Farewell to the Queen?
Crowd turns out to say goodbye to Delta QueenBy Connie Cartmell, Special to The News
Article Photos
Fact Box
Still time to save the Queen
- Call your congressman or U.S. senators if you want them to support legislation to exempt the Delta Queen from the Safety of Life at Seas Act.
- Petitions are available for local signatures at the Marietta/Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau, 373-5178.
MARIETTA - After years of delivering historical ambiance and eager visitors to downtown Marietta, the Delta Queen may have made her last stop at the Ohio River levee Monday.
"I came down because I've got to see her off," said Herb Smith, 73, of Marietta. "I couldn't count how many times I've been down to see her. I hope this isn't the last time."
Monday was the boat's last scheduled visit of 2008. Unless Congress passes another exemption to the Safety of Life at Seas Act, it will be the last time the boat is seen in the Pioneer City. In addition to providing festive sights and sounds for residents, the boat draws hundreds of people to Marietta to shop, visit museums and restaurants and perhaps return one day.
There were few dry eyes on shore as the graceful paddle wheel steamboat, amid a chorus of lively calliope music, pulled away from the sun-drenched levee about 1:20 p.m.
School children waved and cameras clicked what could be a last goodbye.
"I'm an antique buff myself," Smith said. "My father was born on the river, and I've always been drawn to it. I love steam engines and the lines of the boat. You don't find any like it anymore."
As the boat became a dot down river, only the lonesome wail of its whistle could be heard.
"The sound of the steam whistle, you never forget that sound," said Marsha Goldsberry of Circleville. "It's sweet music."
The 75 or so folks who came to see the boat off picked up their blankets, tucked away cameras and video recorders, took children by the hand and left with little conversation.
The music of the calliope has called people who live along the Ohio River for hundreds of years and continues to today.
"We can hear the calliope music from our house, so the minute we hear it, we always hurry down to see the boat," said Sue Hoffert of Marietta. "My granddaughter (Trista Stanley, 3) loves it. We've been down here to see it every time the Delta Queen comes in."
Taylor Abbott, 19, of Clarington, a college student, never misses an opportunity to see the queen, and Monday was special. He hopes to get out on the boat one day.
"My great-grandfather worked on the river - he was a chief engineer - and my uncle, Bob Thomas, helped found the Sons and Daughters of Pioneer Rivermen," Abbott said.
Abbott considers that he has close ties to the river and its history.
"She'll be back, I'm pretty sure," he said with confidence.
U.S. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, introduced a bill in September that will, if approved when Congress is back in regular session in November, continue the Delta Queen's 40-year exemption from the Safety of Life at Seas Act.
It is a 10-year extension of the exemption, expected to be up for a vote Nov. 17, said Garette Silverman, spokeswoman for Voinovich.
The Delta Queen has a wooden superstructure and steel hull and while the 82-year-old steamboat never travels on the ocean, the act is still applied to it. The law says ships with wood superstructures pose a potential fire risk and therefore cannot board passengers overnight.
The Delta Queen has received nine exemptions since 1966. Supporters say the boat doesn't travel on the ocean and is never more than a mile from shore.
Voinovich is not alone in his support. U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat, is one of the bill's co-sponsors and U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson, D-Ohio, supports the issue.
U.S. Rep. Zack Space, D-Ohio, voted against the exemption earlier this year. His office did not return a call seeking comment Monday.
Goldsberry and a friend cruised on the Delta Queen in May and never worried about safety issues, she said.
"It was a fun trip, my first," the 45-year-old woman said. "It was different seeing the river, not from the banks. I must have taken 500 pictures."
She and her friend sat on deck at 2 a.m., bundled in a blanket, listening to the quiet sounds of night and watching lights bob in and out along the riverbank.
"It's totally relaxing," Goldsberry said.
Dave and Edna McCready of San Jose, Calif., have been on four riverboat cruises, but never on the Delta Queen. The couple wanted to be aboard for this final journey on the Ohio River. They visited downtown Marietta early Monday before re-boarding for the trip down river to Cincinnati.
"It's a classic experience," Dave McCready said. "We've been on the other ships, but just wanted to take this one - this time."
McCready said he is optimistic there will be another exemption for the Queen.
"We sure hope so," he said.
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charlay
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10-07-08 8:59 PM
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I hate to see this happen. I went to Belpre High School and really loved to see the Queen go down the river. That's one of the things my children remember from when we lived there. I was hoping to go back someday and see it again and hopefully my grand children would be able to see it someday also. The Ohio river is where it belongs not the ocean.
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