Denmark "Time Slips"

Last week, Denmark Connects was back at it once again with another unique and thoughtful event aimed at bringing our community members closer together. On Friday morning, they joined with the Brown County ADRC to commemorate the culmination of the first-ever Denmark "Time Slips" initiative. The Denmark News was in attendance to learn more.

As you have probably seen in this publication over the past few months, Denmark Connects has been quite busy providing a range of community-driven activities for residents to enjoy and learn from. The "Time Slips" is their latest initiative to bring community members from across generations together to share their stories and talents. Over the past six weeks, local artist and Denmark area native Brooke Kittell has been speaking with five community elders and learning about their interests, passions and memoires. Using what she has learned from them, she created each of them their own unique painting which she was ready to present at Friday morning's event.

On Friday morning, representatives from Brown County ADRC and Denmark Connects hosted Brooke and the individuals behind the paintings as well as several community members in the Denmark Legion Post. After enjoying a light breakfast of items from Blossoms, the presentation began at 10 a.m.

Brown County ADRC Caregiver and Prevention Manager Michelle Erdmann welcomed all and thanked them for coming out. She explained how her organization had been working with Denmark Connects for a year through a grant program to provide community programs with Time Slips being one. She then turned the floor over to the artist behind the five paintings--Brooke Kittell.

Kittell thanked each of the participants for taking the time to speak with her and said it had been so nice to be able to connect with them. She then went over each of the five paintings explaining the reasoning behind their inspiration. The paintings included an image of a table laden with food, a serene scene of the woods in fall, a fishing boat spotted on a vacation, a childhood memory of visiting Door County and a representation of children receiving cookies during their ride on the school bus. Each was compiled by Kittell by focusing on something that was important or special to the subject involved.

Each of the four participants in attendance then gave their input and thoughts on their painting and shared what the experience had meant to them. They all praised Kittell both for her artistic skill as well as her kindness and care throughout the process. Denmark Connects is hoping to display the artwork for the community to see before giving them to each subject to keep.