Grand Opening & Dedication Mary Jane Dockeray Visitors Center
1 - 3 p.m. Saturday, April 22, 2017
Blandford Nature Center exists today because of the work, dedication, and inspiration of Dockeray. After graduating from Michigan State she became Curator of Natural History at the Public Museum. For 19 years she visited area schools presenting programs about birds, animals and the environment and sometimes she took children on walks through land on the northwest side of Grand Rapids. On one of these walks she noticed surveying stakes on the land. She tracked down the owners, Mr. and Mrs. Blandford, and met with them. They said they had considered donating their land for a park. A great idea!
Dockeray has received much recognition for her efforts over the years, including acknowledgement by GGRWHC in the 1990s as one of Twelve Outstanding Women in Grand Rapids. In 1985 she was named Michigan Audubon Society Outstanding Member. Friends established the Mary Jane Dockeray Scholarship to recognize outstanding high school seniors planning on science careers and in 2012 she was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame. And now this building named in her honor.
Mary Jane Dockeray Visitors Center
Join the celebration! Visit on Saturday for the ribbon cutting ceremony, building tours, property tours, wildlife encounters and much more.
For more information about Blandford Nature Center click here.
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Hats off to the historical women who've shaped West Michigan!
Dockeray. After graduating from Michigan State she became Curator of Natural History at the Public Museum. For 19 years she visited area schools presenting programs about birds, animals and the environment and sometimes she took children on walks through land on the northwest side of Grand Rapids. On one of these walks she noticed surveying stakes on the land. She tracked down the owners, Mr. and Mrs. Blandford, and met with them. They said they had considered donating their land for a park. A great idea! 
Dockeray has received much recognition for her efforts over the years, including acknowledgement by GGRWHC in the 1990s as one of 