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Bikes, Bees & Butterflies

Two years ago I was given the opportunity to work with my next door neighbor, Ann Cicarella, developing her new start-up business Bikes, Bees & Butterflies. What began as a hobby for Ann has now become her main priority. Ann is a retired landscape designer who made her mere interests become something so much more. She began Bikes, Bees & Butterflies because of her interest in bee keeping and has been able to make a great change in the city of Cleveland. She has integrated pollinator gardens into landscape architecture, advocating for healthy and diverse pollinator populations.

Bikes, Bees & Butterflies is a non-profit organization that serves to promote the creation of sustainable urban pollinator habitats around the city of Cleveland. Ann Cicarella has been successful in integrating pollinator habitats into suburban landscapes through her landscape design business.

I have had the opportunity to experience what it is like building the company from the ground up and establishing a name for yourself. What has made Ann’s company so successful is her drive and desire to make our city a place where pollinators can thrive. This organization is an example of a small change that can end up having a big difference in our society. It’s just like the Village Garden Club that saved the Shaker Lakes from being turned into a freeway in 1966, one advocate for our native pollinators can change our environment forever.

We have begun to reach others such as ourselves through our second annual Cleveland Pollinator Symposium. We will be partnering with Case Western Reserve University to host our second annual Cleveland Pollinator Symposium on October 22, 2016 at Case Western Reserve University’s Squire Valleevue Farm. Attendees will have the opportunity to listen to speakers such as Michele Colopy, the program director of the Pollinator Stewardship Council, Jennifer Davit, the Project Manager at Ohio Prairie Nursery, and Steve Repasky, President of Burgh Bees. The symposium will run from 8:00am to 5:00pm teaching about the ways in which you can make a positive difference in our community and world as a whole.

Bikes, Bees & Butterflies

Blog Author: Allie Dumas, Education Intern

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