Panhandle Butterfly House & Nature Center
The 24-year partnership between Keep Santa Rosa Beautiful and the Panhandle Butterfly House has come to an end.
Late last week the Panhandle Butterfly House & Nature Center Inc. announced on its Facebook page that the butterfly house committee was fired and locked out of the property on Henry Street.
Keep Santa Rosa Beautiful Executive Director Kevin Smith confirmed the news Tuesday afternoon. He said the four unpaid volunteers who work for the butterfly house wanted to start their own 501c3 (nonprofit). Keep Santa Rosa Beautiful also severed ties with the University of Florida/IFAS, which was a partner organization.
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Jenny Weber of Panhandle Butterfly House & Nature Center talks about the nonprofit s move to Milton.
After more than two decades in Navarre, the Panhandle Butterfly House & Nature Center is planning to re-open this summer in a new location with more space and a mission to teach “beyond the butterfly.”
“We’re coming back out of our chrysalis, we’re gonna fly,” said Jenny Weber, president of the Panhandle Butterfly House & Nature Center. “This is so exciting it’s ridiculous.”
Weber is the “volunteer in charge,” as she calls it, spearheading the efforts to create a permanent home for the nonprofit.