Kanopolis, Kansas--In this small community, Luetta Havlik is known by local schoolchildren as The Butterfly Lady. She earned this title four years ago, when she donated a swallowtail caterpillar to her granddaughter Randi's kindergarten class in nearby Ellsworth. The 5-year-olds eagerly watched as the caterpillar metamorphosed into a butterfly with "stained-glass-window wings," Luetta, 66, recalls.
Now that her four local grandchildren are in school, Luetta and her husband, Laddie, 79, have ended up planting more and more dill in her garden to attract butterflies and keep up with the increasing demand. Luetta now tries to provide each of her grandchildren's classes with at least one caterpillar every year. She hopes her gifts to the school will instill all the town's children with an appreciation of nature, but she is also simply pleased to contribute to her own grandchildren's education.
