Century Farms Distillery, 2304 Hwy Blvd. in Spencer, opened its tasting room for the first time Thursday after being limited to drinks to-go orders for the last couple of months due to COVID-19 restrictions set by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. Distillery owners Ryan and Amanda Bare are this week’s guests on the Spencer Weekly podcast. We spoke to them about how their business has navigated the pandemic, including their partnership with West O Beer to make hand sanitizer.

Spencer Weekly is kicking off a series of episodes that will feature Spencer area business owners and leaders from the business community. We'll be asking how they have been adapting to the COVID-19 pandemic and overcoming the different challenges it presents. Starting us out is Sheriffa Jones, director of the Spencer Area Chamber of Commerce. 

If you've been thinking to yourself, "These guys are OK at this podcast, but they need some help from a pro," then we couldn't agree more! This episode is for you! Our hosts welcome a well-known voice in the Spencer community, more104.9 FM morning show co-host Kevin Tlam. Kevin and the Spencer Weekly crew talk radio in a small market and how he feels so much like a part of the community. Oh, Kevin gives us some tips on our radio voices, too! Enjoy the show.

This week, we feature a couple of guests who know all about getting connected to the Spencer community. Ladies and gentlemen, here is our interview with Ryan and Beth Odor. These two are highly active in Spencer, especially within the arts community. We go over why they love Spencer, why they value being connected to the community and how others can also get involve.

Thanks for listening!

This one's a timely episode. Dr. David Keith, Clay County Public Health Medical Director, joined our hosts to discuss COVID-19, how the disease is affecting and will continue to affect Clay County, why testing is key — and how he plays video games to handle stress.

Read more COVID-19 news for Spencer and Clay County at spencersignal.com/covid19.

On this week's episode of Spencer Weekly, our hosts talked with Nathan Prenzlow, CEO of Spencer Family YMCA. Nathan shared how the Y - which has been in Spencer for 70 years - is so much more than a workout facility. It's a true community resource. He also shared how the Y is adapting to operations during a pandemic. As far as normal operations, they're only allowed to continue providing childcare - an example of how the Y is such a great resource for Spencer. On top of that, though, they're also providing lots of online resources for members to stay engaged and active.

Find the Y online at http://www.spencerymca.org/. Follow on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/spencerymca/) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/ymcaspencerfamily/).

Enjoy the show!

Kevin and Andy are joined by Joe Weber, Kyle Schubert and Joel Rauch, three guys from Spencer who are part of the group that started Lakes Area Game Fest up in Okoboji. They talked about how they started out as a bunch of guys getting together to play board games and turned that into an annual 24-hour board game festival and a community for a niche interest.

Learn more about Lakes Area Game Fest (lakesareagamefest.com) and be sure to visit Kyle's website and podcast (hexandcube.com).

COVID-19 has affected many businesses in Spencer. In this week's episode, Kevin, Andy and Tim talked to Kristen and Eric Meeter, the owners of Pressed. Their brand is all about hope. Pressed creates hand-pressed jewelry, apparel and paper to deliver its positive and motivational messages. Kristen and Eric talked about how they are dealing with COVID-19 on a personal level, as well as from their perspectives as small business owners. 

Thanks for listening.

It's the first Spencer Weekly podcast episode ever recorded while social distancing! We made it work, though. This week, Kevin, Andy and Tim were joined by Rachel Meyer, a Spencer mom who started the popular Facebook group Rainbow Hunts for Kids. Meyer started the group as a way to help her daughter regain a little bit of connection with her friends while still practicing social distancing amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Now, the group has over 38,000 members. You read that right. 38,000.

Enjoy the show!

Read the Signal's story about Rainbow Hunts for Kids.

Join the group on Facebook.

Amanda Mack loves Spencer. She’s been Spencer city manager for three years now. We sat down with Amanda and covered a lot of ground. In Episode 2 of Spencer Weekly, Kevin and Tim talked with Amanda about what brought her and her family to Spencer, how she’s come to care deeply for our community, the economic direction of the city and how much there is to love about Spencer.

To catch up on news and events happening in Spencer, visit spencersignal.com.