Dens named Brainerd Citizen of the Year

It was early Tuesday morning but Dr. Kevin Dens was familiar enough with the Brainerd Citizen of the Year selection process that he suspected something was up when he saw a camera and Brainerd Community Action Director Nancy Cross at his Kiwanis meeting.

Showing up at a 7 a.m. Kiwanis Club of Baxter meeting, Dens grew even more suspicious when Cross addressed the group and started to talk about him and his family.

His suspicions were confirmed when Cross told the Kiwanis Club that Dens was Brainerd Community Action's choice for the 2014 Brainerd Citizen of the Year.

The Baxter dentist said later that morning he was honored to be chosen, particularly since many of the previous recipients had been people he had known and admired. Some of them, including his father-in-law, Dr. Thomas Kotula, the 2006 Brainerd Citizen of the Year, had been mentors.

In 1986, when Dens joined his father-in-law's dental practice, Kotula emphasized how important it was to give back to the community. It was a message that resonated with Dens, who grew up in Superior, Wis. and Carlton and appreciated the small-town feel of Brainerd.

"It's been such a great place," Dens said of the Brainerd area, noting the quality school district and the Lakes Area Music Festival as just two important area attributes. "There's a lot of things in Brainerd that make this a good community.."

While acknowledging the city's occasional reputation for controversy and "weird politics," Dens said the lakes area has tremendous beauty and is a great place to raise a family.

"I like living here," he said.

Dens, 54, currently belongs to Kiwanis Club of Baxter, the Essentia Health-St. Joseph's Medical Center Board and sings in the choir at St. Andrew's Catholic Church. He previously was involved with Brainerd Jaycees, Camp Confidence, Brainerd Community Action, and served on either his parish council or the church's finance council for a period of about 10 years. Dens also was a Kinship Partner for a number of years.

The dentist is second vice president with the Minnesota Dental Association and is scheduled to serve as president of the professional group during the 2016-2017 term.

As recently as last weekend he served as Kiwanis registration chairman for the Lakes Country Triathlon in Baxter.

"The positive thing is you meet so many people that want to give," he said of his volunteer work.

He recognizes there are numerous faith communities, service clubs and arts organizations where Brainerd area people make a difference.

"Some people are into the arts, health care, music, Habitat for Humanity," he said. "Everybody does what they like to do."

He and his wife, Cathy, are the parents of three grown children: Jennifer, who works at the University of Minnesota; Sarah, a high school math teacher at St. Michael-Albertville; and Christopher, who joined his father as a dentist at Cosmetic and Family Dentistry in May.

Dens said he formed a good partnership with his father-in-law, when Dens was fresh out of dental school and Kotula was more experienced. He sees the same sort of partnership developing with his son.

Dens and his wife live in Fairview Township in Cass County, not far from East Gull Lake.

The dentist graduated with honors from the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry in 1985. he completed a one year general practice residency doing both general practice residency and hospital dentistry before moving to Brainerd in 1986.

He said it was humbling to receive the award and notes that it's important for people to strike a balance in life among family, work, service and church.

"In a smaller community people have to step up to do what needs to be done,"

Past Citizens of the Year

Past award recipients are: Elmer Johnson (1974), Marvin Campbell (1975), George Bedard (1976) , Mildred Michaelis (1977), Herb Kessler (1978), Lucille Shaw (1979),

Walter Doran (1980), Ray Bang (1981), Jack Echternacht (1982), Pete Humphrey (1983), Ray Madison (1984), Birney Wilkens (1985), Jack Ruttger (1986), Bob Gross (1987), Marv Nutting (1988), Sara Dunlap (1989),

Tom Isle (1990), Dick Endres (1991), Bill Van Essen(1992), Hanspeter Borgwarth (1993), Jon Haapajoki (1994), Arnie Johnson (1995), Sister Vivian Arts (1996), Warren Williams (1997), Ruth Gmeinder (1998), Kevin Thesing (1999),

Terry McCollough (2000), Bonnie Cumberland (2001), Paul Bloom (2002), Reed Campbell (2003), Steve Esser (2004), Dutch and Irma Cragun (2005), Dr. Thomas Kotula (2006), Karen Owens (2007), Chip Borkenhagen (2008), Arnold "Casey" Stengel (2009),

Gary Walters (2012) and Bill Musel (2013).

Other award winners

Dens and other recipients of Brainerd Community Action's Distinguished Service Award will be honored at a Sept. 18 banquet at the Northern Pacific Events Center. The event is hosted by Brainerd Jaycees and Brainerd Community Action.

The recipients are:

• Citizen of the Year - Dr. Kevin Dens.

• Senior- Bonnie Franzen and Donald Mink.

• Youth - Karlene Knutson.

• Child Care Provider - Deborah May.

• Teacher - Brea O'Brien.

• Young Citizen - Leah Jacobson.

• Agricultural Business - Becky Joerger.

• Community Service provider - Terri Stielman.

• Small nonprofit - Crisis line.

• Medium nonprofit - Bridges of Hope.

• Large nonprofit - Northland Arboretum.