WOW......IT WAS A SUNNY WARM DAY TODAY IN MAQUOKETA.     32 WAS THE
HIGH.    MORE OF THE SAME COMING.

FORMER MAQUOKETA RESIDENT PATRICK BENTROTT PHONED HIS MOTHER, JANE, EARLY THIS MORNING TO SAY HE AND HIS FAMILY ARE OKAY IN PORT AU PRINCE,
HAITI, WHERE THE MAJOR EARTHQUAKE HIT YESTERDAY.    BENTROTT TOLD HIS MOTHER THEY WERE ARRIVING HOME TO THEIR 3RD FLOOR APARTMENT WHEN THE EARTHQUAKE HIT,    HE SAID THEY TOOK THE STAIRS DOWN TO THE SECOND FLOOR, BUT THEN  HAD TO JUMP TO SAFETY.   THEY MADE IT FROM THE APARTMENT AND WENT TO A GUEST HOUSE AND SPENT THE NIGHT THERE.      THE OWNER OF THE APARTMENT PLANNED TO TAKE THEM TO A FAMILY MEMBER'S HOME IN THE MOUNTAINS FOR A SAFE LOCATION.     JANE SAID HER SON SAID THEY SPENT MUCH OF THE NIGHT HELPING OTHERS AND TAKING THEM TO THE HOSPITAL UNTIL THE HOSPITAL WAS  FULL.     PATRICK AND HIS WIFE ARE MISSIONARIES THERE AND HAVE LIVED THERE FOR ABOUT A YEAR.    THEY ARE IN THE PROCESS OF ADOPTING A 14-MONTH OLD BOY.     PATRICK'S WIFE IS A DOCTOR AND PATRICK IS A PASTOR ANDA TEACHER.      BENTROTT IS THE SON OF JANE BENTROTT OF MAQUOKETA
AND CRAIG BENTROTT OF BETTENDORF AND FORMERLY OF MAQUOKETA.

MAQUOKETA FIRE CHIEF MARK BECK WILL START HIS 13TH YEAR AS CHIEF OF THE DEPARTMENT.    FELLOW FIREMEN VOTED LAST WEEK TO RE-APPOINT HIM AS CHIEF.    HE BECAME CHIEF IN 1998 AND HAS BEEN ON THE DEPARTMENT FOR
MORE THAN 25 YEARS.

THE MAQUOKETA KIWANIS CLUB GAVE DETAILS TODAY ON THEIR DRESS
SALE SATURDAY.     THEY SOLD 69 SALES, TOTALING $4,744.     THE CLUB WILL
RECEIVE CLOSE TO $1,000 TO GO INTO THE AFTER-PROM FUND.    THOSE WHO
CONSIGNED DRESSES WILL BE MAILED THEIR CHECKS SOON.     THE KIWANIS
MEMBERS WILL STILL SELL THE PROM AND PARTY DRESSES AT IOWA BANK
FOR ONE MORE WEEK.'

BELOW ARE TWO PHOTOS I TOOK AT THE ROTARY MEETING TODAY.
AND, SEATED NEAR ME WAS A GUEST OF ROTARIAN FLORIAN STEFFEN,  A NEW BANKER FOR MAQUOKETA.     JOEL LASACK, OF OXFORD JUNCTION, A DECEMBER GRADUATE (AGRICULTURE DEGREE) OF THE UNIVERSITY OF  WISCONSIN AT PLATTVILLE,  STARTED WORK TODAY AT THE MAQUOKETA STATE BANK AS AN AG-LENDER.   

BOTH THE MAQUOKETA BOYS AND GIRLS LOST TO SOLON LAST NIGHT IN
BASKETBALL

THANKS FOR CHECKING IN.

DENNIS VOY

SOMETHING UNUSUAL HAPPENED AT THE MAQUOKETA ROTARY CLUB

MEETING TODAY AT THE EAGLES CLUB, WHERE TODAY WAS DELICIOUS

MEATLOAF DAY.        I HAD THE PROGRAM TODAY, AND ROTARIAN CURT COLEMAN

ALSO THOUGHT HE HAD THE PROGRAM.....SO, WE ENDED UP WITH TWO (GOOD) PROGRAMS.     I WAS FIRST AND INTRODUCED LORI SCHNOOR,  IN PHOTO ABOVE.

I HAVE KNOWN HER SINCE SHE WAS ELEVEN, AS IN THE 80'S, HER MOTHER KAREN WORKED AS A SALES REP AT KMAQ AND WAS A GOOD ONE FOR SEVERAL YEARS UNTIL SHE DECIDED TO INTO BUSINESS ON HER OWN IN COSMETICS.    LORI, A MCHS GRAD, GRADUATED FROM IOWA STATE AND HAS SINCE BEEN  EMPLOYED WITH THE NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE, A FEDERAL AGENCY OF THE USDA.     SHE STARTED WITH THE JOHNSON COUNTY OFFICE AND WAS THERE FIVE YEARS, THEN WENT ON TO BE THE SOIL CONSERVATIONIST IN CLINTON COUNTY FOR A YEAR, AND THEN HOWARD COUNTY(CRESCO) FOR 4 YEARS AND THEN TO THE POSITION 3 1/2 YEARS AGO AS THE CONSERVATIONIST FOR JACKSON COUNTY.  TO WORK IN YOUR HOME COUNTY IS VERY RARE IN NRCS.      HER OFFICE IS LOCATED IN THE FEDERAL BUILDING ON EAST PLATT STREET.     LORI  IS SINGLE, LIVES IN THE RESTORED FORMER ONE-ROOM STONE SCHOOL HOUSE ON THE CAVES ROAD AND

ALSO ENJOYS SINGING.    SHE'S A GOOD SINGER AND HOPES TO GET OUT HER GUITAR AND DO A LITTLE SINGING PARTTIME.     SHE GAVE A VERY NICE PROGRAM ON SOIL CONSERVATION  AND THE IMPORTANCE OF IT.     NICE TO H AVE A LOCAL GIRL MAKE GOOD AND COME BACK TO HER HOME TERRITORY TO WORK.   CLICK-ON THE PHOTO TO ENLARGE IT.

PHOTO BY DENNIS VOY

THIS WAS OUR 2ND SPEAKER AT THE MAQUOKETA ROTARY CLUB MEETING TODAY AT THE EAGLES CLUB, DR. V.R. ALLA, M.D. (NEPHROLOGIST), OF THE QUAD CITIES KIDNEY CENTER.   HE WAS THE GUEST OF ROTARIAN CURT COLEMAN, CEO OF THE JACKSON COUNTY REGIONAL HEALTH CENTER (HOSPITAL) HERE IN MAQUOKETA.

DR. ALLA HAS A TOTAL OF 10 KIDNEY DIALYSIS LOCATIONS IN THE AREA, INCLUDING THE NEWEST, AT MAQUOKTA'S HOSPITAL.     AFTER MAQUOKETA CLOSED THEIRS BECAUSE OF LOW NUMBERS LAST YEAR, HIS FIRM RENTED THE MAQUOKETA FACILITIES AND SPACE AT THE HOSPITAL AND RE-OPENED THE UNIT IN NOVEMBER.   WHEN THE UNIT CLOSED LAST YEAR, PATIENTS  MOVED TO  OTHER HOSPITALS AND SOME ARE NOW DRIVING A LONGER DISTANCE FOR THEIR  THREE-TIMES-A-WEEK

DIALYSIS, AND HOPEFULLY WILL COME BACK TO MAQUOKETA.         AT THE PRESENT TIME, THERE ARE 5 PATIENTS IN MAQUOKETA  AND DR. ALLA SAID MORE WILL BE NEEDED TO KEEP THE UNIT GOING, BUT HE IS IN NO HURRY TO ADD PATIENTS AND HOPES TO SEE HIS PATIENT NUMBER GROW GTADUALLY     IN MAQUOKETA.    I WAS IMPRESSED BY WHAT HE HAD TO SAY AND ABOUT  HIS FIRM AND  HOPE HIS LOCAL NUMBERS WILL INCREASE AS IT IS GOOD TO HAVE THE DIALYSIS CENTER BACK IN OPERATION AT OUR  HOSPITAL.   CLICK-ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE IT.   AND IF YOU KNOW OF SOMEONE THAT NEEDS KIDNEY DIALYSIS, BE SURE TO HAVE THEM CONSIDER USING THE JACKSON COUNTY REGIONAL HEALTH CENTER IN MAQUOKETA.     ANY QUESTIONS, CALL DR. ALLA AT EITHER 309-762-5570 OR 319-323-3300.

PHOTO BY DENNIS VOY