Some collaborators and I have scheduled and planned a celebration of all things pollinators and native plants. This will be a family friendly event held at Gooseberry Park in Moorhead, MN on June 17, 2025 from 4 pm to 8 pm. A variety of activities will take place, including a "facelift" for one of the needy, weedy garden areas near the playground. Before the event, the organizing team will select a site and prepare it for planting native plants to support pollinators and other wildlife. Adults and children will be invited to plant plugs of native plants appropriate for the spot. The organizational team will add educational signage and continue to care for the site. In addition to the plug planting, we will have printed educational material to share and a display about the importance of native plants. We will have a variety of activities, such as seed paper making, bee house making, planting echinacea seeds to take home, stories about pollinators, plants and birds, a tree walk, face painting and food.

In addition to supporting one of Moorhead's parks by reviving a garden area, our big goal is to provide hands on education about native plants. We hope to encourage community members to continue learning about the importance of native plants. We will provide hands on experience and information to help citizens gain confidence and interest in adding native plants to landscapes in our parks, public spaces, commercial and city spaces and even private yards. We hope to build a movement to increase native habitat and wildlife in our urban spaces, to beautify our city, to enrich our quality of life, and to support our ecosystem.

The team supporting this project are:
*Jillian Patrie, University of Minnesota Extension
*Crystal Rayamajhi, U of M Extension
*Noelle Harden, U of M Extension
*Sydney Stock, U of M Extension Master Gardener Intern
*Martha Wheeler, U of M Extension Master Gardener Intern