S&D September meeting

Bob, You didn't give us the meeting date. And will you please send me a PM with your current e-mail address? I've been trying to contact you with no success.

DUH!!! I guess I did forget that little piece of info., didn't I? ;-D

S&D meeting dates are September 18th and 19th. Hope to see a lot of new faces this year!

By the way, the Spring issue of the REFLECTOR is at Richradson Printing as I write this, and should be in the mail no later than the first of next week.

Bob Reynolds on 6-3-09;17189 wrote: By the way, the Spring issue of the REFLECTOR is at Richradson Printing as I write this, and should be in the mail no later than the first of next week.

Has anyone seen the "Spring" Reflector in the mail yet? If I haven't totally lost track, I believe this issue we are waiting for is the former "March" issue that used to arrive during the first week of March, when Woody was Ye Editor. Any news on this?

It's 18 days later, and I've yet to see my copy of the celebrated mag in my mailbox. I paid for two years of S&D membership, and though I am happy to say I support the organization, getting the Reflector is the cream of belonging. I have been a member since Volume II, No. 1 came to my parent's home while I was still in school, and that was a while back.

Captain Smith is a fine writer, and he has put out two exceptional issues, but obviously there is a problem with having enough time to devote to getting the publication out on time. Isn't there anything, with all the talent within the S&D membership, that can be done to assist him getting the river rag out on schedule every three months?

My copy arrived Saturday. It has a fine article on the last of the big steam towboats. Also included is a flyer on all the special doings at the big 70th. anniversary meeting of S & D on September 18 & 19.

Good. It's about time. Reading the second paragraph on page 5 of the "Winter" Reflector (which didn't arrive at our landing until the 2nd day of spring!), it states that "the Spring 2009 issue should be nearly on time, approx. 2 weeks behind this one". So with that, I had expected to see this next issue sometime after the first week of April, not 13 weeks later.

I understand that delays happen, a late Reflector is not the end of the world, and acknowledge that the efforts since Woody have been good.... Still, these late Reflectors seem to be a "trend".

The Reflector is the voice of the S&D organization and paying members DO appreciate timely publications, as had previously been the norm for decades.

Has anyone else got the Reflector in the mail yet? It's been another week, and still no "March" Reflector here. I just want to make sure ours isn't lost in the mail. Maybe it was only mailed to board members first(?). Our mail comes by way of Cincinnati as well.

Nope, no 2009 issues here yet, 3 days short of half the calendar year gone.

Reflector arrived here via the overland route.....

Still no March Reflector at our landing, but it should finally be on the way. According to the printers, the Reflectors were not mailed until Monday (6/29/09)....

Air mail was obviously faster. The Reflector arrived at our - more or less flooded - landing today including a letter announcing the S&D meeting and 70th anniversary celebration.

Carmen

It's Here!

Oh, ye of little faith may now be heard from some quarters responsible for the publication of the beloved S&D publication. My copy arrived early this morning as the postman made a rushed circuit of our neighborhood to deliver his parcels by noon and knock off early for the 233rd celebration of the birth of the Republic. Just a few minutes ago, my copy has finally been read fore and aft, front to back, and cover to cover with only a few hours respite for a journey to the local WallyWorld for a hundred bucks worth of stuff we could have lived without if I had stuck with disscecting the journal and not made the trip.

My compliments to the editor, Captain David Smith, for another quality publication that covers two of my very favorite river subjects: the steam towboat HERBERT E. JONES and hand-rowed, river-style, wooden skiffs of the type made famous by builders from around Racine, Ohio. Boone Weaver was my favorite builder. The JONES was my family's favorite boat, over half a century ago, as our sternwheel houseboat, MARJESS, was tied up across the Ohio River across from the Hatfield Coal Company fleet, also the terminus of the HEJ's route from Charleston to Cincinnati.

We relished the arrival of the HERBERT E. JONES with its tow of sweet West Virginia coal, and we thrilled as we watched the JONES do its own fleet work after tying her loads over on the Kentucky side, in a deep pool below the C&O Bridge, and move coal-laden barges over to the Hatfield fleet and ferrying empties back to build a much lighter tow for the long journey back home to the Kanawha River Valley where loaded barges were already awaiting the JONES's return.

Wooden skiffs are my most loved of all boats. If one can handle one precisely and skillfully, then that same one can also learn to handle a much larger boat, including the likes of even the DELTA QUEEN. The FLYING FISH, Fish and my sixteen-foot Weaver-built Racine yawl, was our favorite of the two wooden boats we owned together; our other was the antique, seven-ton trawler, the JOHN HENRY. During the 1978 Charleston Strenwheel Regatta, Fish, the FISH, and I beat Cappy Lawson Hamilton's two 1941 speed records on the Kanawha River from the Capital Street Bridge to the Chuck Yeager Bridge at Port Amherst and back down to the starting point-- exactly five miles each way. Our records still stand over thirty-years later.

Anyway.... Captain Smith's latest publication of the S&D REFLECTOR brought these memories back to mind. Now I am eager for the Summer volume to arrive.

Willie and Buster's Whirlwind Tour of the World - Sternwheel Towboats

Amazon.com: First You Have to Row a Little Boat: Reflections on Life & Living: Richard Bode: Books

The spring issue of the S&D REFLECTOR arrived at my landing on July 7th. Since the magazines didn't go into the mail at Marietta until June 29th, that wasn't too bad a delivery time for media mail by the post office! Indeed, this is a fine issue with its fascinating spread on the towboats HERBERT E. JONES & ALEXANDER MACKENZIE -- not exactly the prettiest of steamboats, but they were sturdily built for the WORKING river and performed their duties with dignity! John Fryant's account of the restoration of his BIG SANDY model (now the NEW BIG SANDY!) and her river travels aboard the Str. BELLE OF LOUISVILLE is most interesting. The excellent model certainly is one of our longtime treasures at the Howard Steamboat Museum, having been on exhibit for 44 of the museum's 51 year existence. And the model is a "survivor", having made it through the March, 1971 fire at the mansion. Be sure to take a good look at her when you next visit!

I greatly appreciate editor Capt. David Smith publishing my 40th anniversary remembrance of the grand opening for Ruth Ferris's MIDSHIP MUSEUM aboard the Str. BECKY THATCHER at St. Louis on April 12, 1969. David didn't have space to include the captions, so for historical purposes (and interested S&D members who visit this forum) here are the images with pertinent information.

(1) Midship Museum card of curator Ruth Ferris.

(2) Ruth Ferris looking at encased, lighted diorama featuring model of the Str. MISSISSIPPI, built by Ernest Reynolds Warren in 1963. The diorama was created by Marinel Immega, a St. Louis art teacher. Look closely and you'll see a barge of rip rap moored to shore, as well as a navigation light perched on the bank.

(3) Ruth at the counter and shelves removed from the EAGLE BOAT STORE building, long a river business operated by the Leyhe family on the St. Louis waterfront just above the Eads Bridge at 805 Wharf Street. Each drawer had stencilled names for its contents (shackles, oar locks, mop heads, wrenches, etc.) and on the shelves are red, green and amber globes for running lights, tools, blocks and all manner of marine hardware. Above the shelves is a board displaying samples of various sizes of line used on boats. Suspended from the ceiling and barely visible high above Ruth are the engine room backing bell from the Streckfus excursion steamer J.S. DeLUXE, and a portion of the charred pilotwheel from the GOLDENROD SHOWBOAT, pulled out of the ashes after the June, 1962 fire.

The sparkling museum, located on the main deck, between the engine room and gift shop, with the BOILER ROOM BAR up forward, was compact, but very "boaty" and a great source of justifiable pride to Ruth, who especially reveled in having "river people" visit her aboard the BECKY. I know she would be honored and pleased that it's fondly remembered some four decades later. Although long gone, it will always be my favorite riverboat museum!