Saturday, April 23, 2011

Storms, Luck, Randomness and Winners

A fierce strom with tornadoes blew through our area last night leaving damage and destruction in its wake.

Thank God, we are okay and suffered no damage. Just across the Missouri River, folks living in the cities of Maryland Heights and Bridgeton in Missouri, and on across the Mississippi River, people in Granite City, Illinois, weren't as lucky.

Lambert International Airport suffered damage and has been closed, and there were some minor injuries reported.

My sister Bridget's mother-in-law and sister-in-law's homes not far from Lambert were damaged, although I haven't heard how badly yet. They were all at the Cardinals' game last night and came home to the bad news. My brother Tim works for the City of Maryland Heights, but I haven't talked to him yet to find out how badly the damage is there. I also haven't talked to my friends and former co-workers who live in Granite City, but I pray their homes were spared.

The good news is no one lost their lives in this terrible storm.

There's no smooth way to segue from a discussion of the powerful tornado that touched down on Good Friday to an announcement of winners in this week's contest--except possibly the connection between the phenomenon of randomness and luck. In last night's storm, some neighborhoods were hit hard, while others were unscathed.

So, I'll just plunge ahead:

* The name selected at random to win a copy of David Lee Kirkland's book of poetry, Tanka Moments: A Man's Journey is: SIOUX

* Due to the overwhelming response from visitors commenting on my two-part interview with Lou Turner, CEO of High Hill Press, Lou has decided to give away not one, not two, but three copies of Jory Sherman's Master Course in Writing book.

The three lucky winners selected by Lou are: Bookie, Marcia, and Barb Hodges

To all winners, please e-mail me at dvolkenannt (at) charter.net to make arrangements to get the books to you.

Until next week, I wish you all a joyful Easter, and I pray for good weather and quick healing for all those affected by the Good Friday storm.

13 comments:

  1. I am so excited. I never win anything. Please bring the copy of Kirk's book to the May meeting of Saturday Writers. (Barb Hodges and I will be Boston when the April meeting rolls around.)

    And thanks for hosting the contest!

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  2. Congrats to the winners. I was thinking about you as that storm rolled through. Glad you're safe. I finally posted your Sisters of the Quill to my blog. Thank you.

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  3. Congratulations to the winners! I read about the St. Louis storm and it looked very frightening, I hope your friends and family don't have extensive damage.

    Happy Easter to you!

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  4. I'm glad you are OK after the tornadoes.
    Have a wonderful Easter.

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  5. Glad you are okay! Lots to be thankful for this weekend.

    Congrats to the winners!

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  6. Happy Easter to you and yours, Donna. He is Risen!

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  7. Yay! Thx to you for hosting the contests and to Lou for offering the book. (You know where to find me!)

    Sorry to hear about the damages to your family's homes. Hope it is minor.
    We were at church in Maryland Heights when the lights went out and we were told to assume the emergency tucked position. The church was not damaged, but the neighborhood was. We had to stay put while roads were made safe. So we sang acapella in the dark for awhile - quite an experience of amazing grace!

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  8. Wow, how exciting! As Sioux said, we both will be in Boston next week. Could you bring the book to the May meeting? Thank you, and pass thanks on to Lou.

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  9. Congratulations to your winners. So glad you and all of my other blogging pals up in your neck of the woods are okay. We see tornadoes in GA, too, and they wreak havoc. Those twisters are scary things.

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  10. Sending good wishes to Bridget's family and all of the others who suffered damage! Happy belated Easter!

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  11. Hi Everyone,

    Congratulations again to the winners and thanks for your comments and words of support.

    Yesterday Bridget and her husband Steve were cutting down trees that fell in her in-law's yards.

    My brother Tim has been working overtime cleaning up debris in Maryland Heights.

    The good news is everyone is safe.

    Donna V.

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  12. Congrats to the winners! And I'm so glad no one was seriously hurt from the storms.

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