Saturday, May 06, 2017

SATURDAY DAILY

BEAUTIFUL DAY IN MAQUOKETA FOR GARAGE SALE DAY....BUSY WITH SALES
ALL OVER TOWN.       FIRST STOCK CAR RACES OF SEASON TONIGHT TOO.

LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO DO THIS WEEKEND?   TAKE A DRIVE TO
BEAUTIFUL BELLEVUE AND CHECK OUT THE NEW VETERANS MEMORAL
DOWNTOWN, NEXT TO THE SUBWAY RESTAURANT AND OVERLOOKING THE
MISSISSIPPI RIVER.    YOU WILL REALLY LIKE THE PAINTED ROCK.   THE
PARK WAS FUNDED, IN PART, BY OVER 700 PAVERS LIKE THE ABOVE.    I
BOUGHT ONE AND YOU CAN STILL PURCHASE ONE IF YOU ARE  A VETERAN,
OR IN THE NAME OF A VETERAN, LIVING OR DECEASED.    THEY ARE $175.
AND, CHECK MAQUOKETA'S  NEARLY FINISHED VETERAN'S MEMORIAL NEXT TO BOTH CEMETERIES.   TODAY, VETERANS ARE PLANTING 60 TREES THERE.
LOOKING GOOD.    

WAS SAD TO LEARN YESTERDAY MORNING THAT MY FRIEND AND RELATIVE,
BERNICE FRANK, AGE 86, DIED YESTERDAY MORNING AT CLOVER RIDGE PLACE.      OVENIGHT, SHE FELL IN HER BATHROOM AND WAS FOUND IN THE
ROOM IN THE MORNING.    WHEN I CAME TO MAQUOKETA IN 1958, SHE WAS ONE OF THE FIRST BUSINESS PERSONS I MET, AS SHE WAS WORKING AT THE
RECORD STORE DOWNTOWN.    SHE WAS FROM A THE LARGE WIDEL FAMILY IN CANTON.    HER SISTER, FRANCIS LIVES AT MAQUOKETA CARE CENTER,
AND BROTHER KEN WIDEL LIVES IN MAQUOKETA.    ANOTHER SISTER WAS
THE LATE HELEN MEYER, MY MOTHER-IN-LAW.    BERNICE HAD ONE CHILD,
SANDRA, AND SHE WAS IN OUR WEDDING.   SHE WAS PLANNING TO COME
HOME THIS WEEKEND TO VISIT HER MOM.     BERNICE'S HUSBAND WAS
THE LATE, LONGTIME FIRE CHIEF IN MAQUOKETA, JIM FRANK.   SHE WENT
TO A LOT OF FIRES, LIKE THE ONE TALKED ABOUT IN PHOTO ABOVE.   THAT
FIRE IN 1970 WAS AT THE COAST-TO-COAST STORE, NEXT TO KMAQ.
IT WAS  A TOTAL LOSS AND BECAUSE OF WATER AND SMOKE DAMAGE,
WE MOVED KMAQ THE NEXT DAY TO THE PRESENT KMAQ BUILDING.
BERNICE HAD A NICE HOBBY, COLLECTING ALL SIZE, BUT MOSTLY SMALL, SANTA CLAUS FIGURINES.     FUNERAL SERVICES ARE PENDING AT CARSON'S.    BERNICE IS IN PHOTO, THE FOURTH FROM THE LEFT, WEARING
A RAIN CAP.   A RECENT PHOTO BELOW.
DENNIS VOY