I received replies from all over the country and even the world. Lorene Robbins (Peannie Tjaden) says that she tries to check out Minonk Talk on a daily basis from her home in Italy.

Not surprisingly, the history section was the top vote getter. However, I was surprised that the news section was also a top vote getter. Apparently, people enjoy timely news that is in summarized form. The other sections mentioned as favorites were the editorials, photos, and the email section in that order of preference.

There were a few dislikes. One person thought that I was biased against young people because of my "snide comments about their hair, clothes, piercings, etc." This person thought that I should be more tolerant. Perhaps the viewer is correct. I do not intentionally try to denegrate young people. I was no angel myself when I was young. My defense is that I am trying to pass on advice to help young people avoid the pitfalls that I encountered as a youngster.

The greatest insult I received, however, was the person who objected to my pictures of cats. Being a lifelong cat lover you will still continue to see pictures of cats and other animals as well.

Another person thought that the web site suffered from a narrow scope due to a lack of public participation in the web site. The viewer has a point. If people do not respond to issues presented on this web site with letters or attendance at city council meetings, then one of the major purposes of this web site is not achieved. The viewer suggested that I advertise Minonk Talk more effectively to get more viewers.

The last comment leads to suggestions for improvement. The same viewer suggested that a chat room be set up and each month have city council members engage in a chat session with our viewers on various issues. I think that the council members would probably rather go to the dentist, but I think it an excellent idea and will investigate the possibility of setting up a chat room.

One viewer suggested more writeups on Minonk's past and present colorful people. This is something that could be done by our viewers. I plan to write a small biography on my late Uncle Bill VonBehren who was a popular Minonk person. However, I don't feel qualified to write on people I didn't know too well. I welcome short biographies from anyone who is qualified to write about a person whom they feel would be an interesting subject.

Many viewers felt that there should be more emphasis on Minonk businesses and I agree. I am planning on creating a section for Minonk businesses that would give their location, hours of operation, telephone number and a brief description of the business and its employees. Pictures of the store or business and the employees would also be used. I will be providing a more finalized plan in the near future.

One of the most important things I learned from this past survey is the importance and the power of a survey. A web site provides an easy and immediate way to poll people on their preferences and feelings. Since people are reluctant to write letters to the editors or make public their complaints, the next best thing is to provide the people with an easy and confidential way for them to make their feelings be known. And that way is the internet survey.

As the need arises, a survey or poll will be conducted to get people's opinion on a current issue. The survey will not be 100% accurate because it will be skewed towards the opinions of those people on the internet. Nevertheless, it will be better than no survey at all.

This week I am asking you to respond to a at the bottom of this page. The poll asks how you feel about The Dollar General Store's proposal to build its new store in the Minonk city parking lot. This is your chance to make your opinions be known to the city council. Hopefully, the city council will listen to their constituents and give some credence to the results of the poll.

The results of last week's survey will provide direction for future growth of this web site. With your support and feedback Minonk Talk will continue to be on the cutting edge of internet technology for small communities. We are blazing a trail for other communities to follow suit. Someday every community will have some form of Minonk Talk. Hopefully, the Minonk Talk web site can set the standard for other communities. We can say that Minonk did it first.