Funeral services for Larry Steele, 78, of Storm Lake, formerly of Sutherland and Hartley, will be conducted at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022, at Trinity United Church of Christ in Hartley. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the church. Burial will take place at Trimello Cemetery in rural Royal at a later date. Steele passed away Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021, in Spirit Lake. Warner Funeral Home of Spencer is in charge of arrangements.

A celebration of life for Roger Lahm, 81, of Spirit Lake, will be held at a later date.
Roger James Lahm, the son of Harry and Hazel (Knox) Lahm, was born March 12, 1940, in Lexington, Nebraska. After high school, Roger received his Bachelor of Science degree from Kearney State College and his master's at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Virgle Hatfield, 80, of Lakefield, Minnesota, formerly of Atwood, Kansas, passed away, with his wife by his side, on Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2021, at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Visitation will be held from 5-7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 3, 2021, at the Osterberg Funeral Home in Lakefield. Funeral service will take place on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022, at the Methodist Church in Atwood, Kansas, with burial to follow at Fairview Cemetery in Atwood, Kansas.

Larry James Hediger was born on Aug. 4, 1945, in Cherokee, to George and Marion Hediger. His childhood years were spent in Linn Grove where he graduated high school in 1963. He studied at Nettleton Business School in Sioux City and started working as chief clerk for Burlington Northern Railroad in 1964.

A 40-year-old Spencer man was arrested and charged after leading the Spencer Police Department and other law enforcement agencies on a chase spanning three counties early Monday morning.

Jeada Whitner, a sophomore from Mason City, was named the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference player of the week for the Lakers. Iowa Lakes took down DMACC in their lone game last week, beating the Bears 69-59. In the win, the Lakers were led by sophomore point guard Jaeda Whitner. Whitner scored 25 points, including 5-of-10 from 3-point land. She added four rebounds and two assists. Whitner leads the Lakers in scoring this season at 18.3 points per game, fourth best in the ICCAC.

Continuing a Spencer tradition, we begin our Christmas Eve with Mr. Spencer himself - Bob Rose. This year, he is pulling up a chair and reading what is, perhaps, the most famous Letter to the Editor and response of all time.
Take a minute, on this busy day, to watch as Bob starts our Christmas Eve off right.

As we settle in for our Christmas Eve traditions, join us as we listen to Spencer's own Bob Rose reading the beloved holiday classic, "A Visit From St. Nicholas."
Let us take this opportunity to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas!

Clay County American Legion No. 1 members recently hosted a holiday dinner for the area veterans and their spouses in appreciation and recognition of their service to the country and the sacrifices of their loved ones who supported them during their time of service.

**High school provides fun afternoon experience
Friday, prior to the start of the holiday break for Spencer schools, the high school invited its students to participate in a wide variety of activities on Try It Day. Everything from music to crafting was offered as options to the participants designed to afford them the opportunity to try something new and experience something they had wondered about but never attempted.

Spencer Rotary Treasurer Bob Rose presented Nathan Prenzlow with a $500 check for the YMCA Strong Family Campaign.

Services are pending for Cory Tschida, 31, of Spencer, who passed away Dec. 20, 2021, in Spencer. Warner Funeral Home of Spencer is in charge of arrangements.

Kelley Marie Monson, 55, of Gowrie, passed away Friday, Dec. 17, 2021, at the Paula J. Baber Hospice Home.
Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 23, 2021, at Holy Trinity Church with Rev. Brian Feller officiating. Burial will be at Gowrie Township Cemetery. A visitation will be 4-7 p.m. Wednesday at Holy Trinity Church and Laufersweiler Funeral Home is serving the family.

Management with Avera Medical Group Spencer has been alerted by the public that some people have received phone calls which appear to be from the clinic's phone number; however, the call is not actually from clinic personnel. This practice is known as "spoofing," which occurs when a person's caller ID display shows a trusted phone number; however, scammers have manipulated the caller ID software.