Thursday, May 19, 2011

SUNNY AND 72 TODAY.

THE MAQUOKETA CITY COUNCIL THIS WEEK AGREED TO HIRE AN ENGINEER
TO LOOK AT BUILDING A WIND TURBINE AT THE YMCA SITE, TO SERVE
THE Y.
COST WILL BE $5,000 TO FIND OUT IF THERE WILL BE ENOUGH WIND TO
MAKE IT FEASIBLE. SOUNDS LIKE A LOT, DOESN'T IT?
THE ESTIMATED COST FOR THE WIND TURBINE WILL BE MORE THAN $500,000 AND OF THAT, THE CITY'S COST WILL BE ABOUT $171,000....NOT COVERED BY GRANTS.
THE CITY HAS BEEN TOLD IT WOULD REDUCE THE ELECTRIC BILL BY 25%
AND STILL LEAVE A MONTHLY BILL OF $4,500. IT WAS MENTIONED AT MEETING BY COUNCILMAN AMY MOORE THAT A STUDY AT THE MAQUOKETA HIGH SCHOOL
SOME TIME AGO, SHOWED THE WIND SPEEDS IN MAQUOKETA ARE NOT SUFFICIENT TO RUN A TURBINE SUCCESSFULLY. SHE BELIEVES THERE ARE A LOT OF RISKS
IN THE PROJECT. AND I AGREE.
AND...NO ONE...HAS MENTIONED SOLAR ELECTRIC AS A POSSIBILITY INSTEAD
OF WIND. QUIET AND GROWING IN POPULARITY!

THE MAQUOKETA EDUCATION ASSOCIATION HELD THEIR ANNUAL END OF YEAR
DINNER LAST NIGHT WITH ABOUT 75 IN ATTENDANCE. THEY HANDED OUT
A COUPLE MAJOR AWARDS. THE MAQUOKETA KIWANIS CLUB WAS THE
RECIPIENT OF THE "FRIEND OF EDUCATION" AWARD AND IT WAS ACCEPTED BY
KIWANIS MEMBER KATHY SEYFERT. AND THE TEACHER OF THE YEAR AWARD
WENT TO LONG TIME HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE TEACHER RANDY SPRINGER.
SPRENGER WAS ONE OF FOUR VETERAN RETIRING TEACHERS WHO WERE ALL HONORED AT THE DINNER. THEY OTHERS WERE SUE HASS, DAN PINION AND
MARK HILLEBRAND. THE OUTGOING CO-PRESIDENTS OF THE M.E.A. ARE KATHY QUINLAN AND TOD BOWMAN. NEXT YEAR'S CO-PRESIDENTS WILL BE MINDY
ORRIS AND PAULETTE HORNER.

THANKS AGAIN FOR THE VISIT.

DENNIS VOY
THE VOY 1 THEATRE IN DOWNTOWN MAQUOKETA NOW HAS A LONG NEEDED NEW
ROOF! THE OLD WAS A PAPER AND TAR ROOF AND HAD TO BE RE-DONE EVERY
5 YEARS OR SO. NOW, THE WAY TO GO IS WITH RUBBER ROOFING, AS SHOWN
HERE. IT LASTS UP TO 20 YEARS OR MORE. SHOWN HERE ON THE ROOF IS
CLAY ROMER, OWNER OF CONNELL SUPPLY COMPANY, IN MAQUOKETA, SERVING
THE KMAQ AREA ROOFING NEEDS FOR OVER 50 YEARS. CLAY'S DAD, DUB,
STARTED THE BUSINESS AND PASSED AWAY AT AGE 90 THIS PAST JANUARY.
CONNELL SUPPLY COMPANY WAS ONE OF OUR FIRST ADVERTISERS IN 1958 AND
HAS BEEN ADVERTISING THE BUSINESS ON KMAQ ALMOST DAILY SINCE. IN THIS
PHOTO, WE ARE LOOKING TO THE WEST AND MAIN STREET IS BELOW. CLICK-ON
PHOTO TO ENLARGE IT!
DENNIS VOY
HERE, CLAY IS STANDING NEXT TO THE NEW AIR-CONDITIONER ROOF UNITS ON THE NEW WHITE RUBBER ROOF. THEY WERE INSTALLED BY WELL'S HEATING AND
AIR-CONDITIONING IN MAQUOKETA, AND WILL COOL THE VOY 1 THEATRE
AUDITORIUM. STICKLEY ELECTRIC WIRED THE UNITS.
THE SMALL VOY 3 AUDITORIUM NEW SEATS ARE IN, ALONG WITH NEW
CARPET FROM THE OLD LUMBER YARD GIFTS AND FLOOR COVERING IN
MAQUOKETA. THERE IS ALSO NEW AISLE LIGHTING. THE LARGE AUDITORIUMS EACH HAVE AROUND 200 SEATS. THE VOY 3 NOW HAS 77 NEW SEATS FROM IRVING SEATING IN MICHIGAN. THE NEW SEATS WERE INSTALLED BY DALE SCHMIDT CONSTRUCTION OF MAQUOKETA, WITH LONGTIME EMPLOYEE CLIFF MERRICK DOING THE WORK. FLOOR PAINTING WAS DONE BY PAT FIER, WHO DOES PART TIME PAINTING. HE ALSO HELPED CLIFF ANCHOR THE NEW BROWN SEATS.
I THINK YOU WILL LIKE THE NEW LOOK OF THE VOY 3. THE NEW SEATS WERE LONG OVER DO. THE RE-DONE AUDITORIUM WILL OPEN FRIDAY NIGHT AND THE MOVIE WILL BE "WATER FOR ELEPHANTS". SOON, WE WILL ALSO BE DOING SOME PAINTING OF THE FRONT OF THE VOY 3 BUILDING, THAT WAS CINEMA MOVIE RENTALS. MORE ON THAT LATER. ALSO, COMING HERE SHORTLY WILL BE A PHOTO OF THE NEW SEATS. AS ALWAYS, CLICK-ON THE PHOTO TO ENLARGE IT.
DENNIS VOY