Topic starter
03/08/2011 11:19 am
A whistle salute and callyope rendition of "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" on this third day of August to Matthew "Bubba" Dow (aka "Natchez") who has spent the summer as a crew member aboard the BELLE of LOUISVILLE, before soon returning home to New York and to his maritime academy studies in Maine.
It's been a joy to have you here this summer Bubba! You set a fine example of good manners and work ethic for your colleagues and make us old timers proud as you step up to take steamboating into the future. Thanks for being a breath of fresh air to us, keep up steam and come back often to visit. We love ya!
Have a great day in every way and here's to many more years of rollin' on the river!
"Uncle Keith"
Images: taken 7-17-11
(1) Grandma Judy, Bubba, Capt. Jim Blum and Chief Kenny Howe in BELLE engine room
(2) On the Louisville Levee
(3) Bubba and Uncle Keith
03/08/2011 11:33 am
Happy Birthday from the other side of the pond!! Enjoy your trip to the DQ!!
Carmen
PS: BTW nice T-shirt :-)!
03/08/2011 12:12 pm
Happy Birthday Matt.. Wish We could be with Yall on the DQ.. Enjoy YOUR day !! 🙂
Happy Birthday on the BELLE OF LOUISVILLE CaLLiope - YouTube
03/08/2011 1:16 pm
HB Grandson!
I don't know why Keith isn't your great uncle if I'm your grandmother! The 'harbor tour last night for your birthday party sounded like it was going to be a blast. Have a safe drive back to Louisville today for your final days on the BELLE. I have apprised the NATCHEZ crew of your summer activities - well, not all of them! From the dining room of Croissant d'Or on Ursulines in steamy NOLA....
03/08/2011 2:12 pm
Thanks yall for the Birthday wishes! It's been a great summer, and I've learned so much from this experience. From Chautauqua Weekend to River Ramblings and of course working on the BELLE, this will definitely be a summer that I will never forget. And I will come back to this wonderful city in the future when I'm not stuck up in Maine at school. As for the titles, Judy and Keith, yall will have to fight that out amongst yourselves 🙂
03/08/2011 5:13 pm
Happy Birthday, Matt, and may there be many more with a live steamboat and calliope involved in each and every one!
Frank
03/08/2011 10:20 pm
Matt, I'd like to add best birthday wishes to you too. Keith could not have said it better. It's been great having you here this hot summer. I heard it from one of your superiors exactly what Keith said "you've been a great influence on the other crew with your work ethic and a delightful young man to have around". You'll go far. Have a great day.
Topic starter
08/08/2011 10:51 pm
Bubba's Final Days aboard the BELLE
The summer has truly flown by and Matt "Bubba" Dow will be packing up later this week to return home and to resume his studies. He and Travis made a visit to my landing last week to visit the River Room and, although his birthday was two days past, I thought a birthday cake, replete with a steamboat atop, was in order. Here are a few images from that visit.
(1) Travis, Bubba and Keith amidst the "steamboat stuff"!
(2) Bubba signs the guest register as Travis looks on.
(3) Bubba with steamboat birthday cake for #22.
Topic starter
08/08/2011 11:13 pm
More of Bubba's Birthday...
Here are several more of Bubba's Birthday Celebration...
(1) Bubba is mesmerized by all the riverboat memorabilia surrounding him!
(2) The best way to remove chocolate icing from the hull of a plastic steamboat!
(3) Indicator of things to come ??? A birthday gift cap from Grandma Judy!
09/08/2011 12:34 am
The River Baron
River Baron is the name of the vodka made at the Mississippi River Distillery in LeClaire. But when I saw that hat, I thought it would be perfect for the 2011 deckhand. While Bubba never brags about his family boating connections, some people on the BELLE were able to put 2 and 2 together. Yet there are still some to whom apparently the name Dow doesn't ring a bell, not even the one off the J.D. AYERS! So maybe a tip of the cap upon his departure will tip them off! I know this has been a great experience for him, not only the part about working on a steamboat, but getting to compare one company's operation to another.