Arkansas Valley Hospice Memorial Butterfly Release Interview

Description: If you would like your loved ones name to be read during the service please call Arkansas Valley Hospice at: 719-384-8827 with the name to be honored. Please call ahead if you would like your loved one honored.


Published: 05/23/2023
Byline: SECO News

Arkansas Valley Hospice Memorial Butterfly Release Interview

SECO News: This is Adrian Hart with your Southeast Colorado News on seconews.org, and we are here with Arkansas Valley Hospice, Tara Castaneda coming up a couple big events for you guys, June 6th, it's the annual Memorial Butterfly release. Yeah. Can you give us some details?

AVH: Every year, hospice has done a butterfly release and memorial service to remember loved ones and keep their name in honor, to honor them in different things like that. So this year we are gonna have it at the Church of Christ. Here in La Junta at 10th and Cimarron, it's 921 Cimarron Avenue and it's at six o'clock, and so we're gonna have a name reading. If you'd like to include your loved one's name, give us a call. We'll have a benediction, some music, and then afterwards we'll have a really nice butterfly release. We do release real butterflies. People have asked about that. And wanted to know if it was balloons or butterflies. It is butterflies. And we'll have about a hundred that we release outside. It's really quite the beautiful experience.

SECO News: It is having the butterflies crawl on you, it is very special, right?

AVH: Yeah.

SECO News: It feels like you're bonding with nature.

AVH: Absolutely. Yes. And it has to be warm for them to fly off. So we're hoping for good weather that day. It's at six o'clock. On June 6th. And then afterwards we'll have light refreshments and some snacks and time just to talk and share memories with each other.

SECO News: All right. So that's coming up June the sixth. We're gonna put the map on the event page on seconews.org. Okay. And of course, lots of easy ways to get information just by contacting the hospice. If you want to have your loved one honored. How do you do that?

AVH: Yeah, you can give us a call at (719) 384-8827 and let any of the gals who answer the phone or if if one of the guys answers, just let 'em know that you'd like to include a loved one's name in, in the memorial reading, and we'll get their name listed in there. But we have the flyer on our website and we do have a Facebook page so we post all of our events and information on there. So please go and share.

SECO News: You have to appreciate the beginnings of this event being to honor folks who are in hospice care, and now you guys have opened ended to the public, huh?

AVH: Yes, absolutely. I can't remember off the top of my head how many years we've been doing the memorial service. I wanna say, they were been in business since 1985 as another.

SECO News: So they've probably been doing it for 30 years plus.

AVH: Yeah. And it's been in different forms. At one time there was a balloon release different things like that, and we do host it in a different town every year. Last year it was in Las Animas, and the year prior to that it was in Rocky Ford. It wasn't open to the public, and then in 2019, it was here in La Junta. So we try to go to the different towns and host it at a different church, and we invite the community to come. Your loved one does not have to have been on hospice services to be able to attend. If you want to include someone's name or you just want to come and see what it's like and support us and share in memories of loved ones just come on down and help support the hospice.

SECO News: Honor your loved ones. See your community. It's a fantastic event. Last year we were there. We did a live stream. We're gonna have some video coverage of it this year too. And for folks who can't be there we'll have some coverage and we of course wanna see you show up in person, and what a great opportunity to help the hospice too.

AVH: Yes, it is. It's very special to us and very special to our clinical staff, of course, and the administrative staff and people we've met along our journeys also.

SECO News: And of course, the butterfly, very symbolic with your organization as we find it on your logo and all your promotional content.

AVH: Very special.

SECO News: Yes. Absolutely. Awesome. Anything you wanna add, Tara?

AVH: Just give us a call if you have questions. Like I said, we have a Facebook page and our website, so come on down, and hopefully we can see you that day and enjoy with us in some memories and honoring our loved ones.

SECO News: Awesome. Thank you very much, Tara.

AVH: Thank you.

SECO News: For the Arkansas Valley Hospice and the People of Southeast Colorado. I'm Adrian Hart with your Southeast Colorado News.

Related Content:

Arkansas Valley Hospice 2021-22 Memorial Wall & Service Livestream

The Church of Christ is Located at 921 Cimarron Ave. in La Junta, Colorado



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