Farming remains a reliable profit center for Spencer’s Northwest Iowa Regional Airport.

The airport board’s regular meeting for April included a presentation from Brent Swart of Cotton and Graves Farm Management on the crop rotation and financial performance of farming operations at the airport property. Swart outlined the typical crop rotation of soybeans, alfalfa hay and grass hay across the roughly 644-acre property.

Spencer Elementary School fourth grade students and teachers traveled to Des Moines recently to tour the State Capitol, where they posed for a picture with local state Rep. Megan Jones (above). “It is always so great to see kids and faces from back home,” Jones said. “There were a ton of students. Thanks for sending them down.” The students and teachers also visited the Science Center. The field trip was sponsored by Spencer Community School Foundation. (Photo submitted)

On April 5, Sioux Central FFA traveled to Brookings, South Dakota, to participate in Little International at South Dakota State University. Twenty-seven FFA members and an advisor went along on this trip. All students that went along got to participate in career exploration whether it was trying something they have never done before or one that they have participated in the past.

Five outstanding Iowa Lakes Community College students were honored at the Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Awards Banquet in Des Moines, for exceptional academic achievements, intellectual rigor, leadership and civic growth. Mariah Geistfeld, Haily Green, Audree Reinhardt, Andres Felipe Rodriguez Martinez and Hunter Thilges were nominated to join the prestigious 2024 PTK Honor Society All-Iowa Academic Team.

Marion "Mike" Menning, former state senator from Minnesota, and former Rock Valley resident, announced the release of the second book in his “Ambassadors of Jesus” trilogy. The book, “Maturing As Ambassadors of Jesus” will be available to the public in just over two weeks.

The second part of his autobiography, like the first book, is divided into sections, with questions of reflections and pondering at the end of each section.

The Clay County Pork Producers recently donated 700 pounds of pork to Upper Des Moines Outreach in Spencer. In partnership with the Iowa Pork Producer Association's Pork in the Pantry program, the two entities worked together to provide more than 550 boneless pork ribeye chops. (Above) Lucas Elser, 2024 Pork Ambassador, and board member Julie Chalstrom delivered the pork to UDMO in late March. The Spencer Fareway meat department provided packaging for this large undertaking.

Farmers Trust and Savings Bank announced Sydney Roskens has moved into her new role as a commercial lender trainee. Roskens has been an integral part of the Farmers Bank team for two-plus years. In her previous role as a personal banker, she built a reputation for understanding customer’s unique financial goals and provided tailored solutions to help customers achieve them.

The board of directors of First Federal Credit Union recently named Justin DeFord, vice president, Spencer market. “Justin is the face of our Spencer operation,” said Tom Chalstrom, CEO of First Federal Credit Union. “He has grown our operation continually in our six years in Spencer. He has expanded our membership primarily through his focus on providing solutions for our members.

Tuesday, the Spencer Chamber Ambassadors visited F8 Creative in north Spender to receive updates from Clay County Tourism and view the new Clay County and Spencer videos. Clay County Tourism received a grant from the Iowa Tourism office at the end of 2022 to help fund a media project that would promote Clay County as a destination, and also show off Spencer's assets for potential new residents. These videos took over a year to develop with the F8 team providing work and guidance.

Students from Spencer High School’s No Boundaries Program organized a health care career fair in the lower levels of Spencer Hospital on April 5.

Kaylee Rosacker, one of the students who spearheaded the event, emphasized that the career fair was designed to provide local high school students with practical, hands-on experiences with the diverse career paths available in health care in their hometown.

A portion of the Spencer High School gym was buzzing with potential on the afternoon of April 4 when area middle and high school students got the chance to meet a wide range of local employers as part of the Spencer Chamber of Commerce Spring Career Fair.

This spring, the Spencer High School Theatre Department will be presenting “Radium Girls.” This intense show will feature an ensemble cast of close to 40 students, and an additional crew of more than 30 to make it all possible.

“Radium Girls” will be performing April 12-13 at 7 p.m. and April 14 at 2 p.m. at the Larry M. Untiet Theatre on the west side of the Spencer High School concourse. Tickets are on sale now, or will be available for purchase at the ticket booth.

Dr. Amy Jochims, family medicine physician with Avera Medical Group Spencer, presented on "Hormones & Your Health" to an audience of more than 50 women. The presentation was part of Spencer Hospital's annual Women & Wellness event. (Photo submitted)

The Clay County Fair, powered by SMU, announced Third Eye Blind with a special guest to be announced later as part of the SRG Concert Series at the 2024 Clay County Fair on Saturday, Sept. 14, at 7:30 p.m.

(Above) Ethan Odegaard, 12, of Fairmont, Minnesota, and Kieth Brown, a fifth grader from Spencer, look on as Shelbi Starr, an American Rabbit Breeder Association Registrar and aspiring licensed rabbit judge, inspects their Dwarf Hotot rabbits. Brown and Odegaard participated in the Clay County Rabbit Ranglers 4-H Club rabbit show held at the SouthPark Mall in Spencer on Saturday.