Meandering Marine Musical Memories...

David, you entry sparked a memory I didn't know was there--the PA system calling for Terry Severens so often that it was clearly an inside joke. Can you clue me in on that one?
My dad took slides galore, and kept all the papers from each trip he and my mother took--9 together--but everything from this one has disappeared. I've searched high and low. If I could find it, I'd have all the crew names, pictures--a veritable treasure-trove.

Your mention of fog reminded me that on the Pittsburgh trip in '78, the pilots were Capts. Harry Louden and Fontain Johnson. Fog was plentiful on that trip and seemed to arrive earlier each night. I remember we were cruising along OK and went around a bend to find a solid wall of white. Cappy Louden uttered some words that I won't repeat here, but he immediately decided to land the DQ and the best place was alongside some barges. He would go out onto the wingbridge and listen to the sounds on the bank and then go back to the steering levers with nobody making a sound. He brought the DQ alongside those barges in that SHUT OUT fog as smoothly as a kitten landing on its feet. On that same trip, we were downbound in the middle of the night when Capt. Fontain turned to me and said, "Here, hold 'er Keith while I go downstairs for a few minutes!" It was a DARK night, but the lights of a town were visible down in the bend as he said, "Hold her on that big K-Mart sign away down there and you'll stay in the middle of the river!"

Either I can't find the mention of Terry Severns being paged in someone's posting, or that was a posting that was deleted this weekend. If this is the case, I wish the poster would repost those memories. As to where Vic's picture playing the calliope is, I don't have one in my crew album. I think the years I took those pix, Vic didn't play very often. Dan was THE player. And since I had Vic's picture in the Texas Lounge and Orleans Room, I probably didn't bother taking it at the calliope too. Here are some more crew members, some already named. The first is the famous Leroy Smith, taken at Winona Aug. 1977. The second is Watchman Andy _____ in 1978. And the third is Terry Severns, our own Ted Guillaum, and Gift Shop Purser Faith Downs. This was taken as a new group boarded after a particularly rough charter trip. My caption on the pix is: I hope O.S. Life charters a whole week next year.

More DQ crew pix

And continuing with the 77-78 crews, first is Louise Feilhauer. She and husband Pete were the parent figures for many of the younger crew. Louise was maid on the starboard sundeck, which meant she was my maid most of the time as my favorite room was 338(which Amy Carter later had). Louise was concerned about my weight and my junk food habits, so she'd comment anytime she'd find an empty M&Ms package in my wastebasket. Louise still lives in a Myrtle Beach RV center and I still comment on the M&Ms in our yearly Christmas card exchange. The second picture is of the two guys we couldn't do without: Pete Feilhauer and Bill Kelley. I think their title was Jr. Engineer, but it was really Fix Anything that's Broken and Whatever Else is Needed Engineers Handymen. The third pix is of Ken Williams, Magnolia Margaret Peabody, and Henry Mitchell. Were Kenny Housekeeping or Bar Steward, Margaret a Purser, and Henry Chief Purser then????

and one more old crew posting. I'm going to post some pilot/engineer pix, but will start a new thread since this one is so long... The first pix is of that passenger I mentioned who sang Old Man River. His name was Harold Roberts and this was on a 1978 St. Paul to Cincy cruise. That's Fred Dodd's left sleeve, Vic Tooker, Dan Forman's forehead, Alice "Mom" Tooker, and Harold Roberts. The second picture is from even older days. This was taken at the St. Francisville Landing and Gravel Pits during the DQ's first ever New Years cruise on the Mississippi system, in 1974. We did a 5 or 6 day round trip NOLA/Natchez. Capt. Wagner is in his black cap behind the bell. Dan Forman is the first one on the left in the bottom row. Third to Capt. Wagner's left is Purser Duane DePue, and drummer Kenny Hall is to his left. The guy in the front row in the chair was a waiter. There's another officer in a cap near the right edge of the pix. My eyes aren't good enough to decipher others. Help??

Judy, see David's mention of Terry on page 2, summer of 1974. I have pictures of the Great Steamboat Race of 1980, including a picture of Vic Tooker at the calliope, which I'd be glad to post--only I've never figured out how to shrink them! If I can, I'll e-mail them to someone to post for me.

Great pics Judy...

I believe I might have a picture of Vic playing the cally-ope...

Time to look!

I see 3 postings by Dave, and I can't find that PA reference to Terry in any of them...duh....

Keith just reminded me that Andy Burkman was his partner back in '78, and Andy is collecting the princely sum of 25 cents per visitor which went into the "Captain's Fund". This was back when we allowed the townspeople to tour the boat while the pax were on shore tours. I'm sure this sold many a future trip, but this custom was abandoned long before Homeland Security was used as the excuse...

I'll check my slides when I can too. I know I have some of Vic at the calliope console, from as early as 1972 and 1975, as well some of a very young First Mate named Gabriel Chengery!

River townspeople used to line up in the hot sun and patiently wait, grateful for the opportunity to go aboard that big white steamboat, if only for a brief time. I've seen people lined up for at least a city block and perhaps longer. We gave visitors the plastic DQ doubloons as a souvenir and if the gift shop was open during the tours it usually did a BIG business too! People used to ask to buy DQ tee-shirts "over the rail" during lockages on the Upper Mississippi and if the shop was open their request was granted.

Judy, I'll try some. Just above Dan Forman is Louise Feilhuer (both Louise & Dan got cut off). To Louise's left is her husband Pete. Over Pete's left shoulder, in sunglasses, is Lexie Palmore. Ida Ferrell (maid, 25 yrs service) is to the port side of the bell wearing a 'fro. To Capt. Wagner's left is Engineer Jerry Critchfield, and to his left is Engineer Jim Bryeans. Lexie's friend Becky Kent (maid) is kneeling in front of the bell. To Wagner's right: Capt. Ware, and to his right Chief Steward Bob Elick. Standing, 2nd from right is fireman Ed Smith, who came to the DQ with Wagner from the AVALON. Ruben Pilot (yes, that's his name! [waiter]) is standing with his arm resting on bell. Ben _______ (maitre'd) is standing in front of and between Duane DePuis and Kenny Hall. The waiter sitting in the chair with his hand on chin MIGHT be Allen Segrest. That's all I can figure out.

I guess we adjusted those vessel tours to $1.00 ( under 12 free) by 1989. We were still doing them on the DQ when we went to Muskogee, OK en route to Tulsa ( actually, port of Catoosa (sic.). I remember that Sunday we had a huge line from 9 AM, when we started the tours until Noon, when they ended. Though we tried to tell folks at a certain point in the line that they probably wouldn't make the tour, they stayed in line. Guess it was a good view of the DQ. Still, when they waved goodbye, I 'm not sure every gesture was that of a fond farewell. Can't remember when we did stop the tours but you are right, Judy, it was long before Homeland Security. The Captain's Fund was supposed to go for buying "big stuff" for the crew, think that's where the Mess TV came from. But we sure collected more than a TV's worth...$600+ in Muskogee. Ah, well....

Ah yes, not every gesture is a fond one...99% are, but there was the occasional 'wave' from a fisherman whose territory our wheel wash disturbed, or the motorist stuck on a swing span bridge awaiting our passing, or the boater whose ramp was blocked by our presence... but overall the gestures and yells were heartwarming. Very often I'd be out on the Texas bow late at night, thinking we were the only humanity around, and I'd hear a "hellooooo Delta Queen" eminate from the bluffs. There was a house on a hill around Winona that had huge block letters in its yard: Hello Delta Queen. And of course there were homemade signs along the way in yards, most noticeably at Kathy Lake's Guttenberg home... Which leads me to this 'it wouldn't be allowed today' story: Kathy worked in Cedar Rapids as a probation officer and had an apartment there, so she was only at Guttenberg on weekends. We were downbound and had to wait for L&D 10 just below her landing, so Capt. Jim Blum decided to put the DQ in at Lake's Landing for the wait. I believe Dave Tschiggfrie, Bob Reynolds, and/or Keith Norrington were involved in this escapade. The stage was lowered right by Kathy's huge "Ahoy Delta Queen" banner, and someone from the crew took a note up to Kathy's porch which stated to the effect: We were here, where were you? the Delta Queen and crew. Well, you can imagine Kathy's angst that weekend when she discovered that note. This impromptu landing reminds me of yet another, sorry folks... in June 1979 we had to wait for the balky swing span of the railroad bridge at Savanna/Sabula to be opened, mechanical problems I think. Once again the Master was Capt. Jim, and so we landed for the first and only time in DQ history in the island metropolis of Sabula Iowa. Sabula was basically a summer camp/marina area with a couple hundred of year round residents. Once we got the temporary stage rigged up the steep incline, many of us passengers and crew toured Iowa's Only Island City, and were treated like royalty. Dan Forman's brother and sister in law Richard and Evelyn were aboard that trip, and the 4 of us wandered the town. When we got back to the boat, there was a huge crowd there, and someone had brought down a box of 18x24 posters of an aerial view of Iowa's Only Island City and gave them to us. I'm looking at mine right now over my head here. What fun those unplanned shore stops were, when the Captain could use his discretion in landing extra places. Today even the Captain's Tramping trips with 'unknown destinations' are planned ahead to maximize shore tour monies... Muscatine was always Capt. Wagner's favorite extra stop here on the UMR, but that's another long story....

I love the stories of the layovers. Would the DQ have made unscheduled stops in her pre US Navy days?

Possibly for mechanical or weather related problems only. If you read the books written on the DQ and DK, they were on a tight schedule in their trade on the Sacremento.Basically overnight boats.

Sabula, Iowa

Thanks Judy for jogging my memory of Sabula, Iowa. I remember that stop and those posters very well. In fact I came across the poster a year or so ago while rummaging through my very dusty boxes. I asked Capt. Blum that day to autograph the poster with message that read, “On the occasion of the Delta Queen’s first stop in Sabula, Captain Jim Blum” Captain Blum was skeptical at the time of my motives, as well he should have been in those days. Although I really had no particular devious intentions for using the poster at the time. Other than I thought it was kind of funny at the time to make such a big deal out of the visit. But now that the years have passed I treasure the poster and Captain Blum’s autograph. Maybe I should donate it to the town of Sabula who might cherish it even more. Do you know if they have a local museum?

A nice idea. I don't know if they have one, but I'll check. I'm sure if there is one in the area, it features Wayne King, the Waltz King, who hails from the Sabula area. I wonder how many other places the DQ has stopped only once in her career?

Cedar Farm, October, 1984, when the house was in the process of being restored was a one time stop. A Stanford Alumni Group was on and C.W. Stoll and Fred Way rode down from Louisville for the occasion.

Keith pointed out (he's not at the office or a computer today), that we stopped in Clinton Iowa on the infamous What Can Go Wrong Next UMR trip in 1978. We went in there to take on water which was desperately needed for the boilers. Rip Ware forgot about some wingdams where we landed, so we bent one of the four rudders. We had a longer stay than planned while they removed the damaged rudder. Much to his credit, Capt. Ware said, "Yup, I done did it." He was not one to pass the blame on to another or to nefarious excuses.

Oh yes, I was there for that middle of the night stop at "Lake's Landing"! And, speaking of Muscatine, lest we not forget that October night when the DQ landed there to take on water in the wee hours and you (Judy) walked across an aluminum extension ladder (skillfully balancing cans of cookies) which had to be used because the stage wouldn't quite reach!

Bert Fenn and I were also invited guests for that trip down to Cedar Farm, then in the midst of restoration. The DQ landed at my hometown of New Albany in June, 1978, due to a problem with the lift span over the Louisville and Portland Canal. I was due back from vacation that day, so didn't have to go far and it was great to see a steamboat landed at our city front, which doesn't have much of a landing anymore (most of it disappeared with the building of the floodwall in the early 1950's) considering that New Albany was once a prominent port and center for steamboat building. I have some pictures of the DQ at the landing, including one with a New Albany fire truck being used to pump water aboard. To my knowledge the DQ hasn't landed at New Albany since that 1978 event.

Keith,

I remember that day, too! Bill Bauer called me and asked if I wanted to go over to the boat with he and Mary Bill and of course I did. That was the day I met Jeff Spear, for he was a passenger on the boat.

Come to think of it, I don't remember the DELTA QUEEN landing there any other time.

The BONNIE BELLE and BELLE OF CINCINNATI have in recent times. I think that is it for formal current paddlewheeler/steamboat landings in New Albany.

The MISSISSIPPI QUEEN touched in at the boat ramp last July while waiting for the lock about 11:30pm one night. They didn't put out lines...but they dropped the stage and sat there about 1/2 hr. I think they did this to let a boat pass them downbound and not run the risk of grounding over on Portland bar.

~Travis~

Re: Johnny Ramon

I just read this thread tonight and was happy and surprised to read about trumpeter Johhny Ramon. I didn't know he played on the DQ, although I recall that bassist Johnny Powers told me he played on the boat and the two Johhnys were part of a group that played regularly in the Cocoa Beach, FL area. I knew both of them as musicians in Cocoa Beach and played or sat in with them a lot back in the 60's and early 70's when I played bass in the same area. Although John Ramon has passed on, Johnny Powers still plays regularly at Heidi's Jazz Club in Cocoa Beach. (If you're a jazz lover, this club is a must while you're in Florida. It has house musicians plus visiting big names frequently). When I was active in the 60's, there were frequent all night jam sessions or Sunday benefits for musicians or children in the area who were ill and needed money. All the local musicians would attend these and play for nothing with the house donating the receipts to the stricken person or family. It's a tradition that still goes on in Cocoa Beach. It was probably during those times that I developed the night owl life style that I still live. It was common practice the trio I was with to play on Saturday night until 1 or 2 AM, then head for a jam session where everyone played until dawn. Johnny Ramon was usually there. He was usually part of a trio with accordionist Paul Vincent and Paul's wife Ellen Wayne or a quartet with bassist Johnny Powers. So, does anyone know if all of these folks were on the DQ in the '70's or since? Judy, if you have more pics of Johnny Ramon or Johnny Powers, please post them.
-Jim Herron

RE: Bill and Mary Bill Bauer

As a Louisville native and railfan, I knew Bill Bauer and still see May Bill from time to time. In fact, Mary Bill was here in Tampa last Sunday and I visited her for a little while. I have transferred many of Bill's audio tapes to DAT, including his sounds of the DQ, Belle of Louisville and the ferry Ste. Genevieve, which they filmed on 16 mm as well. One of the most memorable audio sequences is a whistle slaute between the Civil War locomotive "General" and the DQ and BoL.
-Jim Herron