Our March 14th program will have a change of venue! We are partnering with the Audubon Society and holding this special speaker series at the Audubon Center at Riverlands. Cindy and Kirby Pringle will show their 22-minute documentary film which looks at the causes behind the declining population of the monarch, the lifecycle of the butterfly and what people can do to help reverse the trend. The husband-and-wife team will also talk about how they became interested in monarch butterflies and why they decided to make the film, which has been shown on the PBS affiliate in Charleston, Ill. The couple will also answer questions after the presentation.
The Pringles have worked together as professional photographers and authors for 25 years. They have completed three books together, The Butterfly That Would Not Fly, Happy Tails: The Call of Nature, and Happy Tails: Earl and Pearl on the Farm. Their photos have been published in magazines, calendars, greeting cards, billboards, and even an independent film. They have a studio in Tuscola, Ill. The two are currently working on another short film project that shows the importance of goldenrod, a native wildflower, to the fall migration of monarchs. They are also in the midst of restarting a program known as Roadsides for Wildlife, to encourage homeowners, landowners and farmer tenants not to mow or spray herbicides. The goal is instead get landowners to plant native prairie plants to help increase the population of pollinators like the monarch butterfly, native bumblebees and the honeybee, along with grassland birds like the Eastern meadowlark, the dickcissel, the red-winged blackbird, pheasants, and others.
Attendees and friends are invited to have dinner and meet the speakers at Princivalli's Restaurant, 602 E 3rd St, Alton, IL 62002, starting at 5:30 p.m. The program will follow at 7:30pm at the Audubon Center at Riverlands, 301 Riverlands Way, just across the Clark Bridge in West Alton, MO. For questions or concerns, please contact Chris Krusa via email or phone at 410-490-5024.
