
DATE: Thursday, May 22, 1997                TAG: 9705200110

SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS         PAGE: 02   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: ON THE TOWN 

                                            LENGTH:   88 lines

HERE'S YOUR CHANCE TO DANCE WITH BUTTERFLIES AT THE ZOO SOIREE

Have you ever danced with a butterfly? If not, the opportunity beckons in the form of 300 live free-flying butterflies that will be visiting the Virginia Zoo, starting Friday, through June 8.

A ``Butterfly Soiree'' will take place Friday night at the zoo, from 7 to 10 p.m., featuring the visiting butterflies, along with music, hors d'oeuvres and beverages. Tickets, at $25 per person are limited to 250 guests.

Well, I've had bees in my bonnet and ants in my pants - at least that's what my mother used to say when I fidgeted around too much - but I've never yet danced with a butterfly.

This is the second year the traveling ``Dancing Butterflies'' exhibit has visited the Virginia Zoo, according to Debbie Thomas, director of special events.

``Last year we had an average of 900 visitors a day over the seven-day period they were here, and this year they will be on exhibit for 17 days,'' she noted. Attendance during May and June can range anywhere from 20,000 to 40,000 visitors each month, depending on weather factors, she said.

The exhibit will be housed in a 3,000-square-foot aviary, filled with a thousand blooming plants, and visitors will tramp through a butterfly-filled world, touching shoulders with the likes of White Peacock, Morning Cloak, Giant Swallowtail, monarch and other beautiful butterflies, including the impressively named P. Heracildes cresphontes, which sounds more like a Mediterranean ambassador than a butterfly.

The 300 live butterflies in the aviary are drawn from 15 to 20 species, according to Thomas.

``People will walk through the aviary and the butterflies will land on them, on their shoulders and heads,'' she said. ``We ask that they do not touch the butterflies. We'll have people at the exits to gently shoo or remove them.''

As for the Butterfly Soiree, it will be a semi-formal event, featuring music by guitarist Sam Dorsey, with hors d'oeuvres by the Norfolk Waterside Marriott, and coffees and desserts from First Colony Coffee. The New Leaf Florist in Norfolk will contribute arrangements for tables for guests to sit and relax. A special preview of the butterflies will begin at 6:30 p.m.

``We'll also have a silent auction, from 7 to 9:30 p.m., with prizes including a private plane trip to Tangier Island for a picnic lunch, private cruises on boats belonging to zoo board members, weekend getaways, flower arrangements and more,'' said Thomas.

``And if you consider that the $25 ticket for the event covers the $3.50 admission to the zoo, and the additional admission charge for the Dancing Butterflies exhibit, that accounts for $6.50 of the ticket price, which makes the soiree a bargain,'' she added.

Another special event connected with the exhibit is ``The Pilot's Eye to Eye with a Butterfly Kid's Day,'' from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 31, featuring games, arts and crafts, a scavenger hunt and many other activities focusing on butterflies and caterpillars. It's free for kids 2 to 11, once you've paid the $1.75 zoo admission fee.

Admission to the Virginia Zoo is $3.50 for adults and $1.75 for children 2 through 11, while admission to the Dancing Butterflies exhibit is $3 for adults and $2 for senior citizens and children 2 through 11.

The exhibit, which will also display the free-flying butterflies in all four stages of their life cycle in a specially recreated habitat, is open during regular zoo hours, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., daily. Call 626-0803 for more information on the exhibit.

For more information on the Butterfly Soiree, or to reserve a ticket, call 624-9937. Remember the event is set for Friday night, and tickets are limited to 250.

News of things to come: Look for the Rusty Pelican Restaurant to open sometime this summer at 324 Granby St., in the portion of the Downtown Athletic Club that was once the Atrium Restaurant. I spoke briefly with Executive Chef Dave Gilley, who said that his restaurant experience in Florida and Maine had prepared him for working with local seafood. He added that he hoped for a mid-to-late June opening. ILLUSTRATION: Photos by SAM MARTINETTE

Zookeeper Lisa Behm shows off the monarch butterfly she designed for

the ``Dancing Butterflies'' exhibit.

Someday these caterpillars will become monarch butterflies.

Graphic

AT A GLANCE

What: Butterfly Soiree, featuring hors d'oeuvres, beverages,

coffees, desserts, a silent auction and admission to a special

preview of the ``Dancing Butterflies'' exhibit

When: Friday, 7 to 10 p.m.

Where: The Virginia Zoo, 3500 Granby St.

Tickets: $25 per person, limited to 250.

Information: Call 624-9937