[Keith Norrington]

A first time attendee at the S&D meeting this weekend will be Ms. Pat Carr, who caught the "river bug" in 1958 as a Hiram College student aboard the SHOWBOAT MAJESTIC. Pat played the trumpet in the band and later went on to become a music director in public schools for 32 years. During the showboat's Marietta stop, Pat visited the River Museum, then housed in the basement of the Campus Martius Museum. She purchased several books at the gift shop, including Capt. Fred Way's "Saga of the Delta Queen". Not long afterward, Capt. Fred's little sternwheeler LADY GRACE came alongside the showboat and tied up to the towboat ATTABOY. Not only did Pat get to meet the famous Capt. Fred, but she got her picture taken on the forecastle of the LADY GRACE! Pat never lost her love for the river and has made numerous trips on the DELTA QUEEN and BELLE OF LOUISVILLE -- as well as attending gatherings of "river people" every chance she gets. I've enlisted her to do a program (she has wonderful pictures, movies and stories!) of her showboating experience on my "River Ramblings" program series at the Howard Steamboat Museum. Pat will be arriving in Louisville this evening from her home in Macon, Georgia, to drive up to Marietta tomorrow with steamboat buffettes Jo Ann Schoen and Pat Traynor. Be sure to look her up at S&D and give her a big welcome!