The St. Joseph Maud Preston Palenske Memorial Library has been awarded a grant by the Berrien Community Foundation to help those facing dementia improve their cognition via travel around the world.

Library marketing coordinator Lisa Slavicek tells us Travel Tales will be a free program with monthly events at the library starting February 11.

“It’s a program which is centered around traveling to different hotels all around the world,” Slavicek said. “We’ll explore them through folklore, music, imagery, some tastes, some souvenirs, and it’s meant to be a wonderful, gently immersive program for individuals with Alzheimer’s and dementia and their caregivers.”

The first program will focus on Japan.

Slavicek says the exposure to images, tastes, and the texture of items from around the world has been shown to have benefits for those struggling with dementia and Alzheimer’s. She’s worked with the Area Agency on Aging to help promote Travel Tales and invites all who are interested to attend.

The first Travel Tales session, on February 11, will be at 11 a.m.