Celebrity

A gift of Christmas cheer (12/18/09)
Something classic, something new, something borrowed, and lots for you. That's what the Oak Ridge Boys will deliver when they roll into town on Sunday for the next to last date on their 2009 Christmas concert tour. The show will get under way at 7:30 p.m...

Elliott returns for Seasons Center 50th anniversary (11/21/09)
Iowa singer/songwriter Chad Elliott will perform live at the Clay County Regional Events Center on Saturday, Nov. 28, to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of Seasons Center and Oak Haven. The Seasons Center's mission is "empowering individuals and communities for success through every season of life." The Seasons Center, located in Spencer, provides services such as crisis intervention, domestic abuse intervention, community support and much more...

'New Moon' pits vampire vs. werewolf, sells out local theater (11/20/09)
With advance tickets in hand for the premiere midnight showing of "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," eager moviegoers still found themselves waiting in line to pack the sold-out Spencer 7 theaters Thursday night. The tremendous following surrounded author Stephenie Meyer's vampire-werewolf-schoolgirl love triangle played out in her series of books, which are now making their way onto the big screen. ...

Hogs, heart and help (09/18/09)
Three years ago, when Jerry Faulkner, grandfather of Shayla Kaye Rohrbaugh, was working to establish a special fund to assist working class families with medical needs in his late grandchild's honor, he said, "...I hope it to be a legacy instead of just a one- or two-year thing."...

Jesse James is a travelin' man (09/17/09)
The more things change for Jesse James, the more they stay the same. At least that's the way it seemed for the reality television star as he conducted a telephone interview from Long Beach, Calif. Fame hasn't altered what he wants to accomplish on a Wednesday morning...

Jury sides with Royal in wedding chapel dispute (08/01/09)
The dispute between Royal Wedding Chapel, Inc. owner Gerald "Lee" Youde and the city of Royal began with a business permit application. It ended with a 8.5-pound court file and a July 22 jury verdict at the Clay County Courthouse. Yes, Youde can still conduct wedding ceremonies out of the decommissioned Lutheran church he bought back in 2003. ...

Elliott to open Mainstreet Market schedule (07/16/09)
Mainstreet Market is returning to the Clay County courthouse square July 16 for the first of five Thursday evenings of live entertainment, fresh produce, art and food. Chad Elliott will perform on the opening night. Now in its fifth year, Mainstreet Market takes place Thursdays from 5 to 8 p.m. On July 23, it will move downtown for Crazy Days, but the following week it will return to the courthouse square, 215 W. 4th St., Spencer...

Elliott named top writer in festival contest (07/07/09)
Iowa singer/songwriter Chad Elliott was recently named the winner of the Woody Guthrie Festival songwriting contest with his original song, "Same Old Way." "It is such an honor for me to receive this. Woody Guthrie has been very influential on me as a songwriter. The song that won first place is all about walking down the highway and facing change, something Woody knew too well," Elliott said...

'World's Longest Running Phantom' returns to 'World's Greatest County Fair' (05/12/09)
Franc D'Ambrosio, known for the longest-running portrayal of the Phantom from Andrew Lloyd Weber's The Phantom of the Opera, will be making a return appearance at the 2009 Clay County Fair. D'Ambrosio will perform two shows in the Events Center Grand Ballroom on Saturday, September 19, at 2:30 p.m. and 6 p.m., with a meet and greet from 3:30 p.m. to 4 p.m...

'Dewey' movie on fast track (05/08/09)
The woman who's agreed to write the script for the upcoming movie based on Dewey Readmore Books' life is a natural for the job at hand. Pamela Gray has a cat paraphernalia collecting fever. She's been visiting people and places in Spencer this week, and she's jotting her important notes worth remembering in a notebook covered with cartoon cats. She currently has 10 cats of her own. The woman even has a tiger stripe tattoo -- based on the stripes of tigers she fell in love with while serving as a volunteer zookeeper -- inked on her right shoulder. --- It's safe to say that Vicki Myron, Spencer's former librarian-turned-author, feels a bit overwhelmed at times. She's busy. Even before her and Bret Witter's "Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World" book became a No. 1 bestseller, Myron had been working the media channels to promote it...

Blue Collar Comedy Tour's Engvall headed to Fair's grandstand (04/25/09)
Comedic sensation, Bill Engvall, will appear in front of the Grandstands the first Saturday of the Clay County Fair, at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 12. Engvall, a Texas native, didn't originally aspire to be a comedy star. In fact, he worked as a disc jockey with plans of becoming a teacher. ...

ACM award winner Adkins returning to fair (04/21/09)
The 2009 Clay County Fair will feature a night with a pair of country's hottest stars on Sunday, Sept. 20. Louisiana-native Trace Adkins, burst onto the county scene in 1996 with his debut album Dreamin' Out Loud. The album garnered his first Billboard number one hit with "(This Ain't) No Thinkin' Thing." Other hit singles produced from that album including "Every Light in the House" and "I Left Something Turned on at Home."...

Area student wins DARE poster contest (09/17/08)
Josie McCarty who attends Clay Central Everly School in Royal is shown holding her D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) poster which won the Most Creative Poster award at the Iowa D.A.R.E. conference in Decorah. this summer. Josie and her family live south of Royal. ...

Area's Pettits are 'Hall of Fame' singers (08/20/08)
The children of Claude and Marie Pettit of Emmetsburg have been referred to as "The Pettit Family," "The Kids Next Door," "The Singing Pettits," and "The Petites" over the past 50 years. While all seven sang at one time or another, the five primary singing siblings will be recognized for their state and national successes next weekend in Arnolds Park as they're inducted into the 2008 class of the Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Music Association's Hall of Fame...

The Parkersburg tornado:Former Royal woman's family starts again (05/30/08)
Home can't be home again until a structural engineer says it's OK to go back in. The family's show cattle are a source of pride -- and more than half of them are lost Dirt and water have likely ruined the furniture. The garage is gone. The in-laws, a mile away, lost their home completely...

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