Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Volunteers gathered on Saturday to plant the half acre site at the Blue Mountain Station with a variety of wildflowers and other native plants that are attractive to a variety of pollinators, including the endangered Monarch butterfly. Jeff Keating, the Project Coordinator, cut the ribbon at the newly established Blue Mountain Butterfly Station.
On Saturday, May 2, a community planting and ribbon-cutting event was held for the Blue Mountain Butterfly Station.
The idea for the pollinator waystation grew from a discussion at a community town hall meeting in September 2025. Kathy Ellsworth spoke at the meeting on efforts to protect the Western Monarch population, which has declined by over 95% due to habitat loss and climate change.
Before the ribbon-cutting, Dayton Chamber of Commerce Director Brenda Larsen introduced project lead Jeff Keating to say a few words.
Keating said the garden was made possible through community support, including the use of the land and its irrigation system provided by the Port of Columbia. He also acknowledged their biggest sponsor, Puget Sound Energy, for its generous donation.
Keating thanked the Monarch Project committee members and the Dayton FFA for putting together flats of flowers and growing milkweed from plugs. He thanked Larsen and the Dayton Chamber of Commerce for their outstanding job of outreach on social media and advertising.
The Dayton Development Task Force will provide the 501(c)(3) non-profit status for contributions and grant applications. The Dayton Friends of the Library is donating metal garden signs with information about butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds. There are eight memorial garden benches that have dedication plaques.
Before Keating cut the ribbon, with his committee members at his side, he told the group why he took on the monarch butterfly project.
"I lost a granddaughter two months ago. She was 5 months old. During the memorial service, a butterfly landed on my daughter's hand and just sat there through most of the memorial service. Afterward, I started seeing butterflies everywhere. Then Kathy brought up the idea at the Town Hall meeting. I remembered my brother and his daughter did this, and I thought about Olivia. Olivia is going to have a memorial bench here as well. That is why this is so important to me. So here is to Olivia," said Keating.
After the ribbon was cut, the committee members went into the garden, found their plots, and started planting. Small, raised containers were available for children to plant and water seeds with donated colorful tools.
The garden will be a special place to enjoy for many years as it continues to grow.
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