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monarch butterfly

MONARCH BUTTERFLY

MONARCH BUTTERFLY

The Monarch (Danaus Plexippus) is one of our most beautiful butterflies. They are colorful, graceful, one of our major pollinators and a lovely sight to see.  The Monarch chrysalis is a beautiful green and gold pod.  Have you noticed fewer cruising in your yard and garden than in past years?  At one time they could be counted in the billions but currently the count is more like a few hundred thousand that migrate in the fall every year to Mexico then return in the spring in an adventure that is very hazardous.  The Center for Food Safety (centerforfoodsafety.org) monitors the Monarch and has stated that it is in danger of extinction.

Why do we care about Monarch Butterflies?  We care about all insect pollinators because without them we would not have the fruits, vegetables and nuts, etc that we need to survive and Monarchs make up a large percentage of that group.

What can you do to help? The Monarchs depend specifically on Milkweed plants for laying eggs and sustaining the caterpillars when they hatch. It is the only plant they will eat so without milkweeds there would be no Monarchs.  Current farming methods and the desire for great expanses of residential lawns have eliminated huge areas where milkweeds can grow.  But you can help by planting milkweed in your perennial flower beds and any other space you have available.  The Common milkweed, Swamp milkweed and Butterfly milkweed are hardy in our area and equally good for Monarch food and nectar. The adult Monarchs collect nectar from many plants and trees so maintaining a variety of blooming perennials in your yard and garden is also helpful.

For addional information about the Monarch Butterfly, check the following websites:

livemonarch.comnature.org, and monarchwatch.org or books at the Saline District Library: Monarch magic! : butterfly activities & nature discoveries/Lynn Rosenblatt(ages 4-12),

How to raise monarch butterflies : a step-by-step guide for kids / Carol Pasternak,

The monarch butterfly / by Judith Pinkerton Josephson ; edited by Judy Lockwood

.monarch_butterfly    chrsyallis

Welcome to Our Parks!

Welcome to our parks! Come see the two gems of York Township, Sandra Richardson and Mary McCann Parks. Through the efforts of donations, grants, and volunteers, the two parks are a go to destination when you want to get away from the hectic daily life routine. One can walk through the woods on a sunny winter’s day and enjoy the sunshine peeking down through the trees. Enjoy a walk on a summer’s day, listening to the wind as it blows through the aspen or oaks or maples and see the bounty of birds that have made the parks their home. In the spring time and fall, watch area teams as they compete in the game of soccer. Come especially in the fall when the trees are displaying their beautiful fall colors for all to see. Talk a walk through the parks early in the morning and you might see a deer or other wildlife peeking at you through the brush.

The two parks offer different trails of scenic beauty on their own. Mary McCann Park offers scenic trails along with educational aspects of returning the land to its more natural growth through progressive plantings. Sandra Richardson offers many different aspects for one to see and explore. In both parks, one can catch a view of a prairie, filled with wild flowers in the summer, enjoy the quiet, restful environment of a deep woods walk, or explore the little more open areas and trails, all the while being outdoors and resting the soul.

Come see our parks! You’ll be pleasantly surprised.

York Township Parks Loses Stalwart Committee Member and Volunteer

On August 28, 2014, York Township lost a great friend of its parks when Donald Hasselbach passed away after a prolonged illness. Don was one of those unsung heroes who was better known for his work than for his bluster. It was easy to overlook Don.

Like those men of metal that were cast as integral parts of the toy tractors we played with as children, Don most often appeared as a fixture of the Ford, John Deere, Massey, or other tractor that perceptive park passers-by noted manicuring the trails or other grassy spaces in Sandra Richardson Park (SRP). They may also have made note of a red pick-up trailering one of those tractors over the roads between his home near SRP and Mary McCann Park on Warner Road, the township’s other park.

Don was the unofficial maintenance man for the parks. He fell into that role naturally after joining the Parks Committee in 2007 (?), when development work in MMP required rototilling small plots for wildflower gardens, spraying larger areas and then tilling and planting them to prairies and Pheasants Forever plots.

From that beginning, Don expanded his work to include any and every task that required a tractor and equipment of a certain size. And Don had every tractor and piece of equipment any park manager could wish for. Don was a collector…not only of the real items, but also of all manner of related farm and construction memorabilia , including the aforementioned toy replicas of his favorite mechanical devices.

Earlier in his long and varied life, he had had lots of experience with those machines. He was born on and grew up on a farm in what is now one of Detroit’s thriving western suburbs. And a good part of his working life was spent with the Wayne County Road Commission, where he brought his talents to bear on the state of the roads and rights-of-way.
The next time you pass by one of York Township’s parks — or better yet, take time to enjoy their natural settings with a leisurely stroll along their paths — take a moment to mentally pay tribute to a man you may not have known, but one who helped create the restful and beautiful place you are then enjoying.

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