Story Hour!

Preschool Story Hour begins at 10am Thursday, August 23!  Children ages two to five are invited to attend with a parent, grandparent or caregiver. Story Hour is a time for old and new stories, games, puppets, songs, and simple crafts. There is no registration necessary; walk-ins are welcome!

PAXTON — Cindy and Kirby Pringle, owners of Dogtown Artworks in Tuscola, present "A Butterfly Extravaganza" from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 11, at the Paxton Carnegie Library, 254 S. Market St.

Cindy Pringle, the former Cindy Rose, is a native of Paxton and a graduate of Paxton High School and the University of Illinois.

"The Butterfly Extravaganza" features two of the Pringles' recently completed projects, a multimedia presentation, with music and voiceover, of their new book, "The Butterfly That Would Not Fly." The photo book features the couple's "dog people" characters, Earl and Pearl Barker, as they try to help a monarch butterfly overcome its fear of heights. Background music was provided by Bruce Parker of London, Ontario, Canada; the Strings Attached bluegrass band of Douglas County, Ill., and Don Thode of Tuscola, a member of the band.

The second part of the afternoon will be a documentary, filmed and edited by the Pringles. "The Plight of the Monarch Butterfly" is about the declining population of the monarch butterfly and how it is tied to loss of habitat — especially milkweed. The documentary includes rare footage of a monarch hatching from the egg, the caterpillar forming its chrysalis and the butterfly coming out of the chrysalis.

The documentary includes classical music by Will DeSelms of Roseville, Ill.

"The Plight of the Monarch Butterfly" is the Pringles' first documentary effort.

"We're really proud of the documentary," Kirby Pringle says. "It's the effort of a lot of work, especially by Cindy, who stayed up long hours to get some amazing footage. Nature lovers, especially fans of butterflies, I think will be thrilled with this documentary. It looks fantastic."

The husband-and-wife team will be signing copies of their new book and also have butterfly notecards and other items for sale.

The Pringles have their business at the Jarman Center in Suite 102. Cindy has established a monarch butterfly nursery that is open to the public located on the third floor of the building. The Pringles website is located at www.dogtownartworks.com and for more information feel free to call them at 217-689-4575.