SUAMICO, WI (WTAQ) – The Sensory Woods at Brown County’s Barkhausen Waterfowl Preserve is encouraging to visitors to touch and feel their surroundings.
The outdoor exhibit opened on Wednesday and visitors trekked through rain to get a first-hand look.
Program and Natural Resource Coordinator Jason Patrella explains the benefits of the new exhibit.
“Something different than just hanging around the house,” he explains. “Have that kind of nature connection.”
The park was designed with input from the Alzheimer’s Association in an attempt to better equip the exhibit to reach individuals suffering from the disease.
Patrella initially came up with the idea of the park after a family member of his developed Alzheimer’s Disease and later passed away from it.
Kate Kahles with the Alzheimer’s Association thinks the exhibit has a lot to offer.
“A place for people to come and feel like they can engage in nature, but do so in a safe way,” she says.
On Wednesday, visitors were able to test-out a textured sensory wall and also try their hand at a woodworking table.
The park was paid for entirely through donations, which reached around $7,000.
Roughly 110,000 people in Wisconsin have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.
