Topic starter
11/03/2009 1:42 pm
The Golden Eagle River Museum Club will meet this Sunday afternoon (March 15th) at the Carondelet Historical Society, where the club maintains an archive and exhibit area since the Golden Eagle River Museum closed in 2004 and the majority of the artifacts went to the new museum at Cape Girardeau.
Sunday's meeting will honor members who are 90+ (one of them is 98) and among the honorees is Mrs. Louise Leyhe, widow of Fred Leyhe, who was the son of the famous Capt. W.H. "Buck" Leyhe of Eagle Packet Company fame. After his father's passing in 1956, Fred Leyhe operated the Eagle Boat Store on the St. Louis waterfront. The company gradually evolved into Eagle Marine Industries. Fred also owned the LT. ROBERT E. LEE restaurant boat which opened in 1970 until it closed in the early 1990's. The boat recently was sold at auction and there are rumors that it will reopen as a restaurant above the Eads Bridge in the near future.
Anyway, Mrs. Leyhe is a delightful lady and any river enthusiasts in the St. Louis area on Sunday might like to drop by to chat with her if possible. For more information on the meeting call Mary Ann Coulter at 314-831-4159 or Bill Shive (another honoree and president of the club) at 618-257-0345.
The Paddlewheel newsletter of the Golden Eagle Club noted that seven rolls of 8mm and 16mm movie film of the Str. GOLDEN EAGLE have been found and will be transferred to DVD format. No mention as to whether this will be available for purchase.
Memberships are available in the organization for $8 per year (single) or $15 (family) as well as $100 for life membership. Send check to Ed Miller, treasurer (and another honoree on Sunday) at 12616 Cottage Ridge, St. Louis, MO 63127.
11/03/2009 2:05 pm
Golden Eagle
This is a delightful group, probably as close to a Hot Stove League as we have today. The meeting hall is quite interesting, not only for their displays but for others in the building which you can view enroute to the GE room. This group has done so much to keep the river heritage alive in St. Louis and would do more if they had more members, especially who lived closer. As Keith pointed out, they are honoring the 90yr+ group, and those doing the honoring are mostly very close to that age. This was one reason they had to close their museum out at Bee Tree, but most of those items are now on display in the university museum in Cape Girardeau. This group is very unusual, in that they have an 'excess' of funds, so that their Christmas dinner parties are free to members and a guest. And the Paddlewheel newsletter is not only interesting, it is published regularly and in a timely fashion. Keith and I are proud to be life members of this group, and I only wish I lived closer to be able to attend more of their functions.