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- Tim Reinbott celebrated his final butterfly release at Jefferson Farm on Wednesday.
- Reinbott, retiring after 40 years, coordinated with Michigan Butterfly Farm for the event.
COLUMBIA, Missouri — One hundred butterflies were delivered and released at Jefferson Farm and Garden Wednesday morning, just days before the 9th Annual Butterfly Festival.
Tim Reinbott, who's been working as the director of field operations and communication at the University of Missouri Extension for nearly 40 years, release day is one of his favorites.
"To me, this the culmination of all that we do in our research programs, in our outreach," Reinbott said.
In early May, Reinbott started talking to Michigan Butterfly Farm about what butterflies MU Extension was seeking for Jefferson Farm and Garden. Jefferson Farm had a lack of variety of butterfly species, so MU Extension requested specific species from the Michigan farm.
The butterflies were shipped just before 3 p.m. Tuesday, and they arrived at Jefferson Farm around 10 a.m. Wednesday.
The butterflies were shipped in cooled envelopes. FedEx delivered the package, and once it was opened and the butterflies adjusted to the warm weather, they started flying around their new home.
"What's so nice is that it brings together the insect as well as the plant (and it) all comes together, and that benefits all of us in the food that we eat, so the release is such a fun time to see them come to life," Reinbott said.
Reinbott is retiring this year after four decades of serving. Saturday will mark his last festival as an MU Extension employee. But he said he plans to continue his research on butterfly habitats.
"This was very special when we got the butterflies and unpacked them today knowing it will be the last time I get to do this," Reinbott said.
Second-graders from Hallsville saw the Wednesday butterfly release on their first field trip of the summer.
Macy Atwood, the kindergarten through second grade teacher, gives a butterfly unit every school year.
"When we do our butterfly unit, they don't get a lot of opportunities to interact with them, and it's only a couple butterflies, so to have ... 100 butterflies flying around, they were really excited to get to see them so close," Atwood said.
