Although the contributions of numerous people to the Environmental Learning Center are too many to accurately list, I believe it is high time someone comes forth to mention the name of the true "founder" of this wonderful facility.

There would be no Environmental Learning Center were it not for Maggy Bowman. She was one of the original members of the Pelican Island Audubon Society and has been active in environmental preservation her entire life.

As an ordinary citizen, and later as a county commissioner, Maggy's main goal in life was to preserve as much of "old Florida" as possible for future generations. Her contributions to our quality of life today — both in our county and the state of Florida — are legendary.

Since arriving in Indian River County in the 1940s, Maggy had a dream and a goal of a "nature center" where people of all ages could go to learn about their environment and even participate in hands-on projects. As a member and driving force of the Pelican Island Audubon Society, she single-handedly persuaded the local county commissioners to give Wabasso Island to PIAS for a future nature center. There was little money for Maggy's dream at that particular point, and thus Wabasso Island sat fallow for decades, just waiting for the right moment to be reborn.

When I became president of Pelican Island Audubon Society in the early 1980s, Maggy told me of her plans for Wabasso Island and suggested that it might be time to begin the project. I embraced the idea completely, and with the enormous help of John Orcutt and Lee Simmons, the four of us, with the backing of PIAS, formed a committee to study the idea.

First and foremost, of course, was the subject of money and how to raise it. Jean and George Armstrong, having been instrumental in raising the funds to build the Art Museum, kindly offered their experience, expertise, and advice in big-time fund-raising.

We interviewed a number of nationally known fund-raisers before settling on one who we thought would be ideal for our needs. Lee Simmons built a large-scale model of the nature center as Maggy envisioned it, and it transpired that the eventual construction of the ELC pretty much followed Lee's original architectural layout.

The subject of the nature center (at that point, it had no name) was raised at each monthly Audubon meeting, and the society's membership was enthusiastic in support of the project.

Unfortunately, just when we thought we had begun to make progress, our fund-raiser, who was the heart and soul of his company, was involved in a horrendous auto accident, leaving him unable to continue.

Details of what followed elude my memory, but I seem to recall that Pelican Island Audubon Society reluctantly came to the conclusion that we needed a lot more help. As a result, the entire project was turned over to others, and the rest is history.

Those others did a remarkable job, and Indian River County is fortunate to have had them on board. They are all owed an enormous debt of gratitude.

But my purpose here is to commemorate who started the whole thing — Maggy Bowman.

This county has been so very fortunate to claim Maggy Bowman as one of its own. Now in her 90s, Maggy was an "environmentalist" long before most people had ever heard the term. She is Indian River County's own Margery Stoneman Douglas. Without Maggy, there never would have been an Environmental Learning Center.

Maggy would never take credit or seek recognition on her own for her accomplishments, but before too many more years pass, when there is no one left with memory intact, the record needs to be set straight.

Miner lives in Vero Beach.

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