Contributed photo
Vergas is known as the “Home of the Loon,” the Minnesota State Bird. There is a giant 20-foot replica of the state bird erected on the shore of Long Lake, in the center of City Park.

By Tom Hintgen

Otter Tail County Correspondent

On Tuesday, Oct. 15, this reporter drove from Fergus Falls to Vergas to have lunch with a fellow high school classmate who lives north of Vergas, in Becker County. Both of us are on the planning committee for our next high school class reunion. 

We also took time to visit some of the specialty shops in Vergas on a beautiful fall day when colorful leaves were on display in this area of Otter Tail County. 

The Vergas area lives by the adage: “We are small enough to know you, but big enough to serve you!”

Vergas is proudly promoted by the Otter Tail Lakes Country Association, along with other communities and rural areas of the county, as places to play, stay, dine, live and work. 

“Thus, by increasing regional brand awareness, we all benefit,” says Nick Leonard, Otter Tail Country Association secretary-treasurer. “Of course, doing so relies on the collaboration and collective action of area businesses.”

The association goes on to say that when coming to Otter Tail County a visitor will find scores of lakes surrounded by woods and natural environment. The county is home to 1,048 lakes, more than any other county in the United States.