SUNNY TODAY....HIGH OF 22. COLDER TOMORROW. AND MAYBE 6 INCHES
OF SNOW FRIDAY.

THE MAQUOKETA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ANNUAL BREAKFAST MEETING
WAS HELD THIS MORNING AT THE COMFORT INN. PRESIDENT TOM DEVINE
PRESIDED. HE PRESENTED HIS "PRESIDENTS" AWARD TO FLORIAN STEFFEN
FROM THE MAQUOKETA STATE BANK AND HIS WIFE KAREN. HE THANKED
THEM FOR THEIR CONTINUING PROMOTION OF MAQUOKETA.
THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S AWARD WAS PRESENTED BY TRACY DRISCOLL TO
LANNY SIMPSON AND THE JACKSON COUNTY FAIRBOARD FOR THEIR
CONTRIBUTION TO THE OVERALL BUSINESS SUCCESS IN THE COMMUNITY.
RETIRING BOARD MEMBERS WERE RECOGNIZED AND THANKED. THEY
ARE MARISSA WEIS, RON SCHAFER AND DAVE SYBESMA. NEW BOARD MEMBERS ....PRINCIPAL MARK VERVECKE FROM MAQUOKETA HIGH SCHOOL,
LENAE OWEN FROM DAC, INC.....AND JONI WINEGAR FROM U.S. BANK.
THE PROGRAM THIS MORNING WAS GIVEN BY IOWA STATE EXTENSION
ABOUT A "VISION FOR MAQUOKETA" TWO YEAR PROGRAM THEY ARE
DOING IN MAQUOKETA WITH A GROUP OF AREA BUSINESSES AND ORGANIZATONS WHO HAVE INVESTED OVER $40,000 TO CONDUCT THIS
"VISION 2020" FOR MAQUOKETA. MORE ABOUT THAT COMING SOON.
90 ATTENDED THIS MORNING'S BREAKFAST, CONSIDERED A GOOD TURNOUT.

THE MAQUOKETA CITY COUNCIL WILL MEET FOR A GOAL SETTING SESSION
FOR 2012 AT 5 THIS AFTERNOON AT CITY HALL.

THE SYCAMORE, ILLINOIS SUPERINTENDANT OF SCHOOLS ANNOUNCED TO HIS
BOARD LAST FRIDAY THAT HE WILL RETIRE AT THE END OF THE CURRENT
SCHOOL YEAR. WAYNE RIESEN HAS HELD THE POSITION FOR SIX YEARS, AND
SUCCEEDED FORMER MAQUOKETAN, BOB HAMMON, WHO SERVED THE
SYCAMORE DISTRICT FOR TWO DECADES. ALSO FRIDAY, THE SCHOOL BOARD
HIRED KATHY COUNTRYMAN TO ASSUME THE POSITION JULY 1ST. SHE HAS
BEEN THE ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDANT FOR 4 YEARS AND STARTED WITH THE
DISTRICT 12 YEARS AGO. SHE GRADUATED FROM MAQUOKETA HIGH SCHOOL
IN 1980 AND THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA IN 1984 AND IS THE DAUGHTER OF
NANCY MOORE OF MAQUOKETA. SHE GOT HER MASTER'S DEGREE AT IOWA
AND HER EDS DEGREE FROM WESTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY AT MACOMB.
HER HUSBAND, CURT COUNTRYMAN, IS ALSO A MAQUOKETA HIGH SCHOOL
GRADUATE AND IS A PHYSICAL EDUCATION TEACHER AND FOOTBALL
COACH FOR THE SYCAMORE DISTRICT. THE COUPLE HAS TWO CHILDREN
AND THEY TOO ARE TEACHERS IN THE SYCAMORE AREA. SYCAMORE IS
A CITY OF 15,000 LOCATED TWO HOURS EAST OF MAQUOKETA ON HIGHWAY 64.

DON'T FORGET, THE PRICE OF STAMPS WILL GO UP ONE PENNEY THIS SUNDAY, FROM 44 TO 45 CENTS.

THE "WAR HORSE" STARTS FRIDAY AT THE VOY 3 THEATRE....AN EXCELLENT
MOVIE ABOUT HORSES IN WORLD WAR II.

IN FOOTBALL, MAQUOKETA WILL BE IN A NEW DISTRICT THIS FALL, AND
WILL HAVE A SIX GAME DISTRICT SCHEDULE, ONE FEWER THAN IN PAST
YEARS. NEW TO MAQUOKETA'S DISTRICT WILL BE SOLON, CLEAR CREEK
AMANA, AND BENTON COMMUNITY. GONE FROM THE CARDINALS
DISTRICT OF THE PAST TWO YEAR....VINTON SHELLSBURG, CENTER POINT URBANA, UNION LAPORTE CITY AND WESTERN DUBUQUE. LAST FALL,
MAQUOKETA WENT 7 AND O IN DISTRICT PLAY AND WENT TO THE
PLAYOFFS AND FINISHED THE SEASON AT 10 AND 2. COACH KEVIN BOWMAN
SAID THE CARDINAL'S 2012 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE SHOULD BE FIRMED-UP BY
THE MIDDLE OF FEBRUARY.

JUST A REMINDER, THE REPORT BELOW THIS ONE, I ENTERED THIS MORNING, SO THERE HAVE BEEN TWO DAILY REPORTS TODAY. NO EXTRA CHARGE.
YES, I KNOW, I SKIPPED YESTERDAY'S. ITS A BUSY PLACE AROUND HERE!

DENNIS VOY