Sandy Foster, Rita Hoskins, Maria Mihalek, Meg Sullivan, Janet Schwalm, Theresa Bertz, and Candace Ellis, all of Northborough, worked on mosaics to honor Marilyn Dorey. Four mosaic panels are now permanently displayed at the Northborough Free Library.
Picture and Post Courtesy of Kendra Garvey Owen
For over 40 years, Marilyn Dorey, the former owner and director of the Doe-Rey-Me Preschool in Northborough, welcomed hundreds of children and families to her school. She lovingly created a nurturing environment where curious children would learn through play. Marilyn instilled a love of learning through outdoor play, hands-on discoveries, cooking, and encouraged creative and independent thinking.
Recently, close to 200 volunteers worked together at the Northborough Free Library to create four mosaic panels in memory of Marilyn. She lost her battle to pancreatic cancer almost two years ago. The mosaic project reflects the gratitude of the families for the constant love and support that Marilyn provided during their children’s early childhood education. Throughout the five days of production, families gathered to reminisce about Mrs. Dorey, spend time with friends and family and construct the beautiful mosaics under the direction of Cynthia Fisher of Big Bang Mosaics.
Marilyn instilled love, kindness, and friendship into the hearts of each child and family who entered through the doors of her school. The seasonal panels represent many memories through the eyes of the children including the animals, the tire swing and the picnic. Undoubtedly, visitors to the library will be impressed by the beauty of the New England scenes that brighten the wall in the Children’s Room.
The mosaic project was funded through the sale of a cookbook entitled “Seasoned with Love and a Little Touch of Lemon.” The cookbook contains 600 recipes of both Marilyn’s and the families of Doe-Rey-Me. Over 1,000 copies of the cookbook have been sold to date. There are a limited number of cookbooks still available for sale at the Northborough Free Library, Lowe’s Variety & Meat Shop, Shattuck Pharmacy, O’Brien’s 5 & 10, and Craftworks in Northborough.
Enough can’t be said. Marilyn deserves every kudo. She will always be remembered as a wonderful, warm and wise friend. Child or adult, one is
all the better for having shared a step with her on her path. With fond
memories, Nancy Berglund