Hello Fellow MMDers.  I am writing to let you know that, in spite
of the horrendous weather problems in the Midwest, John Wrasse and
company, located near the Mississippi River in Bellevue, Iowa, escaped
the flooding.  They are still very much in business.

John is finishing up some moves now in the Midwest and will then head
east.  They have moves in the northern Indiana area, then Detroit on
the way east in July.  John will be on the East coast in the mid to
third week of July.  He has pickups & deliveries in areas of Maryland,
Washington D.C., Pennsylvania, Connecticut and New Jersey on the North
East Coast, and the Carolinas on the South East Coast.

There may be room for a couple more instruments going west -- Colorado,
Arizona, Nevada and California are all good areas, along with Kansas
and Missouri on the return trip.  Plans are firming up for a trip to
California in August.  They presently have room on the truck for the
return trip (to Iowa) on the western loop.

I'm glad John is managing to stay in the moving business in spite of
the rip-off fuel cost, but of course he needs to carry as full a load
as possible to make it cost-effective.  Naturally I want to help him
fill up his truck so I can get my instrument to me in California as
soon as possible, hence this posting to MMDigest.

For those who don't know about John Wrasse, he is a tech and
understands about mechanical music instruments and how to handle them
properly.  Your move will be handled with the care it deserves, by the
owner of the company.

If you have heard or read the nightmare moving stories related to large
faceless moving companies who damage, lose, or steal shipments as a
matter of course, then you know how important it is to support this
type of smaller owner owned and run business, so we in the mechanical
music community have someone responsible we can rely upon to handle
these special instruments with no worries.

In spite of the rising fuel costs, I found that the bid on my move
was very reasonable, too.  From my research, John's rates are quite
competitive, but I would gladly pay a premium for the peace of mind
afforded by using his type of personalized service, rather than try
to save a few bucks with some big van line, and possibly end up with
a pile of kindling wood.

If you are in need of a mover give Donna Mae a call at their main
office in Bellevue, Iowa, at

Piano Pro Moving and Storage
office tel.: 563-580-5035
email: pianopro@iowatelecom.net

John also has a web page that has some information regarding storage
and restoration services: http://www.pianopromoving.com/

Happy 4th of July!

Tom Lear
Tujunga, California