he passed, and we took it over.”
About 400 butterflies were released into the rain-soaked garden at Krause on Saturday afternoon (August 10th).
While there was some concern that the butterflies might be sluggish due to the cool weather, it seemed that most only needed a few moments to get accustomed to the weather once a box was opened, then fluttered away.
On woman exclaimed with delight that her butterfly hung around for half an hour, and ended up, finally, on one of the flowers with its tongue extended to sip the nectar.
“It’s still here,” she said, delighted.
READ MORE: Big turnout for annual Langley butterfly release
For Linda Mortimer, a former Aldergrove resident who now lives in Abbotsford, it was her first butterfly release.
She was there to mark the passing of her father, Claude, and her grandmother, who, Mortimer said, everyone knew as simply “Baka.”
With Mortimer was Helga Murphy, also from Abbotsford, there to honour the memory of her older sister Hilda, who passed away from ALS.
Murphy said she liked the fact the money from the event went to support the Langley Hospice society, one of the two agencies, along with the Langley Lodge, that benefit from the event.
“It’s nice,” Murphy said.
Laurie Patterson from Abbotsford was there to honour the memory of her mother, Florence Lucko, who passed away at the age of 54 in 1996.
“I’m 54, and she was 54,” Patterson said.
She was also there to remember her son Gregory, who died from sudden infant death syndrome 30 year ago.
“It;s a nice way to release and let go.” Patterson said.
Funds from the event benefit the Langley Hospice Society — www.langleyhospice.com — who provide palliative and bereavement care and support to individuals and families, and the Langley Care Foundation, that operates the Langley Lodge — www.langleylodge.org.
More photos of the Saturday butterfly release can be viewed online.
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Email: dan.ferguson@langleyadvancetimes.com
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