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Ohio River Sternwheel Festival draws crowds to levee

By Gwen Sour & Evan Bevins 4 min read

MARIETTA -- The 48th annual Ohio River Sternwheel Festival entertained the Mid-Ohio Valley over the weekend.

The festival that began in 1976 as a project between Harry Robinson, Capt. Gene Finch and Capt. Bob Limle has grown over the years and, according to the organizing committee, has attracted over 100,000 people to the Marietta riverside in the past 48 years.

The festival offered a wide array of options to keep everyone busy, including children's activities, a Sunday Sunrise service, live music, Little Miss and Mr. Sternwheel Pageant and a car show Sunday morning that included more than 350 vehicles.

"Other than the rain on Friday night, I think it went perfect," said Cheri Seevers, director general of the festival.

The rain, and particularly the lightning that accompanied it, led to the cancellation of Friday night's performance by "American Idol" winner Chayce Beckham. But the weather cooperated the rest of the weekend, including for Saturday's Harry J. Robinson Fireworks Display.

"The crowd was great," Seevers said.

Marietta residents Pauline and John Lee have attended the festival since the beginning. Each year, they make sure to spend the weekend enjoying what it has to offer.

"We come back because there's a lot of food, there's a lot of sternwheelers, there's bands," John Lee said.

Businesses welcomed local and out-of-town traffic. The lower blocks of Front Street closed to vehicles and bustled with shoulder-to-shoulder pedestrian traffic. Inside First City Records, Finn Hall, a student at Marietta College, initially came to support the local music, but started shopping.

"I originally came down to see Vocal Point," Hall said, referring to the Marietta High School a cappella group. "But there are a lot of people out and about, so I came into the record store to do some shopping. … I like how many people the Sternwheel Festival brings downtown."

Customers breezed in and out of the Marietta Makery, where owner Greta Guimond was pleased with the turnout. Guimond also was a volunteer on the Sternwheel Festival committee.

"I have seen firsthand how the Sternwheel Festival brings in the community, and now I'm seeing it as a small business owner and how much it helps us to see people we haven't seen in forever," she said. "We get a lot of new people that we have never seen before. I think they've been really amazed with the small-town feel, and I think on the townies' side, this is like the unofficial homecoming for people."

At the riverbank, the Heckert family has attended the festival with the P.A. Denny since 2010 and continues to do so to honor the late Capt. "Heck" Heckert. On Friday, his great-grandchildren, Karter Scott Heckert and Myla Carpenter, had the honor of lighting the torch of cooperation during the festival's opening ceremony. The torch is passed between community events such as the Parkersburg and Belpre Homecomings and lands at the Ohio River Sternwheel Festival to highlight unity and cooperation in the community.

The spotlight wasn't only on river transportation as the annual car show packed Second Street. Among those displaying vehicles was Parkersburg resident April Life, with the 2021 Mustang she customized with a Wonder Woman theme.

"I wanted to show the kids, especially little girls, that you can do anything you want," she said. "It's not just for guys."

Part of her affinity for the heroine comes from the fact that Life's children called her "Wonder Woman" as she faced a variety of health challenges. Some medical issues kept her from doing a lot of shows this year, so she was particularly excited to participate in Sunday's event.

"I decided I needed to get out and get her driven and show people my car," Life said.

As Seevers was helping to tear down the entertainment barge Sunday evening, she said committee members will gather in about two weeks for a wrap-up meeting, then start making plans for next year in October. They will also have an eye toward the 2026 celebration, the 50th year of the festival and the 250th anniversary of the United States of America.

"You know we always go all out" for anniversaries, Seevers said.

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