Leadership

Meet Our Volunteer Executive Committee

David Oberlander

President - August 2021

David Oberlander grew up in the Twin Cities, but his family has owned a cabin on Bijou Lake for 60 years where they would spend their summers.  In 2015, after 32-years as an officer in the United State Army, he and his wife moved back to Minnesota and purchased land on Stakke Lake and built their home.  He has been President of the Stakke Lake Association since 2018 and continues to build his knowledge on improving lake habitat and communicating that knowledge to landowners. He has a BS from MSU-Mankato, an MA from Northwestern in Chicago, and a MS from the US Army War College.  He is a strong advocate for our Lake Country and wants to ensure we pass along a healthy environment to future generations.

Brad Wimmer

Vice President - October 2023

Brad Wimmer has been enjoying Little Detroit lake since childhood. Growing up in Fargo our family took our annual family vacation to our “cabin” always the last two weeks in August. West Lake drive on Little Detroit has been our summer haven for over 75 years. In past days I have been active at Wimmers Diamonds in Fargo, a Fargo parks and city commissioner, & am past President of the Lake Detroiters assoc. We spend our summers in Detroit Lakes and now enjoy a warmer winter in Palm Desert, Ca. I look forward to serving the many lakes in Becker County as part of the COLA team.

Becky Burns

Treasurer - August 2021

Becky and her husband are enjoying lake life after living in Fargo for about 39 years. During that time, they raised 4 children, both returned to school to change careers, and her husband deployed overseas 3 times during his service in the Army National Guard.

Becky spent part of the children’s lives as a stay-at-home mother. After earning an accounting degree and completing the CPA exam, she returned to the business world working for St. Luke’s Hospital and MeritCare Hospital. As their children grew older and became involved in many school and extracurricular activities, she was drawn to a career in education where her hours more closely aligned with the children’s schedules. Becky spent over a decade teaching high school students until her retirement in May 2013.  Retirement has been good to her as she now has more time to spend pursuing hobbies and time to spend with their 4 granddaughters.

    Marietta Keenan

    Secretary - October 2022

    Marietta Keenan grew up in a farm community north of Grand Forks. She attended Moorhead State University. She worked as a loan officer and mortgage loan underwriter for various banks in Fargo and Detroit Lakes, until retirement. She and her husband purchased a lake lot on Island Lake in 1988 and moved there permanently in 2001.

    Marietta served as the COLA Secretary for many years under Dick Hecock and is happy to be back. She has been a Master Gardener for 22 years and is interested in lakeshore restoration and native plants. Her lake lot is a work in progress. She will be converting part of her lawn to a pollinator garden through the “Lawns to Legumes” program. She will gladly to share her love of gardening with you.

      Larry Anderson

      Consultant

      Larry Anderson and his wife Kathy live on North Floyd Lake. Larry is a retired elementary teacher, he taught 6th grade in Crookston for 34 years. He has been very involved with outdoor and environmental education. He serves on the Floyd Shores Board as the Ecology Director. Larry enjoys hunting, fishing, hiking, and sharing lake experiences with family, friends and especially his grandson.

      Dick Hecock

      Water Quality Monitoring

      Dick has been involved with COLA since its inception in 1991, served on its board since 2001, and as its president from 2008-2013. He has been active in COLA’s lake monitoring program since 1993.