Metamorphosis takes place at park section
Girl Scouts create a butterfly garden in North Brunswick
BY JENNIFER AMATO
Staff Writer

JENNIFER AMATO The North Brunswick Girl Scouts are creating a Butterfly Garden at the Community Park on Route 130 to attract insects as well as residents so they can enjoy and appreciate nature.

NORTH BRUNSWICK - Once they become butterflies, caterpillars spread their wings and prepare to fly. The idea behind the Girl Scouts is much the same, transitioning from a 5-year-old girl to a 17-year-old young woman, experiencing life along the way.

Therefore, it seems fitting that the 14 Girl Scout troops in North Brunswick would be chosen to help create a Butterfly Garden at the North Brunswick Community Park, located off Route 130.

At the suggestion of Lou Ann Benson, the director of the Department of Parks, Recreation & Community Services, and under the direction of Girl Scout leader Debbie Druker, the 1-acre tract across from the old farmhouse and the new Dog Park will become a home for the Scouts and a sanctuary for all residents.

"Everyone is so busy with technology and work and family, but hopefully if they come here they will be able to breathe a little and enjoy nature," said Debbie's daughter, Rachel, one of the Girl Scouts.

JENNIFER AMATO Girl Scouts Rachel Druker, left, and Kate Siegel tend to the new Butterfly Garden being constructed at the North Brunswick Community Park on Route 130, digging holes in which to place their plants.

With the Scouts working on the project for only about six weeks thus far, the garden is already taking shape - a butterfly shape. The areas allotted to each individual troop are organized as a butterfly's wings and body, with antennas soon to come. The Scouts put in their time, using their cookie-selling money to design the size and decoration of their piece of land. However, the Drukers have been handling the majority of the work, spending 30 to 40 hours a week, primarily on the weekends, making the area look presentable.

"It shows them working together as a troop and working together as the Girl Scouts," Scout Kate Siegel said of the collaborative effort. "The whole troop makes a little plot and all of the plots make the whole butterfly garden."

To start the project, Matt Brigandi, a custodian at Parsons Elementary School, used a machine to clear out the land and dig out the paths and David Moskowitz, of the East Brunswick Environmental Commission, who helped design his township's butterfly garden, helped form the butterfly shape.

Underneath the entrance sign, which was made by the North Brunswick Parks Department, is a Friendship Garden which has the word "peace" painted on rocks in several different languages as well as various Girl Scout slogans. Next to the sign is a wooden bench Rachel and her father built, with the words "Who said a Girl Scout can't build a bench?" burned into it. It has room underneath to store equipment and a Scout box.

There are various benches located throughout the garden, some of which memorialize those who have passed away, such as the one dedicated by Fire Company No. 3 in honor of volunteers Ronald Stamm and Bob Simon, and some of which will be built by the Boy Scouts. The boys will also build an informational kiosk and a bird house to add to the garden.

John D'Angelo of the township's First Aid & Rescue Squad is helping build a bridge for the garden, symbolic of when the scouts walk across a bridge when they change levels, according to Debbie Druker, and an art teacher at Parsons is painting butterflies onto slate rocks.

In addition, with the assistance of Debbie Henry, a fellow Scout leader and a master gardener, a multitude of flowers have been planted. Parsons secretary Michele Ameduri offered money toward pots and Donna Tomaso of the PTA purchased 40 to 50 annual flowers. The North Brunswick Police Department donated bushes and the first aid squad donated a water tub and fish, while the nurseries at Agway, Ferris, Maples, DeVries, Pascerella, Crossroads and Wal-Mart have also made generous donations, according to Debbie Druker.

To add a colorful contrast to the green of the grass, North Brunswick Construction Materials provided six tons of rocks and four tons of mulch to fill in the spaces, and Budget Tree of East Brunswick has offered an unlimited amount of wood chips and red rocks.

"I know we do work, the Girl Scouts, but it's unbelievable when other people want ... to come out and help us," Debbie Druker said. "It's really becoming a nice community event. Even though we're overseeing it, the community has really come out."

And their work has already paid off: butterflies are abundant in the area, along with deer, wild turkeys, morning doves and hawks.

"They're here. It's the most fantastic thing. There's the old saying, if you build it, they will come. We're building it and they're coming," she said.

The next phase of the project is the completion of a small pathway lined with spruces leading into a bird watching area. Debbie Druker wants to clear out the weeds, spray for ticks and install benches so that residents can relax, listen to bird calls and observe the different species which call North Brunswick home. There will also be a shaded area which the Scouts will clean up so that residents can sit and relax without baking in the sun.

Overall, the butterfly garden will serve as a way to come back to nature, a location to enjoy the scenery and sounds of the environment and a method to teach children how to respect nature, according to Debbie Druker, and not pull weeds, pick flowers or chase geese.

"Once you see it you don't want to destroy it," Siegel said.

A dedication ceremony is planned for September, during which the troops will give tours and provide information about butterflies. There will be different butterfly-themed crafts and activities to inspire residents to visit more often. There also may be a fundraiser in which rocks can be painted for $1 and placed into the garden to add to the sense of the community.

Although the entire project is volunteer-based, in the future scouts may be able to earn patches by participating in various butterfly and gardening projects held at the site. They also hope to hold their meetings out there.

"It's like we finally have a home, almost," Debbie Druker said. "This is the first place that's ours."

Anyone wishing to make a donation, monetarily or otherwise, can contact Druker at (732) 514-9408 or at 10 Redwood Road, North Brunswick 08902.