Grace United Methodist Church will be celebrating the 150th anniversary of its founding this Sunday, with special events scheduled throughout the day. Morning worship will take place at 10 a.m., followed by a meal at noon costing $10 per person and a musical performance from The Brown Family at 2 p.m.

A science circus, fire tricks, and a magic show all about agriculture are just a few examples of the more than $180,000 in entertainment that will be offered free to fairgoers during the 2022 Clay County Fair powered by SMU, Sept. 10-18.

A request for broadband funding was brought to the Clay County Board of Supervisors at their meeting on Tuesday. Local provider Great Lakes Communications Corporation received funding from the state broadband grant NOFA 007 to cover approximately 500 premises, and recently applied for county support to fill in some of the areas where the grant funding wasn’t available.

A new artistic director has recently joined the Spencer Community Theatre. Dave DeChristopher, who started working with the theater on July 15, was excited to find a theater position in a town with a thriving community theater.

JOHNSON — August means it's time for the Iowa State Fair, and for fair coverage on Iowa PBS. This year's programming begins August 10 with a live broadcast of the 2022 Iowa State Fair Parade. On Aug. 13, the network will livestream the 2022 Iowa State Fair Queen Coronation with highlights of the event airing Aug. 14. Fair coverage continues Aug. 15-20 with fair 2022 and wraps up on Aug. 21 with the State Fair Talent Championship 2022.

Spencer welcomed a group of new teachers to the school district at a special in-service this week. New teachers include: (Front row) Caleb Nothwehr, Carli Krukow, Alyssa Clark, Madison Colee, Amanda Gunderson, Danica Thome, Katelyn Warburton, Hannah Runion, (Back row) Joe Clark, Melissa, Jeffrey, Nikki Roberts, Tiana Tesch, Paul Jordan, Hannah Heissel, Alex Dreier and Madison Mahan. (Photo submitted)

O’Brien County’s annual Shop With A Cop at Spencer’s J.C. Penney store took place Tuesday night. Partnered with Love in the Name of Christ, O’Brien County officers took kids shopping for back-to-school clothes with a budget of $200. The children were also treated to pizza and given a back-to-school kit filled with different school supplies they will need during the school year and a craft for them to complete.

ESTHERVILEE — Iowa Lakes Community College will host the first-ever All-State Choir Camp, an opportunity for high school students to jump-start the All-State process from Aug. 13-14. The camp will end with a free concert for the community featuring more than 100 students from over 20 area schools on Sunday at 6 p.m. in the Janice K. Lund Performing Arts Center on the Estherville campus.

Tuesday, the Spencer Chamber Ambassadors visited Spencer Community Theatre to welcome the new Artistic Director Dave DeChristopher. He has had a long career of working in the arts. After graduating college in 1980, he moved to New York and worked there professionally for 25 years.

Artist, musician and children's author Chad Elliot revealed a mural commissioned by the Spencer Public Library during its final Summer Reading party Saturday. The library commissioned the painting from Elliot back in December with the assistance of a American Rescue Plan Act Humanities Grant through the American Library Association.

Through Aug. 17, Farmers Bank in Spencer will be collecting a wide variety of food items which it will turn donate to the Spencer Community School Food Bank the following day.

“We typically try to do an annual one at the beginning of the school year because the pantry is low when school starts,” said Cindy Tigges, director of marketing at the bank. “Melissa (Girard, another bank employee) calls the school and finds out what the needs are and that is what we help try and fill.”

Thirty-two different sponsored categories for blue ribbon winners and cash prizes are just some of the things waiting for you and your kitchen creations to win at the 2022 Clay County Fair powered by SMU, Sept. 10-18.

Following a report of domestic assault on Friday, Aug. 5, from the alleged victim in Everly, the Clay County Sheriff's Office performed an investigation and determined Timothy Curry, 42, of Everly, assaulted his girlfriend on the evening of Aug. 5.

Joel Bolar, 57, of Cedar Rapids, was charged with OWI, third offense and failure to maintain control, at 1:30 p.m., July 30, following a single vehicle accident at the intersection of 300th Street and 290th Avenue.

The Spencer Municipal Band under the direction of co-director Katie Bush welcomes everyone to join them for their final concert Thursday at 7 p.m. at the lawn of the Clay County Courthouse as part of Spencer’s Mainstreet Market.