Upper De Moines Opportunity will be celebrating its new office location with an open house this Thursday Located at 19 10th St. SW, the open house will last from 3:30-5:30 p.m.

Until a month ago, UDMO’s Clay County location was on 10th Avenue East beside Elderbridge’s office. Thanks to an infrastructure grant, UDMO was able to purchase its new building.

“We have increased our programming in recent years and have no plans to slow down,” said Clay County Extension Council Member Dirk Benson said.

And as programming increases, so does a need for space.

“This coupled with our current building situation led us to the ‘Grow Clay County’ project,” Benson said.

Dickens residents enjoyed a day of various activities Saturday as part of Dickens Day hosted by the city’s Fire Department, mayor and volunteer community members. A parade was led by former fire department heads Randy Whalen and Melvin Whalen. Several regional organizations and community members appeared, such as Palo Alto County Fair Queen Katie Nelson. Afterward, families participated in several activities together like bouncing on inflatables, face painting and a dunk tank.

In honor of its third anniversary, the Iowa Project hosted a Community Day for Spencer residents Saturday. Several local organizations including Spencer Main Street, People for Pets and Arts on Grand were present to provide activities and snacks. Courtesy of Northwest Bank, the Spencer Jaycees supplied families with burgers and hot dogs. Later in evening, performers Dan Ray and Luke Fox each took the stage. (Photos by Celia Brocker)

A Midwest traveling mobile museum will be wrapping up its most recent tour this Wednesday after several weeks of travel. The Bus-eum will be parking its wheels in its Spencer garage until its next tour.

The “study of studies” determines which states have improved as retirement destinations.

Iowa has dropped 24 places within five years.

Elderbridge Agency on Aging wants to bring awareness to the congregate and home-delivered meal programs and how your community can help sustain this valuable meal service.

AMES — Growing older is the greatest risk factor for acquiring Parkinson’s disease and many people live with symptoms for several years before being diagnosed.

Spencer Rotary and Rotary District 5970 donated a $10,000 matching grant — $5,000 each — to Clay County VFW Post No. 3159 in 2022 for their kitchen upgrade and renovation. They used the money to buy a new state of the art dishwashing system, two new grills and flooring. Rotary presented the check to VFW Commander Frank Lehman when Rotary went there to see the finished project. (Photo submitted)

LifeServe Blood Center hosted two blood drives in June. A total of 67 units of blood were collected, saving and potentially sustaining the lives of 201 people in need.

Donors achieved milestone donations at this blood drive included 10 galloneer, Thomas Rutt; 9 galloneer, Cynthia Essick; 7 galloneer, Bruce Berberich; 5 galloneers, Mark Brown and Donnis Stugart; and 3 galloneer, Kelli Farrar.

Community members celebrated the “longest day of the year,” Wednesday, June 21, with a Nature Jubilee. The daylong event included 16 hours of activities planned by naturalist Bree Blom and the Clay County Conservation Board. One activity allowed attendees to eat bugs and insects at Oneota Park.

Ready to move forward with the proposed Kwik Star project targeting north Spencer, near the “North Y,” the scheduled board action was put on hold.

“The agenda items with Kwik Star were tabled upon request from Kwik Star attorneys,” Mayor Steve Bomgaars explained. “There are, evidently, some minor real estate issues that need to be addressed. They wanted us to schedule a special council meeting next week to approve.”

The city of Spencer and representatives of the First Federal Credit Union broke ground on a brand new building in south Spencer on Thursday.

First Federal Credit Union was founded 97 years ago and is the second-oldest credit union in the state of Iowa. The financial institution is based out of Linn County, and Spencer is the only western Iowa location.

Next fall, Spencer Hospital administrators and staff are planning to have a transformed emergency department to increase safety, security and flow for workers and patients. On Wednesday, they officially broke ground on the project that has been in the works for over five years.

DES MOINES — The Iowa Utilities Board issued an order establishing the complete procedural schedule and public evidentiary hearing date for Summit Carbon Solutions proposed hazardous liquid pipeline in Docket No. HLP-2021-0001. The procedural schedule includes deadlines for intervention, filed testimony and reports. It schedules the hearing to begin on Aug. 22, at the Cardiff Event Center, 3232 First Ave. S., in Fort Dodge.