A special "Save the DELTA QUEEN" steamboat rally will take place Thursday, June 12 beginning at 11:30 a.m. along the Ohio River Levee at the corner of Front and Greene Streets in Marietta.

The June 12th rally is open to the public and will feature speakers from the American Sternwheel Association, Senator Joy Padgett, state and local government representatives, and other noted officials. Musical entertainment will feature Tony Ellis, banjo player formerly with Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass...

Franz Neumeier

The Save the Delta Queen Campaign Team has started the next step in saving the historic Delta Queen, i.e. getting an exemption from the Safety at Sea Act. Today the Campaign Team is calling supporters to address Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, letting him know how important the Delta Queen is and how much they want the exemption to become reality as soon as possible with the help of the U.S. Senate. Check www.save-the-delta-queen.org for more details and for information on how to contact...

Franz Neumeier

Rallies to save the Delta Queen will take place on:

Friday, May 23 at Henderson, Kentucky: Audubon Mill Park beginning at 1:30 p.m. Entertainment by a bluegrass band assembeled by the International Bluegrass Museum.

Monday, May 26 (Memorial Day) at Madison, Indiana: Madison Landing from noon to 1:00 p.m. Entertainment by the Ohio River Minstrels.

Thursday, June 12 at Marietta, Ohio: At the Public Landing in front of the Lafayette Hotel from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00...

Franz Neumeier

Capt. Dennis Trone, long-time river captain and designer of the Julia Belle Swain and the Twilight was killed in an airplane crash today in the afternoon. According to Associated Press his self-built, single-engine plane has crashed near Brodhead Airport in Spring Grove Township, about 30 miles south of Madison, Wisconsin.

Capt. Trone has been a highly respected marine architect and well known for designing and building the sternwheeler steamboat Julia Belle Swain (1971) as well as...

Franz Neumeier

Ambassadors International today has announced plans to sell Majestic America Line. According to Joe Ueberroth, chairman and CEO of the company, the cruise boats will be operating the 2008 season. He also wrote in a press release that there are several "credible parties" interested in buying some or all assets of Majestic America Line, consisting of the cruise boats Delta Queen, American Queen, Mississippi Queen, Queen of the West, Columbia Queen and Empress of the North.

The other...

Franz Neumeier