"Mother Monarch" to give Sept. 19 presentation on butterflies at the Environmental Education Center

The Somerset County Park Commission's Environmental Education Center will present "Mother Monarch," author and illustrator Mindy Lighthipe, from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 19. Registration is not required for the free program at the EEC, at 190 Lord Stirling Road in Basking Ridge.

Lighthipe will entertain children ages 4 to ten, with a parent, by reading her book, "Mother Monarch," and instructing children on techniques for painting a Monarch butterfly.  The book is available for purchase at the Environmental Education Center gift shop. Lighthipe will autograph the purchased book following the reading.

Lighthipe recently was awarded a silver medal at the London Orchid Show at the Royal Horticultural Society. Her work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions in museums and galleries throughout the United States and abroad, including the Denver Museum of Natural History; the New Jersey State Museum in Trenton; the New York Botanical Garden Gallery in the Bronx; the Frelinghuysen Arboretum in Morristown, New Jersey; the Thomas Center Mezzanine Gallery in Gainesville, Florida; the Aviarios del Caribe Galeria in Costa Rica, and many others.
  
Information may be obtained online at www.somersetcountyparks.org or by calling the Environmental Education Center at 908-766-2489, or at NJ Relay 711 for individuals with a hearing or speech impairment.