Dear Wege Speaker friends, COVID-19 (coronavirus) continues to present challenges to organizations and communities across the country, and we are all beginning to feel its effects. In accordance with Governor Whitmer’s latest recommendations and our own desire to limited any potential future impact of COVID-19, we are canceling this year’s Wege Speaker … More Wege Speaker Series Lecture of April 23 is cancelled. »
An historic real-estate transaction for Grand Rapids was announced in early 2017 when Blandford Nature Center teamed with the Land Conservancy of West Michigan to acquire the 121-acre former Highlands Golf Course next door to Blandford. Adding the golf course’s 18 golf holes to Blandford brings the Nature Center’s permanently … More Blandford Plus A Golf Course: A Gift To The Future »
In 2009 Blandford Nature Center had to reinvent itself from a tax-payer funded organization into an independent non-profit with Annoesjka Steinman as the first president. Annoesjka proved up to the new challenge by successfully carrying on the Center’s long-time mission as an educational wildlife mecca, but on a whole new … More Blandford’s New CEO: a Story of Friendship and Mentoring »
The October invitation to “See you under the stars for a bedazzling evening” happened under a tent with 200 nature lovers wearing Jeans and Jewelry. The FUNdraiser for Blandford Nature Center began by naming Peter M. Wege the first winner of its Crown Jewel Award. In 2006 when Blandford lost … More Wonder, Blandford Nature Center’s Goat, Steals the Show »
Caitlin Wege and her sister Jessica Wege McClear stand by the hand-carved basswood doors leading into one of two sixth-grade classroom in the new LEED-certified school building. Jeff Lende, one of the two Blandford teachers, did the carving of nature themes highlighting the outdoor school’s focus on the environment.
Pictured above, the new 7,000 square-foot LEED-certified Blandford School sets a precedent for the Grand Rapids Public Schools. Not only does it feature the latest advancements in green building, Blandford also sets a new financing standard. With the lead $1.5 million gift from The Wege Foundation and other private donors … More GRPS’s Blandford School Raises the Bar »
An historic groundbreaking took place in May marking the first public school in Grand Rapids to be built with 90% of the $2 million-plus cost coming from the private sector. The new Blandford School will open early in 2013 welcoming 60 GRPS sixth-graders to the nature school’s first permanent home. … More Blandford School: A GRPS Gamechanger »
The $2.3 million campaign to put up a permanent school building for 60 sixth-graders in the Grand Rapids Public Schools will break ground in two ways next spring. Literally it will move turf for the LEED certified classroom building. Figuratively it makes history as the first public school in Grand … More ‘Renew Blandford School’ a First for GRPS »
Jamon Alexander, a former BEEP – or “Blandford Environmental Education Program” graduate – stands with Annoesjka Steinman (top left), Blandford Nature Center’s director, at Peter Wege’s Lowell farm on a perfect September evening. Jamon told the friends of Blandford that spending his sixth-grade at Blandford changed his life. While Jamon … More Peter Wege’s Farm Hosts Friends of Blandford »
