SUNDAY... CONTINUES WITH PART 2.

NEXT, A REPORT ON RAGBRAI. IT WAS A WILD AND FUN FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT IN MAQUOKETA.
THE 10-15-THOUSAND BIKERS STARTED ARRIVING AROUND 10 A.M. BUT MOST CAME IN DURING THE MID-AFTERNOON HOURS. THEY ENTERED MAQUOKETA FROM THE WEST ON HIGHWAY 64 AND TURNED ON TO SUMMITT STREET ACROSS FROM OBIE'S RESTAURANT (MANY YEARS AGO,THE TANGO) AND HEADED UP THE THE HIGH SCHOOL, MORE OR LESS THE STARTING POINT IN MAQUOKETA. ALL ALONG THE STREETS WERE SIGNS DIRECTING THEM TO THEIR GROUP SITE, AS MOST BIKERS ARE WITH GROUPS, WITH A GIVEN NAME.
MOST IMMEDIATELY SET UP THERE TENT. MOST TENTS WERE IN SEVERAL DISIGNATED AREAS, BUT MANY HAS MADE ARRANGEMENTS TO SET UP IN PRIVATE YARDS. NANCY AND I HAD 14 IN OUR BACK YARR (A VERY NICE GROUP BY THE WAY) AND ALL THEY WANTED WAS TO USE OUR BASEMENT SHOWER AND BATHROOM. SOME GROUPS, LIKE ACCROSS THE STREET FROM US, HAS MADE ARRANGEMENTS FOR PORTA-POTTIES. THERE WERE HUNREDS OF THOSE IN TOWN AND SOME ARE STILL STANDING AROUND WAITING TO BE PICKED-UP. THE DOWNTOWN AREA STARTED GETTING BUSY AROUND 4 P.M. AND WAS
PACKED STARTING AROUND 7. MOST OF THE FOOD STANDS WERE ON THE CLOSED STREET IN FRONT OF THE LIBRARY....MUST HAVE BEEN 20 STANDS. THEN, IN THE CITY PARKING LOT EAST OF THE COURT HOUSE, WAS THE BEER GARDEN, WITH TWO ROCK BANDS. IT GOT REALLY BUSY AROUND 8:30 P.M. AND HAD TO SHUT DOWN AT 10:45. I HEARD THAT IT TOOK IN AROUND $23,000. IT WAS A MILLER-LITE GARDEN. AT $3 A CAN, THE GROSS GROWS QUICKLY. THEY ATE WELL. THE BOOSTER STAND AT THE HIGH SCHOOL SOLD OUT. TWO RESTAURANTS DOWNTOWN SOLD OUT OF FOOD CLOSED EARLY. THREE OR MORE CHURCHS SOLD OUT EARLY. LITTLE TROUBLE. A COUPLE OF ALCOHOL RELATED ARRESTS AND ONE OWI.
THERE WAS A TWO-CAR ACCIDENT BY SUPPORT PEOPLE IN TOWN AND IT HAPPENED OUT ON MCKINSEY DRIVE AND THERE WERE 3 IN EACH CAR AND SOME WERE TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL, BUT I HAVE NOT HEARD IF THEY HAD SERIOUS INJURIES. AT THE MILLER LITE GARDEN, THEY HAD A DRAWING FOR A USED, BUT REALLY NICE BUS, AND IT WAS WON BY A BIKING GROUP IN DUBUQUE. SEVERAL BUSES WERE BUSY ALL NIGHT HAULING PEOPLE (FOR $2) TO SEVERAL DROP -OFF PLACES, INCLUDING A STOP AT THE MAQUOKETA CAVES STATE PARK.

SO, ALTHOUGH I'LL BE HEARING MORE ABOUT RAGBRAI THIS WEEK, MY SENSE IS....IT WAS A BIG SUCCESS HERE IN MAQUOKETA. WE HEARD OF NUMEROUS COMMENTS BY BIKERS SAYING MAQUOKETA WAS THE BEST STOP OF THE WEEK, FOR FACILITIES AND ORGANIZATION. HOPLEFULLY,THEY'LL ALL COME BACK AND VISIT JACKSON COUNTY AGAIN. THEY WERE FROM ALL 50 STATES AND SEVERAL FOREIGN COUNTRIES.

KMAQ ... LEIGHTON HEPKER AND I...DID MANY REMOTE BROADCASTS FROM AROUND TOWN BRINGING LISTENERS THE COLOR OF RAGB RAI. AND SON DAVID VOY, TOOK HUNDREDS OF PICTURES FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT AND YOU CAN SEE THEM AT www.maquoketa.com

AND..ALL THIS GOING ON FRIDAY WHILE THE JACKSON COUNTY FAIR WAS ALSO IN PROGRESS HERE IN TOWN....AND KMAQ WAS BROADCASTING (YES LEIGHTON AND I) EVERY HALF HOUR FROM IT
MORE ABOUT THE FAIR NEXT, BUT I'LL POST THIS PART NOW AND THE NEXT WILL BE PART 3.