Topic starter
01/08/2015 10:09 pm
August 1, 1935 - That would be 80 years ago today, and that would be the natal day of one Capt. Clarke Campbell Hawley. Yes, hard to believe, but Doc is an octogenarian today! My first sighting of him would have been in 1952 on the Rock Island levee as he played the AVALON's calliope. I first met him at S&D in 1978, got to know him as I rode the NATCHEZ after DQ trips to New Orleans, and was privileged to work on his NATCHEZ crew for 11 summers and 2 full years. He was responsible for getting me into my wonderful FQ apartment in the BK house (which had been his first residence in NOLA back in 1975), and he has been a wonderful mentor and friend all these years. I am so privileged to be numbered in his circle of friends, and while he doesn't 'do computers' he somehow finds out what is posted online, so I now wish him the happiest of birthdays and invite you all to share your wishes here too - he'll get them somehow!
02/08/2015 12:11 am
Happy birthday to a good friend and fine man. I still have an article I clipped from the Courier Journal many years ago headlined..."Youngest Captain on the River" about Doc when he was on the AVALON. Doc, where'd the years go?
02/08/2015 1:32 am
A long and two shorts of the whistle in tribute to Doc's milestone birthday today. What a privilege it is to be counted amongst his countless friends on the river and elsewhere. I have known Doc since meeting him aboard the DELTA QUEEN in 1966. Hard to believe that was 49 years ago! Thanks, Doc, for your many years of being mentor and a good friend! Keep UP STEAM!
IMAGES:
At the 1979 S&D Meeting - Marietta, Ohio.
Aboard the DELTA QUEEN - 1997
At the BELLE of LOUISVILLE calliope - 1996
02/08/2015 1:38 am
It all started with you back in '57. Many thanks. And Happy Birthday, Doc!
Topic starter
02/08/2015 1:50 am
RI levee?
Jerry, were you down on the RI levee for the calliope concerts?
02/08/2015 2:49 am
Hi Judy! Yes, for quite a few of them. I made quite a few fast trips down 17th Street on my bike back then. You could hear the calliope from 7th Avenue. I don't know how fast I was going by the time I hit the railroad tracks in back of the Montgomery Ward store, but I was really flying. Pretty exciting stuff for a 14-year-old kid!