Bringing people together in Waupaca
By Angie Landsverk
Submitted Photo
A group of people painted a picnic table turquoise on the front lawn of the Waupaca Area Public Library earlier this month as a way to build community.
The Waupaca Farmers Market is held there on Saturdays from June to October.
“Our plan is to have a few people at the table on market days to invite others to talk, share a cup of coffee, play a game or share stories,” said Library Director Peg Burington.
Saturday, Aug. 10, was the first time people sat there and invited others to join them.
“It is one more way that the library can help people be more connected in the community,” she said. “It’s part of the initiative to bring people together and combat isolation.”
Last spring, Burington attended a program examining connectedness in the community.
Waupaca’s Community Health Action Team sponsored it.
During a follow-up meeting, participants discussed ways to create more connectedness here.
The Turquoise Table was one of the ideas.
Origins of table communities
Kristin Schell started what became the Turquoise Table Community.
She did an experiment in the fall of 2013.
The Texas woman put a picnic table on her front lawn and painted it turquoise.
She later brought out a cup of coffee and her laptop and waited to see if anyone would stop by to chat.
Within a few minutes, a neighbor did, followed by another and another.
The table became a gathering point in the neighborhood and inspired others to do the same.
In 2017, Schell published “The Turquoise Table: Finding Community and Connection in Your Own Front Yard.”
Encouraging conversation
Burington said the library has been working on conversations related to the topic.
It started with the Brené Brown series, she said.
Burington said that series morphed into more programs at the library and a greater movement that has at its core a more inclusive, compassionate community.
The Life Class series is one of those new programs.
Different people lead each conversation.
The program resumes this fall at the library.
It will be held at 6 p.m. on the first Thursday of the month.
“We had between 17 and 21 people come. Now they’re becoming friends,” Burington said.
Jane Doolan is among those involved in it.
Burington said people from Life Class were willing to be on the lawn on market days.
“Then we thought we could create the Turquoise Table,” she said.
On Aug. 3, a few of them got together and painted the picnic table turquoise.
They registered it on the Turquoise Table Community.
As far as Burington knows, it is the first Turquoise Table in Waupaca.
People from Life Class are “staffing” the table from 9:30-11:30 a.m. on market days.
Aquamos Coffee Collaborative is donating two carafes of coffee every Saturday.
When people walk by, they are invited to sit and have a cup of coffee and conversation.
“We’re hoping people get the idea and take over the spot,” Doolan said.
She said the Turquoise Table has a non-cellphone policy.
Everyone is told to put their cellphones away, Doolan said.
“It’s about conversing with your neighbor, inviting people to get to know each other,” she said.
Burington hopes the leftover paint is used to paint other tables turquoise in the community.
“The Turquoise Table is one little baby step in everything that is happening in our community to bring people together,” she said.