About Otter Cove

At Otter Cove, children and critters have fun working together to make things run and get things done. Otter Cove critters provide the modeling, and children take the lead in playing out roles of community life, all while developing important 21st century life skills. Visitors may notice a resemblance to landscapes and businesses of Fergus Falls and Otter Tail County, but make no mistake: Otter Cove exists for children and the critters they love and can only exist because they make it run.

Our Mission

Our mission is to support the optimal development of our region's children by providing abundant play opportunities in an enriching environment that launches imaginations, stimulates skill development, and fosters a growing sense of place and purpose.

Our Vision

We envision Otter Tail County as the best place to grow up because caring adults work together to help all children feel inspired by life's possibilities.

Our Values

We stand for…

  • The possibility of life

    as an optimistic view of the present and future, in which all children grow up excited and equipped as lifelong learners, inspired to seek out what the world offers, with the compassion to help those in need, and grateful for the abundance of opportunity in life.

  • The joy of working together

    to get the job done, make things run, achieve a shared vision for our community, and leave the world better than we found it.

  • Shared responsibility

    to community and each other, understanding that each of us has an important role to play in making our community run, and that taking care of each other, especially in challenging times, is a defining characteristic of our part of the world.

  • Appreciation for growing up in such a special place

    with uniquely abundant nature and beautiful landscapes, where we share the responsibility for protecting the natural world, where we work together in making our community run, and we're grateful for the opportunities in life and the gift of growing up in Otter Tail County.

Our Staff

Elizabeth Pihlaja, Executive Director
 | 218.998.5438

Amara Erickson, Program Manager
amara@ottercoveff.org | 218.998.5437

Lead Playworkers
Miss. Jenny & Tausha

Playworkers
Adrianne, Kayla, Sophie, Jess, Sasha

Our Board

  • Kelsey Evavold | President

  • Mike Winge | Vice President

  • Chris Swanson | Treasurer

  • Shelley Schoeneck | Secretary

  • Sarah Duffy

  • Karla Connelly

  • Christy Frigaard

  • Tasha Rohlfs

  • Ben Underwood

  • Matthew Lape

Strategic Goals & Objectives

From our Strategic Plan 2022-24

Achieve Organizational Excellence

Ensure operational stability

  • Complete Standard Operating Procedures and continually assess for effectiveness

Recruit & retain quality staff, board members, & volunteers

  • Provide opportunities for staff development

  • Establish robust volunteer program

  • Strive for diversity in board composition

Maintain a fiscally sound organization

  • Identify a variety of revenue sources

  • Revisit Museum operating hours and staff schedules to align with attendance patterns

Provide outstanding visitor & donor experiences

  • Seek opportunities to meet visitor needs

  • Increase opportunities for Museum members and donors to feel connected to our mission

Execute Sustainable Expansion

Develop facility expansion plan

  • Use new interpretive plan to develop capital campaign and expansion timeline

Expand the diversity of our audience

  • Increase opportunities to serve a broader range of ages, interests, and needs

Leverage existing relationships & develop new partnerships

  • Establish, maintain, and deepen connections with community, business, and educational partners throughout the county/region

Develop and implement comprehensive marketing plan

  • Create tools to tell our story in meaningful ways

  • Identify areas with room for visitor growth and seek marketing opportunities

Champion Play-Based Learning

Become a community leader in child development & informal learning

  • Be a resource for sharing child development and early learning tips and trends

Plan and fund annual exhibit enhancements

  • Design and implement evaluation tools for exhibits

  • Develop a multi-year exhibit creation schedule

Provide high-quality programming that sets us apart from other organizations

  • Develop and market Museum to Go (community-based programming)

  • Develop mission-focused, cost-effective programming calendar and evaluation tools

  • Identify community and regional programming partnerships