Kids come together to plant butterfly garden at Leonard Reid House

By Ian Swaby
| 11:30 a.m. June 25, 2025

Jason Guillama, 4, prepares to place a plant into the garden.

Sarasota
Neighbors

The Sarasota African American Cultural Coalition (SAACC) first began talking with the Sarasota Butterfly Club at least a year and a half ago about an opportunity for the historic Leonard Reid House.

However, it was on June 24, during National Pollinator Week, their project of a butterfly garden at the historic home, which now serves as an African American cultural center, finally took shape.

Kids from Girls Inc., Precious Jewels Academy Learning Centers, and Star Lab had the chance to get their hands dirty as they learned skills like digging, placing plants into the dirt, and watering plants.

Landry Shorb, 6, and Lamaud Alexis, 5. — Landry Shorb, 6, and Lamaud Alexis, 5 of Star Lab work on the garden.

Afterward, kids enjoyed a session of Hula-Hooping outside.

"I think they loved it. I know they're going to be tired as soon as they get back and eat lunch," said Ronald Mathis II, COO of Precious Jewels Academy.

Volunteers from UF/IFAS Extension Sarasota County assisted planters, while plants were donated by Sarasota County Butterfly Club, Kaleidoscope Butterfly Nursery and EarthBox Garden Center

"That is what we want to do here at the Reid House," said Vickie Oldham, president and CEO of the SAACC. "Yes, it's about history, but it's about the environment too, and saving the planet, and understanding how plants and insects work together to help us."

Kids from multiple organizations planted flowers in the garden on June 24.

The flowers bring a touch of color, including red, yellow and blue to the landscape, and are intended to support butterflies and other pollinators, while the garden will also honor influential local historical figures through a legacy walkway set to be installed.

Another planting session is set to take place July 31.

According to a pamphlet created, the butterfly garden symbolizes the beauty, diversity, and resilience of African American culture.

The house belonged to Leonard Reid, who helped establish Sarasota's first Black community, Overtown, now the Rosemary District, and considered the “right-hand man” to Sarasota’s first mayor, J. Hamilton Gillespie.

Jordyn Hill, 4, and Armani Fordham, 11. — Jordyn Hill, 4, and Armani Fordham, 11, of Precious Jewels Academy work on the garden.

The SAACC raised the money to renovate the house, which was relocated from the Rosemary District to Newtown in 2022, and deeded to the city of Sarasota by a developer and leased to the SAACC.

Built in 1926, the house has a historic designation both locally and nationally.

Oldham said she was thankful for everyone who came together to accomplish the planting, including Mydahlia Glover of the SAACC, who she called "the glue that keeps all this together."

"That's what this house is about," she said. "This is what Black people did. They came together when they had little or nothing, and survived and then thrived in this community. It was just so beautiful to see Black kids, and white kids, and Hispanic kids working together. That was just so beautiful to me."

Correction: This article has been updated with the SAACC's correct website.

author

Ian Swaby

Ian Swaby is the Sarasota neighbors writer for the Observer. Ian is a Florida State University graduate of Editing, Writing, and Media and previously worked in the publishing industry in the Cayman Islands.