NOLA and the Str. President

Yes Phillip growing up in Nola during the 70's I rode her quite often on those Rock and Blues cruises on friday and saturday nites. Its a little foggy but I do remember those great times. I saw BB King and Wild Cherry and countless others I cant recall who all. Yeah those were my high school days and a few after. Then I got on that big White Boat the MQ and it was history from there.

the PREZ article

Thanks for posting that Phillip. I had a long reply typed out, but Angel (a misnomer) just hit the delete key for me. Anyway, I wasn't around for any of those times, but Doc, Robbie, and several other NATCHEZ crew members who had worked on the PREZ talked about them a bit. The marijuana burns in the stairwells was an often-mentioned topic. The PREZ had a great location, right at the foot of Canal Street, with parking lots all along the river for the locals. And there weren't many, if any, 3000 seat venues for those concerts besides her. The PREZ left NOLA in May 1988, and she had basically been idle for some time before that, running a Sunday brunch cruise and occasional charters. She ceased her daily harbor cruises shortly after the NATCHEZ hit the scene, and did the concert business and charters for about a decade before heading up to St. Louis. In the late 1980s the NATCHEZ ran a Saturday night moonlight 10-midnight with a band on board, keeping up that musical tradition, albeit on a smaller scale. We had Irma Thomas, Bobby Cure and the Summertime Blues, Charmaine Neville, and other local favorites. Marcia Ball also appeared, just as she was beginning to gain some national recognition.
It was mentioned in the article that Doc got his NOLA harbor license on the PREZ. He was friends with the Streckfus family from his AVALON days, and when the NATCHEZ came to town, Capt. Verne told him that if the PREZ was going to be put out of business, he was glad it was to be from such a beautiful steamboat with an outstanding person as Captain. So the NATCHEZ/PRESIDENT relationship was a cordial one, rather unusual to imagine, but true. It seems to me that Doc said he offered to let Capt. Verne come steer the NATCHEZ, but he declined, saying he was strictly a sidewheel man.

Interesting article. I seem to remember taking a cruise on the President when a rock band was on there, General Public (?), but was there for the trip, not the music. It was, however, a sight to behold, a microcosm of today's really big over the top shows. Way too loud for my ears. Before the President morphed into something else, I went around and took pictures of the unique art deco bathrooms, a topic in and of itself. Volumes could be written about that boat. I had no idea such big names played on there.

Ah, Phil, that was really a trip! I was only on the Prez once in Cincy at Tall Stacks, but it brought back fond memories of Big Liz. I am given to wonder why such a venue was such a going concern back then and seemingly moribund now. Those "big trips" had to be profitable back then...what changed? Cap'n Walnut.

Lexie, you wouldn't happen to still have any of those photos you could share with us? I know I'd love to see them!

Why not now?

Why wouldn't they still be having these trips? Well, for starters, a crew. I started working on the NATCHEZ in 1984, and by then the PREZ was down to these concerts and occasional charters. New Orleans Steamboat had bought the PREZ in 1980, so I think we kind of shared the navigation/engineering crews. Bill Wilson was/is office exec for NO Steamboat, but he ran Captain on the PREZ some. Capt. Sam Centanni was our Sunday/Monday pilot and he worked the PREZ some. Chief Gary Frommelt likewise worked both boats. Capt. Don Summers worked the PREZ, along with the CREOLE QUEEN. But there certainly wasn't enough business to keep two crews employed fulltime. As I dimly recall, security issues came up, especially if the concert was during a cruise, not dockside. You had people on board who wanted to leave, or who should have left, according to their condition, and couldn't, and so things got a bit rough. JAZZFEST pulled off the PREZ and began shoreside concerts by the Riverwalk, and that really hurt the guaranteed money. And I suppose with the more and bigger amplifying systems, perhaps the PREZ electrical system couldn't deal with it. I remember power going out a few times on the NATCHEZ moonlights as they set the band up, and those were certainly of lesser quantity than what played the PREZ. And let's face it, while our bunch here are dedicated river people, the general public has lost a lot of interest in such 'old' or 'lame' things like boat trips, especially if a concert is the main draw. One other thought just hit: the PREZ was a perfect setup for a concert, with the one large open area which provided space for dancing, moshing, whatever. Today's boats, with the CG regulated distances between bulkheads, can't accommodate that.

I believe the Rolling Stones were on there in about 1982. As you said, Judy, the general public thinks of a concert on a boat as being "lame", though I really can't figure out why. As one who likes rock-n-roll music, I'd love to go on a cruise featuring a big name rock band, fo several reasons. In fact, a long-running fantasy of mine has been to be an officer on the BELLE OF LOUISVILLE or NATCHEZ when Don McLean is playing onboard.

The Stones played the Superbowl in 82 Bob. I was there and it was the nite we layed up the MQ at Boland.

The experiences of riding (in NOLA) Str President really burn brightly in my feeble memory. Back in the 70's I had the great fortune to be a guest in the Pilot House on several day trips with Capt Verne and Company. Watching that man land the boat was a symphony of few words and a perfect landing time after time. I also had the pleasure of being allowed to ride the Pilot House on numerous Saturday Night Fights - as they were called then with Capt R.M and Company. Great memories indeed.

Once when walking thru the hull I remember seeing a steam whistle (flat top single barrel approx. six inch in diameter) just sitting in a stb. compartment deck!....and NO I don't have it.....wish I did!

It was a very sad night when Annie and I rode the last trip as an excursion boat. Big John was all puffed up being then the King of Gambling on the Mississippi River.

Now it just tears me up to see the pieces stacked like cord wood in an Illinois field, the engines sitting exposed to the elements (last seen uncovered), sections of hull pieces thither and yon.

A question for the experts out there: when were the sponsons added to the Str President (wheel width cut down)?

I believe the Island Queen II book by John and Robert White tells when the Biz Liz was widened, however not a mentioned about the PREZ.

Thanks, Judy. All's quiet up here on Gunpowder Road. Cap'n Walnut.

PREZ pictures

Here are some pictures of the PRESIDENT in various eras.
1) at Canal Street - besides being a big concert hall, she was a Bingo palace for a while. I don't know anything about this phase of her career, nor when this picture was taken.
2) Frank mentioned the silver stacks on the PREZ. Here's one in 1975.
3) The black stacks in 1984.

more PREZ pix

1) the last line of her NOLA 55 year career is cast off on May 28, 1988
2) the young man sitting on the concrete post is Capt. Verne Chester Streckfus, a 4th generation Streckfi who at the time was a NATCHEZ pilot and Gov. Nic Light pilot. The people at the railing are tourists who have no idea of the historically significant event they are watching. The PREZ was leaving to go up to St. Louis, which she had been doing since the summer of 1985, but it hadn't been made public that this time she was not coming back. N.O. Steamboat owned her, so that's why we were in the know.
3) the last view of the PRESIDENT in the New Orleans harbor as she heads upriver near the new span of the Crescent City Connection (GNO Bridges). The COTTON BLOSSOM has already taken her spot at Canal St. At this time, the CB was running the trips between the zoo and the aquarium, and the BJL, BAYOU JEAN LAFITTE, was doing the bayou trips. That is Capt. Rob E Mitchell on the CB.

PREZ interior

1) the Art Deco look in the ballroom
2) from the 3rd deck balcony looking toward the entrances to the bathrooms
3) not an interior shot, but I posted it to verify the dates of the first two. I think its 1985, the first year the PREZ went to St. Louis for the summer. That's Capt. Don Summers on the bridge, and the ADMIRAL getting renovations for the Six Flags part of her existence. Jim, Annie, was this in 1985????

a bathroom shot and summary of PREZ' career

And finally, as someone requested, a shot of one of the bathrooms. Yes, its a postcard - I have more, but where? Streckfus didn't miss a thing regarding PR, and they publicized their designer bathrooms as well as the rest of the boat. There are also postcards of the ADMIRAL's bathrooms, as well as pictures of them in the souvenir book.

A brief summary of the PRESIDENT's career, off the top of my head. I'll verify exact years later.
1924 - built as the packet CINCINNATI
1932 - bought by Streckfus and stripped to the Main Deck and rebuilt into the new all steel excursion boat PRESIDENT, which made her first trip on July 4, 1933.
1933-44? ran in St. Louis and made tramping trips up the UMR to St. Paul several years.
1944-1985 ran exclusively in the NOLA harbor
1985-1987 ran summers in St. Louis, winters in NOLA (owned by N.O. Steamboat since 1980.)
1988-89 ran in St. Louis harbor until conversion to gambling boat owned by John Connelly began.
April 1, 1991-Sept. 30, 2000 gambling boat in Davenport Iowa
April 14, 2001 COI expired as she was fleeted at Andalusia Il, later towed to Memphis, Vicksburg, Wood River
2008 - dissected and pieces hauled to St. Elmo and vicinity, Illinois.

One important date would be, as CW put it, when she had her hystorectomy. I'm thinking around 1979. That is, when she went from being a Str. to a MV. It will be a while before I dig out those slides of the toilets, but I will. I may even dig through the old vacation slides from the 1950's and see if there is a photo from that era. I was only 10-ish, but my father would have probably taken a few.

the operation

Yes, The PREZ was dieselized in 1978 - the ADMIRAL came to NOLA to run the harbor trips that winter. The ADMIRAL had been dieselized in 1974.

The President /Admiral

Judy, I am blessed to have worked both the President and the Admiral while they were both steam and then diesel. The greatest days were aboard the Admiral, with thousands crowding the decks and a thousand left on the levee waiting to get on! My god, if I only have the strength in me to tell those stories! But by the grace of the god of the rivers, I lived, breathed, suffered and savored the true steamboat excursion experience, and even today, after all of my wonderful years on the Delta Queen, I still harken back to the days with The Sreckfus Fleet, where I learned to love the trade!