Butterfly Farm Caught On Fast

Butterfly Farm Caught On Fast 31-2-9 Tom and Donna Pless say their 6-year old butterfly farm has become so popular they're already turning down school groups who want to visit in May. "April, May, September and October are our busiest months," says Tom Pless. "Other months are starting to get busier now, too." He and his wife are making plans for day camps to build summer business. Kids who attend would get more in-depth training in how to work with monarch butterflies and the milkweed they depend on. Pless knows that getting kids to the butterfly farm is often the first step to getting entire families to visit. The family is following a 5-6 year business plan they developed before starting. While they could expand faster, they choose to let the business pay for itself as it goes, says Pless. "We have other things we're planning to do, but we don't want to move too fast," he says. The heart and soul of the farm is a 20 by 48-ft. screened flight house. It contains dozens of blooming plants and hundreds of monarchs. It also contains numerous milkweed plants, where female Monarchs lay their eggs and young caterpillars eat their fill. "My wife loves to raise the butterflies, and I love to present information about them," says Pless. "I am always surprised how much the adults seem to enjoy the presentations. Of course it isn't a boring lecture. It is a hands on experience, so most people get into it." School visits and adult group visits spill over into other income opportunities for the Plesses. They host birthday parties, supply butterflies for releases at weddings and even at funerals, where the monarchs often settle on the flowers around the casket. "People who have released butterflies at a funeral tell us that afterwards they often think of their loved one when they see a butterfly," says Pless. "We have also donated butterflies to hospices. It really becomes a ministry." Butterflies for release are priced by quantity. A set of four packets with four monarchs in each costs $120 plus shipping. A release of 50 in one container suggested for receptions is priced at $350. Farm visits are priced at $4 for children and $5 for adults. So far, they haven't had to do any advertising. News stories have spread the word helped along by a few unique events. "We had a young woman from the University of North Carolina come down to produce a story for the campus TV station," says Pless. "Later she submitted it to MSNBC, and it got picked up nationally." Helping out others has also paid back in more than sales. Last summer, the Plesses worked with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to host an event on the farm. Tickets were sold with the money going to the foundation. Restaurants and a winery set up booths and gave the profits to the foundation. Many people were introduced to the farm, but that wasn't the biggest dividend, says Pless. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, All-A-Flutter Butterfly Farm, 7850 Clinard Farms Road, High Point, N.C. 27265 (ph 336 454-5651; staff@all-a-flutter.com; www.all-a-flutter.com).

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