Eastern Otter Tail Communities Host Easter Egg Hunts Saturday at Local Parks

Families carrying baskets spread across Smith Park in New York Mills on Saturday morning, joining counterparts in Bluffton and Ottertail for Easter egg hunts that drew children from toddlers through preteens across three eastern Otter Tail County communities.

The New York Mills hunt used Smith Park, while Bluffton and Ottertail held their events at their respective city parks. Organizers roped off sections by age bracket and staggered start times to keep the scramble competitive for older kids without overwhelming the youngest participants. Volunteers managed crowd flow and parking throughout, and weather contingencies were built into each event's plan.

Multiple age brackets structured the hunts, spanning toddlers through preteens, with some events extending prizes to older participants or including adult competitions. Families had been advised to bring their own baskets and arrive early, and organizers encouraged checking for any last-minute updates through city offices ahead of the morning's start.

The events were coordinated by volunteer groups, school-affiliated organizations, local service clubs, and municipal parks staff, reflecting the civic network that sustains seasonal programming in smaller rural communities. In towns like Bluffton and Ottertail, a city park on a spring Saturday doubles as a civic gathering point, connecting neighbors across generations and giving newcomers a visible entry into local life.

The hunts are part of a wider calendar of Otter Tail County programming that includes parades and spring festivals, sustained largely through the same network of volunteers and civic organizations that showed up Saturday with rope, prizes, and baskets in hand.