Bees, please: It’s Garden City’s 1st Pollination Celebration

Garden City bears a proud title, Bee City USA. It’s part of a national initiative to get cities across the country to advocating for bees and other pollinators and building a sustainable environment for them to thrive.

Garden City will host its first-ever Pollination Celebration, Friday, Oct. 7 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Garden City Library Legacy Courtyard. The library is located at Garden City’s City Hall, 6015 N. Glenwood St.

Events include a film, “Wings of Life” at 7:20 p.m. This movie, part of the Disney nature series, will detail the beauty of pollinators and their key roles in creating a livable ecosystem. The screening is free.

An Idaho Pizza food truck will be there, too, along with a surprise guest who may be human, may be animal, or a combination of the two.

Garden expert (and star of the Idaho Statesman’s ongoing and always entertaining “Dig In” garden video series) Debbie Courson Smith will have houses for native bees, butterflies and moths on display. She’ll also hand out around 500 packets of milkweed seed. Monarch butterflies must have milkweed to lay their eggs.

Pollination celebrants will also enjoy educational activity booths, Greenbelt tours, guest speakers, a native plant sale and poster contest awards. Note: anyone who wants to participate in the Smokey Bear and Woodsy the Owl poster coloring contest must submit their posters by 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 7 to be eligible for prizes. Get more details at the library, 208-472-2940.

This story was originally published October 6, 2016 at 7:08 AM with the headline "Bees, please: It’s Garden City’s 1st Pollination Celebration."