'United Community:' City Officials Bring Back 'Unity Day' In Spencer

The city of Spencer is bringing back a popular town tradition centered around celebrating the community.

 “Today is Unity Day in the City of Spencer,” Spencer Mayor Frank Calvin said. “It meant so much to our community. We decided to bring it back and reinvigorate our city.”

“This is the first time we've done this since pre-COVID,” Spencer city manager Shamia Jackson explained.

The day is filled with food, fun, games, and music.

But the bigger picture is a city constantly striving to put its best foot forward.

“It's Spencer forward it's community forward. It's family-forward. Everything that we're doing right now is about moving forward,” Jackson said.

She wants the community to know the city is on their side.

“It's important for them to know that unity in the community is important to us,” she added.

“We want to show. Hey, look, we are neighbors. The people that live right next door to you in our neighborhoods, that our children go to school with. We're all the same and let's get out and enjoy each other and learn about each other,” Calvin said.

He says Unity Day represents the best of what Spencer has to offer.

“This is an opportunity to show, hey, look, we are a fun loving and and kind and united community,” Calvin said.

According to these city officials, it’s a community where neighbors support neighbors.

“We've coined ourselves as the neighbor’s city, the neighborly city. Butt to we're holding ourselves to a brand of just being friendly and welcoming because that's exactly who we are,” Jackson said.

Festivities ran all day on Saturday at Kringlen Park, but the city hopes the meaning behind Unity Day runs for much longer.

“We are a small town with a big heart. But at the end of the day, Spencer has always been known for love and for compassion and for friendship,” Jackson said.

City officials say Unity Day will once again be an annual event starting this year.