By Chad Koenen

Publisher

Do you like to put together puzzles? Perhaps you are looking for a unique way to pass time through the next month of cold weather and snow? Or, better yet, would you like to be a part of history in your own back yard?

If you answered yes to any other questions above, Dan Broten at the Landmark Center in Henning wants to hear from you. After all, with 39,000 pieces of puzzles to put together, there is plenty of work that will need to be completed by individuals with a flare for art, a steady hand and patience to see a large puzzle be put together from a box of mismatched pieces to a completed work of art.

With the assistance of a grant from the Lake Region Arts Council and with funding from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, the Landmark Center is spearheading two community puzzle projects. 

The two puzzles, which feature individual 1,000 piece puzzles that will be put together when completed, feature one depiction commemorating the 15th anniversary of the Landmark Center. The second puzzle will feature a collage of pictures from Henning’s history. 

Broten said the idea came about after several people in the community suggested a community puzzle to bring people together, which was similar to what was done some time ago in a small town in South Dakota.

“I think it was suggested to me by a few people in town that this would be a good idea,” he said.

As part of the South Dakota puzzle project, the community put together an expansive puzzle that Broten thought depicted the earth. Wanting to take the next step in creating a community puzzle unique to Henning, Broten got to work to create a 15,000 piece puzzle of the Landmark Center and a 24,000 piece puzzle of Henning history. Each community puzzle is broken down into boxes of 1,000 puzzles so people can bring home one of 15 boxes with 1,000 pieces of the Landmark Center history or 24 boxes with 1,000 pieces each of the Henning history puzzle.

The goal was to allow people to complete each section of the puzzle at home or on their own and bring it back to the Landmark Center when completed.

“Each person that does one of these will take home a puzzle and a board and bring it back to us flat on the board,” said Broten. “The idea was to break it up into these individual thousand piece puzzles that will butt up against each other.”

The puzzles themselves will be quite large in stature as the one featuring the Landmark Center will be 5’x10’ with the one depicting the Henning history being slightly larger. 

The hope was to allow each person a month or so to complete the 1,000 piece puzzle and bring it back to the Landmark Center to assemble it into the larger puzzle that will be put on display. The plan is to have the Landmark Center puzzle display in the downtown Henning facility, while the one of Henning’s history will be put on display at city hall. 

“There will be a lot of different people putting their hands on this project and putting this together,” said Broten.

While 13 people have already signed up to complete one of the 1,000 piece puzzles, Broten said more people are needed to sign up for one of the puzzles. The Landmark Center box is ready to be picked up at the Landmark Center at any time and the hope is to have the Henning history puzzle ready to be picked up in the next few weeks.

The sign up for one of the puzzles, or for more information, contact Broten at the Landmark Center at 548-5760.