PORTFOLIO - FREELANCE WORK - OTTER TAIL LAKES COUNTRY MAGAZINe - 2022 issue
Below are Heather's stories from the 2022 issue of the Otter Tail Lakes Country Magazine published by the Otter Tail Lakes Country Association.
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Winter Days Bring Festivals and Recreation
Jan. 11, 2022 The days are shorter and colder, but winter is not a time trails, fat-tire biking, sledding, skating, snowmobiles, and outdoor festivals call to get visitors moving and active to stay warm, and have a blast! |
Lakes Inn at Dunvilla Is 'Home-Away-From-Home'
Jan. 28, 2022 Located “in the middle of nowhere,” the Lakes Inn at Dunvilla sits along a river, adjacent to railroad tracks and easy to get to just off US Highway 59, north of Pelican Rapids. That doesn’t sound like nowhere to most visitors though. It’s a perfectly positioned, quaint get-away. |
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Battle Lake's New Smart Room Offers Access To Technology
Feb. 3, 2022 Battle Lake has a new smart room at city hall. The space is free and open to the public (residents and visitors) and can be reserved on a first-come, first-served basis during regular city hall hours (M-F from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.). |
Sit and Sip A While
April 12, 2022 One of the most common questions 1910 Sip House owners Jeff and Karen Lees get from new customers is “What kind of beers do you have?” They’ll respond by saying they don’t have any beer. The 1910 Sip House – located at 41714 Foursquare Rd. in Battle Lake – exclusively offers hard cider for its customers. About 80 percent of their customers haven’t had hard cider before, according to the Lees. |
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Scooping Up Happiness In Fergus Falls
April 13, 2022 Scooping Up Happiness in Fergus Falls cream shop. He and his wife, Anne Frustol, saw their dream realized when they opened Uncle Eddie’s ice cream parlor in downtown Fergus Falls. |
Balhepburn Golf Is A Par 32 Sheep Pasture
April 13, 2022 When one considers New York Mills they often think of several things: Lund Boats, Janet Karvonen, the Great American Think Off, to name a few. But there is something many people may not think about, and that is arguably the “best kept secret” of New York Mills… Balhepburn: a sprawling, nine-hole, par 32 golf course just north of New York Mills overlooking Windy Lake. |
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Boys' Soccer Team Kicking Down Barriers
April 13, 2022 John Peter had never played soccer. He still hasn’t. But he’s the only head boys’ soccer coach the Pelican Rapids High School team has known in its short history, and he’s helped lead them to early success. |
MN Tru North Offers Recreation Fun
May 13, 2022 Otter Tail County, like Minnesota as a whole, is the water. From lifejackets to jet skis, snowboards to sleds, visitors to the Perham area can find what they’re looking for when it comes to their outdoor recreation fun and rental needs at MN Tru North. |
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Prairie Lakes En Plein Air Festival Is A Hit
June 22, 2022 When the pandemic hit, many arts workshops at the Art of the Lakes in Battle Lake were canceled. But that doesn’t mean that art was canceled. Instead, some artists in the area began taking an interest in painting outdoors, also known as “en plein air” translating to “in the open air, alfresco.” |
Outdoor Entertainment
June 22, 2022 With the purchase of an outdoor stage by the city of Fergus Falls, residents and visitors can enjoy outdoor concerts on the site of the Fergus Falls Regional Treatment Center, or the Kirkbride. |
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Upgrades Revitalize Henning Park
June 22, 2022 Henning City Park received some much-needed renovations through sponsorships, volunteer time and plenty of hard work. Some of the changes and upgrades include a rebuilt picnic shelter where the old bandstand used to sit, 20 new picnic tables scattered around the park and a facelift for the bathroom facility, complete with a community-painted mural on the outside. |
No Bull: Ring Of Fire Is A Huge Hit
June 23, 2022 Firefighter Kyle Grinager is active in the rodeo industry and ended up turning that passion into a fundraiser for the Parkers Prairie Fire Department to purchase equipment. Parkers Prairie assistant fire chief and city council member Tony Woodworth called Grinager the “brains of the operation” for the Ring of Fire bull ride, an annual event since 2017. |
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Jeeps Group Creates Friendships, Supports Local Businesses
June 23, 2022 Jamie Adams had her first Jeep about 10 years ago and got her second one a few years after that. She was in search of others around town who also had Jeeps, hoping to connect with others with similar interest. She couldn’t find one. |
PACC Gets An Upgrade
June 23, 2022 Expanded and improved! The Perham Area Community Center (PACC) is getting a much-needed expansion and upgrade, all set to be complete late next year or early 2023. (Phased construction means it’s never fully-closed). |
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Pickleball Is The New Sport On The Vergas Block
June 24, 2022 Vergas is the latest Otter Tail lakes area town to have its own pickleball courts. Located near the Vergas baseball field, four courts are under construction. With neighboring Perham and Detroit Lakes being area favorites, local resident Shannon Charpentier lead an effort to get pickleball courts in Vergas. |
New Businesses and Opportunities Coming To Downtown Vergas
June 24, 2022 Mike and Joy Summers started Summers Construction nearly 20 years ago, and they each obtained their real estate licenses a few years ago, too. As their business has grown, the housing and real estate businesses fit so well together that the couple decided to open a new design center in downtown Vergas. |
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Maple Syrup Fest Is A Sweet Treat In Vergas
June 24, 2022 “It’s like coming out of a hibernation,” said Hanson, president of the Vergas Community Club. “People are looking for an event to take part in, see some of their friends and see how they’ve changed over the winter. The social gathering of that is always fun.” |
Get Creative With The Arts At Creation Shop
June 25, 2022 There is a new place in Fergus Falls for people to create, experiment and get their hands dirty. The Creation Shop, a pottery and sculpture workshop, offers classes as well as a retail shop. For Fergus Falls native and artist, Blayze Buseth, the pandemic allowed him to accelerate the timing of the workshop space. He took that time and found a space downtown, renovated it and prepared to showcase his artwork and host art workshops. |
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Ottertail City Park Full Of Activity
June 25, 2022 Ottertail City Park bustles with activities year-round. From Easter egg hunts to live music and holiday festivities, the park is the place to be. The park hosted an Easter egg hunt in 2021, a huge event with the Easter bunny and hundreds of people. Each age group had a dedicated section of the park to search for eggs, making for a fairer search! |
Celebrating Your Big Day
June 27, 2022 If diamonds, dancing and décor are in your future, Fergus Falls offers sites and spaces for your sentimental journey. From beautiful event space with parquet dance floors, on-site lodging and mood lighting – to outdoor lakeside options, you’re sure to find just the spot to tie the knot. |
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Meet The Locals - John & Kathy Olesen
June 29, 2022 John Olesen, a glass blower artist for 38 years, owns White Pine Studio in Battle Lake. His wife, Kathy Olesen (maiden name Sandahl), is a radiology nurse in Alexandria. |
Meet The Locals - Ron & Kathy Grobeck
June 29, 2022 When Ron Grobeck was a kid growing up in Omaha, Neb., his family came “up north” to spend two weeks each summer at resorts on Otter Tail Lake. Ron was drawn to the area and dreamed of someday moving to Ottertail city. |
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Meet The Locals - Linda Bates
June 30, 2022 Linda Bates grew up in Parkers Prairie before moving away for 15 years, to work as a social worker in Orlando and Chicago. |
Talking Trail Tells Tall Tales
June 30, 2022 New York Mills welcomes you to experience our story with the addition of the New York Mills Small Town Big Life Talking Trail. There are seventeen documented sites marked with the city’s history. We invite you to explore. |
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$1 Lots Leave Room To Grow
June 30, 2022 The city of Ottertail is providing an option of affordable housing. A few city-owned, residential lots are being offered for the price of just one dollar as part of the city’s $1 Lots program. |
Meet The Locals - Ryan & Heidi Reuter
July 1, 2022 Heidi Reuter grew up as “a small-town farm girl” in Bertha, MN. After working as a dentist in the Twin Cities suburbs, she returned to Otter Tail County and opened up Reuter Family Dentistry with locations in Wadena and Perham. Moreover, she takes pride in paying it forward to the community that helped her growing up. |
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