The trolls help launch Ortenstone Gardens but also draw people into existing public spaces like Dunton Locks County Park, Detroit Mountain Recreation Area and the Wannigan Regional Park in Frazee.
Project 412 is using the success of the trolls to promote more than just tourism. They’re welcoming new residents with weekly live music shows while sponsoring programs for new entrepreneurs to start businesses in Detroit Lakes.
“We want to make this the best place for everyone to live here,” said Stearns. “That, by default, rises above any partisan issues. People want good schools, job with meaning, fun with family and friends, a good meal and to go out on the lake in the evening. It’s pretty basic, no matter where people live in the world.”
For small towns and rural places across the state, hope can sometimes be an elusive commodity. Natural resource and agricultural economies face new challenges, coupled with decades of automation and rural job losses. Big influxes of money have come and gone, leaving mixed results. In many ways, Detroit Lakes shows that a shift in attitude, along with strong local support, can spark change.
For rural Minnesota, the answer isn’t trolls. It’s people, and the ideas they generate from within.