BELLE OF LOUISVILLE /River Ramblings weekend

Set 2

Views from my Hurricane Deck seat - the acorn looks ready to retire. I know a good home for it!

Set 3

The obligatory paddlewheel shot.
Deckhand Matt and Pilot Pete.
Pete O'Connell at the wheel.

Set 4

Deckhands, become a Mate and you too can sit down on the job!
The beginning of the sunset pictures.

Thanks for the good report, Judy. I guess it dates me, too, when I think of those "elder statesmen" as young men.

Don't you wish Capt. Wagner could see the BELLE now?

Set 5

More sunsets...
That is the Belle of the BELLE with Keith: Kadie Engstrom. She has been with the BELLE for years in many capacities and is especially interested in the educational aspects. She has just published a book on local history (which of course just happens to have a lot of river references in it). Rumor has it there will be a book signing in the future at the Howard Museum. Congratulations to Kadie for the publishing accomplishment!

Capt. Wagner

I thought of Capt. Wagner tonight Bob when I was watching the paddlewheel. Remember when he had Doc paint: Visit / the/ souvenir/ shop on the bucket boards? it was great advertising when the boat was moving ahead, but people got confused when she was backing.... yes, he'd be quite amazed, and proud, of her today. In a way, its his 'grandkids' who are preserving her - most of these officers worked under CCH, who of course worked under the Big E.

Set 6

Dusk at the dock July 15, 2011....

Set 7

and finally.....
I couldn't resist the last one - I had room for one more picture, so Angel, Pumpkin and Sandy took the spot. Sunshine was absent from this slumber party.

If you are in the Louisville area and it isn't 3 PM on Saturday yet, come on over to the airconditioned Howard Museum for the presentation by Chuck Parrish on the 1811 NEW ORLEANS, this year's edition of River Ramblings!

Rummage sale items are on the porch available upon entry.
Dinner will be at Kingfish, with post dinner at my hotel suite.

Sunset on the BELLE

I took this shot as you all were comming in .. Looking forward to tomorrow..

River Ramblings Review

THANKS to ALL who participated in the 7th "River Ramblings" program yesterday. A group of about 50 enjoyed the distinction of attending the very first event to be held in the newly air conditioned Howard mansion. Chuck Parrish gave an excellent presentation on the 1811 voyage of the steamer NEW ORLEANS. Many enjoyed the Steamboat A Comin' display in the carriage house, as well as visiting the By the River's Edge exhibition here in New Albany.

Much appreciation to my colleagues at the museum for their always enthusiastic help, and a special whistle salute to Travis Vasconcelos for providing technical equipment/assistance and to Judy Patsch for again bringing her cargo of cookies and for serving as "purser" for the Riverboat Rummage Sale. Many buffs and buffettes appreciated the opportunity to add to their collections and it brought the museum some added revenue.

The fun and fellowship continued last night as Judy hosted a steamboat soiree. A lot of vintage slides were shown by Dave Tschiggfrie of long ago days on the Str. NATCHEZ, DELTA QUEEN, as well as some fascinating shots of the Str. JULIA BELLE SWAIN under construction at Dubuque, etc. As always, a good time was had by all.

The "postlude" for the weekend will be another cruise on the BELLE this afternoon, followed by dinner at a riverside restaurant.

Again, many THANKS for the support of my programs and the Howard Steamboat Museum!

"Curator Keith"

Saturday at the Ramblings Weekend

It was a delightful day in the newly airconditioned mansion. The crowd overflowed into the hallways for the presentation and the porch was a nice area for the refreshments and socializing afterwards. (It also gave people a chance to browse the rummage sale items. While this was a far smaller outlay of goods than last year, the Howard is over $100 richer from the dispersal of steamboat memorabilia to new owners.) Following are pictures from the afternoon at the Howard and at the postdinner gathering. There are no shots from the BELLE excursion which many took, because Keith and I were setting up shop instead. We'll join the group this afternoon on the trip.
1) about a third of the sale items displayed on the porch
2) reknown captains and authors Charlie Lehman and Alan Bates arrive for the festivities
3) Keith introduces the speaker to the overflow crowd in the air conditioned mansion

Saturday at the Ramblings Weekend 2

1) part of the audience
2) Chuck Parrish, the featured speaker
3) Barb Hameister is a bit confused. She's asking Jim Reising what happened to the brass on the staircase that she was going to polish...

Saturday at the Ramblings Weekend 3

1) Howard Administrator Yvonne Knight and Curator Keith serve the lemonade.
2) Among the crowd: JoAnn Schoen, Matt Dow, Alan Bates
3) Keith and Capt. Jim Blum discussing a deep subject, with Alan Bates in the background

Saturday at the Ramblings Weekend 4

1) Part of the overflow crowd at the Towne Place Suites looking at old slides. We had some of the JULIA BELLE SWAIN being built in 1970, the DQ's last UMR trip in 1970, some DQ shots from the late 50s, steam sternwheel towboats in the 1950s, and March 1976 NATCHEZ shots. Viewers here are : Jim Blum, Keith Norrington, Dave Tschiggfrie, Carol Roth

2) Caitlyn soon-to-be-Tschiggfrie, JoAnn Schoen, and Zack Morecraft
3) Matt Dow, Jonathan Tschiggfrie, Zack Morecraft, Dave Tschiggfrie and Jim Blum are studying the blueprints for the new DQ hull.

It will hard to get back in the swing in the office tomorrow after such a delightful weekend, visiting with old friends, making new friends and hanging out with the younger, next generation of steamboat lovers!

River Ramblings - the finale

As the sun is setting outside my window, so it sets on another great RR weekend. Today found 10 remaining buffs taking another ride on the BELLE, followed by dinner at Kingfish and a final problem-solving session at the hotel.
1) While Matt Dow is in town to work on the BELLE, he has been working on his calliope playing degree (would it be a BS?) with Perfessor Travis Vasconcelos.
2) What has made this group look so grumpy? Maybe the shortened calliope concert?
3) THE END

Great reporting Keith and Judy! I hated that I had to bug out on this one and head out of town for work, and now after looking at the photos I'm down right depressed I missed it! Looks like a great time was had by all. Funny you posted a picture of the DQ's new hull plans being reviewed, b/c at about the same time Chief Fred Rich and I were inside one of the void spaces on the DQ between the old and new hulls working on a leaky pipe.

It was nice to be on a steamboat, but I sure did miss out on some good comradeship.

This was my first "River Ramblings",and, I would like to Thank all of you for your hospitality! I am still talking about this weekend with friends and family. I must say that it was an honor meeting Ms. Patsch and Mr. Norrington, after following you both for so long on .org. Again, Thank you for a wonderfull afternoon!

Thanks!

Thank you, Kevin, for your kind comments. It was a pleasure to meet you and I'm sorry there wasn't more time to visit. Please do come back again, soon, as you're always welcome! Thanks, too, for visiting the "By the River's Edge" exhibition in New Albany. My good friend and colleague, Dave Barksdale, told me that a number of people who were in town for River Ramblings visited the display. The River Ramblings weekend is always a great time to greet old and new friends who appreciate river and steamboat history!

Don't forget to mark your calendars for these upcoming events:

Former DELTA QUEEN Steamboat Company riverlorian Travis Vasconcelos will be the guest speaker for the Floyd County Historical Society (New Albany) on Tuesday evening, July 26th at 7:00 PM. Travis will regale the audience with an account of the ROBT. E. LEE/NATCHEZ race in 1870. The program is free and open to the public -- and a wine and cheese reception will follow. The presentation will be held at the exhibition site in the historic United Gas & Electric Company building at 138 East Spring Street in downtown New Albany.

Information will be forthcoming shortly concerning the Steamboat Bicentennial Celebration at the Howard Steamboat Museum on September 23-24-25. The events will include a dinner cruise aboard the BELLE OF LOUISVILLE. Stay tuned to Howard Steamboat Museum - Home Page.

Thanks again, and keep up steam!