FLIGHT CLUB
by Ada Takacs
I was excited to retire a few years ago, but it was also a time of many unknowns. Would I continue to spend my days doing things I love? How could I find people with as much passion as my co-workers? Could I continue to be of service to my community? In short, am I going to find joy?
If given the opportunity to chat with our future selves, I believe the lesson would often be, “Things are going to be okay.”
The Garden
The 27-acre Botanic Garden in Traverse City, Michigan is located on what was once the working farm of the State Asylum, on land known for healing and beauty. Today, there is an additional focus that includes environmental stewardship, historic preservation and research. The Botanic Garden’s “Flight Club” checks all these boxes.
What is Flight Club?
This is the third year Garden volunteers have tagged Monarch butterflies to collect data and assist Monarch Watch, a non-profit organization that works to increase habitat and track populations. We call the program “Flight Club” — and we love talking about it!
New this year, Flight Club members donated to support habitat and educational programming. $100 level supporters were invited to spend the day learning about the Monarch’s life cycle, how to identify their sex in chrysalis and butterfly form and place their own tags in hopes to track them to Mexico. While still in peril, mostly due to loss of winter habitat in Mexico and breeding grounds in the United States, the winter habitat nearly doubled from 2.2 acres to 4.4 acres last year, a step in the right direction.
Michigan experiences three to four generations of Monarchs who produce offspring in their short 2 to 6 weeks of life throughout the summer. It’s not until the fourth “super generation” that colder weather lets them know it’s time to head to Central Mexico to hunker down. This generation lives 6 to 9 months; their reproduction cycle put on hold until warmer days that allow for their return to northern breeding grounds.
The Joyful Impacts of Flight Club
I came home smiling every day I spent with Flight Club members. A husband and wife joined to celebrate their anniversary. Four teens benefited from anonymous supporters who paid for the experience but asked that it be given to others. A grandmother said her grandsons were more engaged than she had seen in years.
The expression “It’s like herding butterflies!” is an accurate depiction. Flight Club members must have a high level of flexibility and patience. After all, the program heavily relies on the weather and, most importantly, butterflies. It was a rainy, cold day when a young family came to tag. We did not find any willing Monarchs, but young Peter made a discovery: the name LC Evans and the date Oct 3, [19]04, carved into the mortar of a stone wall that none of our founders or volunteers had noticed before. This previously lost piece of history is now highlighted during many of our free docent-led tours.
I learned oodles from Lillie Chont, a powerhouse volunteer who leads the team who upkeeps the “Maple Allee” in front of the Visitor Center. They lovingly tend to the Blazing Star (liatris) and many other plants that the Monarchs frequent in August and September. It was Lillie who modified our nets because the barbed taste receptors on the butterfly’s feet were getting caught in the nets. You read that right, Monarchs taste with their feet!
I was also honored to spend the day with four generations of Groleaus tagging butterflies; Judith, her son Micheal (Anne), their son Christopher and his son Finley. Four generations of humans came together to care for the fourth generation of Monarchs at their local garden. I can’t think of a better way to spend the day.
The Things We Grow
Yes, The Botanic Garden grows flowers, including pollinator plants and habitat for multiple species, but we also grow community. We grow future generations who become nature’s caretakers. We grow kindness. We grow relationships that flourish.
We grow joy.
Ada Takacs retired in 2022 from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources after 35 years of work in conservation and outdoor education. She is a volunteer and Board Member at The Botanic Garden at Historic Barns Park. For additional information about monarchs, visit www.monarchwatch.org. Want to volunteer at The Botanic Garden? Contact volunteer@thebotanicgarden.org. You can join the 2026 season Flight Club waitlist by emailing ada@thebotanicgarden.org
