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