Chad Elliott turned 51 on Thursday. It’s been quite a year for the Jefferson native, who spent many of his formative years ― as a musician and multitalented artists ― in Spencer. On Labor Day, Elliott will be among those honored with induction to the Iowa Rock 'n Roll Music Association Hall of Fame in Arnolds Park.

Elliott will participate in the busy three-day holiday weekend.

Spencer officials recently honored Spencer Firefighters Nick Beneke, Kris Lindsey and Trent Chinn for their service to the community over the past six months. The trio have been filling the role of six-month temporary firefighter engineer positions which were added in the June 22 flood aftermath. They guaranteed response to calls for service to the community.

SHELDON ― RISE Ministries has announced a new artist for RiseFest 2025, Chris Tomlin.

Spencer Community School District Superintendent Terry Hemmann recently praised U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra for helping the district claim $1.7 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency following the devastating June 22 flood.

After more than a year of work, engineers have finished their plans for a new splash pad, campground, and upgrades to Spencer’s aquatic center.

The City of Spencer had more than $47 million in bank and investment accounts as of June 30, 2024, and more than half of it, roughly $26 million, wasn’t already spoken for, according to the latest audit of the city’s finances.  

The Spencer Chamber of Commerce announced the first date of the 2025 Eggs & Issues Legislative Forums will be on Saturday, Jan. 25. The forum offers residents of northwest Iowa the opportunity to connect with local legislators in a Q&A format.

Doors will open at City Hall Council Chambers at 8:30 a.m. with the forum scheduled for 9-10:30 a.m.

The Clay County Long Term Recovery Group announced its warehouse home will remain at 223 W. Seventh St., in Spencer, as a result of the new Community Health Center. The warehouse is the metal building on the furthest east edge of the property, housing the LTRG’s stock of building materials and housewares.

The Catholic and Lutheran schools will have a week celebrating their respective Christian education offerings next week, starting Sunday. Both schools are thriving locally. Sacred Heart Catholic Elementary has 178 students, while Iowa Great Lakes Lutheran welcomes 139 through its doors.

The framework for the 10th annual Okoboji Blue Water Festival scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 9, at the Preservation Plaza green space in Arnolds Park is rapidly coming together. Even though it’s still nearly seven months away, according OBWF co-chairs Greg Drees and Julie Peterson, they have recently secured the headliner and musical opening act as

the highlight of the day’s focus on raising public awareness of water quality issues in the Iowa Great Lakes and beyond.

ESTHERVILLE — The Iowa Lakes Community College music department announced the schedule for the 2025 Jazz Choir and Show Choir Festival. This event, open to the public free of charge, will take place Jan. 28-30, at the Janice K. Lund Performing Arts Center on the Estherville campus.

Spencer High School will perform twice Wednesday with the Chromatic Jazz taking the stage at 10:40 a.m. and Pieces of Jazz entertaining at 2:55 p.m.

ESTHERVILLE — Iowa Lakes athletes were recently honored by the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference for academic achievements for the fall semester of 2024. Iowa Lakes student-athletes for their academic achievement. The following is the list of Iowa Lakes student-athletes honored for the fall semester.

The Spencer Chamber Ambassadors visited Clay County Heritage Center on Tuesday for its grand reopening post flood. The Ambassadors met in the south gallery, which got 18 inches of flood water. Luckily, Director Braden Falline was able to get most of the exhibits out of the space. However, the Parker House basement — also a part of Clay County Heritage — suffered many losses and damages to its space.

The gallery at Arts on Grand is filled with vibrant colors and the creative expressions of talented area students.

A Windom, Minnesota, woman was scheduled to be arraigned in Clay County Court on Jan. 21 on credit card fraud charges after police say she wracked up more than $14,000 in charges on her dead grandmother’s credit card.