The riverboat captain is a storyteller, and Captain Don Sanders shares the stories of his long association with the river — from discovery to a way of love and life. This a part of a long and continuing story. It appeared in July, 2022.
By Capt. Don Sanders
Special to NKyTribune
The 4th of July is a big day in Charleston, West “By God” Virginia. Early in the afternoon, the paddlewheelers square off in a series of races to see which boat is the fastest among those gathered at the renewed “Sternwheel Regatta.” Unfortunately, I won’t be in attendance though owner Cappy Scot Heckert extended an invitation to pilot the P. A. DENNY Sternwheeler in the afternoon’s contest. So instead, Captain Tom Price, my 12-year-old Cub Pilot in 1976 and later, the captain of the DENNY, will be behind the “sticks” in my place.
Tomorrow, of course, will be the 246th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, giving birth to our nation known as the United States of America. On the 200th anniversary, the Bicentennial Year, 1976, I was aboard the newly built P. A. DENNY for the first trip for both the boat and myself. At noon, with the DENNY snuggly moored to a tree near Marmet Lock and Dam, a red-coated British officer reenactor and I shared a boxed chicken dinner at a picnic table overlooking the Great Kanawha River.
How ironic, I recall thinking, that with all the extraordinary hype, money, and hoopla leading up to the bicentennial celebration, I knew then that my memory of the country’s 200th birthday would forever be remembering munching a box lunch with the Brit in the long red coat while the P. A. DENNY bobbed gently in the distance.
My earliest reminiscence of a 4th of July recognized on the river was sometime before 1947. Mom, dad, and possibly my little brother Dickie and I were parked so close to the Steamer ISLAND QUEEN that I had to look up from the back window of our “machine” to see the top of the housing covering the enormous side paddlewheel. I know that we parked on the riverbank at the Coney Island Amusement Park above Cincinnati.
Between the clamor and commotion of the exploding fireworks and the foreboding vision of the steamboat lying so close on the dark waters of the Ohio River, I don’t recall which scared me the most. As a youngster, I was not a fan of loud explosions throwing aerial displays of colored flames, nor was I yet enthralled with a spooky steamboat nestling on a dark sheet of murky water.
Perhaps the most clamorous Independence Day brouhaha on the river occurred over 71 years before I entered the world. On the 4th of July 1870, the victorious steamer ROB’T E. LEE beat the NATCHEZ in still the most unsurpassed steamboat race on the Mississippi River. Starting in New Orleans and bound for St. Louis on the 30th of June, the LEE’s headstart advantage grew until she flashed over the finish line at the Carondelet Bluffs below the St. Louis levee in three days, 18 hours, and 14 minutes. To this day, the time remains unbeaten by any commercial riverboat while the official time lies etched into the minds of any serious steamboat scholar.
“Firecracker Day” was always a holiday for any ordinary boy to look forward to arriving each year. Although my father, Jess Sanders, Jr., a police officer with Covington’s finest, usually worked during the busy holiday, we brothers always had a goodly stache of sparklers, snakes, fountains, and other tame fireworks. Still, too, we never seemed to lack for the “good stuff” – cherry bombs, M 80s, and other loud and noxious mini bombs and missiles.
But the master of the most frightful pyrotechnics was Walter Hoffmeier, my boyhood river mentor and Walt’s Boat Club proprietor in West Covington at the end of the floodwall on West Second Street, now called Highway Avenue. Besides the usual flash-bangs, Walt possessed an arsenal of “double repeaters.” These abominable beauties, which only he handled, gave meaning to the definition of “shock and awe” when fired overhead – especially in a confined area like the narrow, dead-end street where he lived on tiny McCoy Street. After several frightened neighbors pleaded with Walt to cease fire, the double repeaters only returned to service on certain occasions, such as New Year’s Eve, when the neighborhood generally remained indoors.
July 4th aboard the DELTA QUEEN was more for the passengers than the crew, as are all commercial boats catering to the public. Lunch was usually picnic style with burgers, hotdogs, potato salad, and such, with delightful desserts featuring red, white, and blue icing on cakes and confections. Celebratory fireworks were always a welcome treat whenever the QUEEN happened upon them, but with her wooden construction, the historic steamboat neither carried, nor allowed, any pyrotechnics onboard.
On the five casino boats I captained, the management welcomed all holidays as times when potential gamblers were off work and looking for entertainment. Consequently, every promotional effort concerning a particularly festive occasion was embellished to bring customers parading to the vessels. The 4th of July was never an incredibly hyperactive day as the holiday is geared more to family gatherings than riverboat gaming. Surprisingly, the best casino holiday is usually President’s Day. What else is there to do on this day? Without exchanging gifts or gathering for a traditional holiday meal, it doesn’t strain a casino’s advertising budget to persuade folks to visit their favorite gamblin’ boat and drop a few bucks into the shot machines.
I will observe this holiday from my front porch. Even when I owned boats, I never dreamed of being out on the river during the 4th of July, the busiest day for pleasure boaters. So, whatever you do, make this anniversary of our nation a safe and sane occasion. Above all else, please be friendly and downright neighborly to one another. The world needs all the warm, pleasant encouragement it can get.
Captain Don Sanders is a river man. He has been a riverboat captain with the Delta Queen Steamboat Company and with Rising Star Casino. He learned to fly an airplane before he learned to drive a “machine” and became a captain in the USAF. He is an adventurer, a historian, and a storyteller. Now, he is a columnist for the NKyTribune and will share his stories of growing up in Covington and his stories of the river. Hang on for the ride — the river never looked so good.
Enjoy Captain Don Sanders’ stories of the river — in the book.
Capt. Don Sanders The River: River Rat to steamboatman, riding ‘magic river spell’ to 65-year adventure is now available for $29.95 plus handling and applicable taxes. This beautiful, hardback, published by the NKyTribune, is 264-pages of riveting storytellings, replete with hundreds of pictures from Capt. Don’s collection — and reflects his meticulous journaling, unmatched storytelling, and his appreciation for detail. This historically significant book is perfect for the collections of every devotee of the river.
You may purchase your book by mail from the Northern Kentucky Tribune — or you may find the book for sale at all Roebling Books locations and at the Behringer Crawford Museum and the St. Elizabeth Healthcare gift shops.
Order your Captain Don Sanders’ ‘The River’ book here.
Thanks, Capt. Don, for the interesting looks through the different river lenses of time into your past Independence Days. May you, your family and friends, and those onboard the NKYTribune and its readership have a safe and Freedom-appreciative Independence Day 2024!