Established 1936 – John A. Collins, President

EMBASSY SUITES BY HILTON, GRAND RAPIDS DOWNTOWN

Big E's Sports Grille

710 Monroe Avenue NW, Grand Rapids

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4, 2025 – 7:15 AM

When I was in elementary school in Flint, Michigan, to get to the school, several of us trespassed through a part of a working farm, then crossed Gilkey Creek on stones – sometimes getting wet – and finally getting to the school, usually on time. While on our adventure, we observed nature at all seasons of the year and gained a great respect for it. Mary Jane Dockeray had similar experiences as a child.

In 1949, Mary Jane began working for the Grand Rapids Public Museum as a nature lecturer and soon convinced the owners of her childhood haunt, Collins Woods, to donate 17 acres to the Museum to develop a nature center. Blandford Nature Center was officially created in 1968. Mary Jane, who, by the way, was a long-time member of Breakfast Club of Grand Rapids: Early Risers, had a dream to increase the size of Blandford Nature Center. She was a constant presence at the Center, giving tours and talking of her 264-acre love until her death in 2020.

Her enthusiasm as a trail blazer has continued to the present time. Let’s hear what the current President of Blandford Nature Center, Steve Wilson, is planning for further expansion of the Center.

Invocation: Eric Nelson
Introduction: Don Gardner

Nature

1. "Nature is the source of all true knowledge.”
   – Leonardo da Vinci

2. “Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.”
   – Frank Lloyd Wright