[Judy Patsch]

This got brought up in a thread unrelated to the DQ, so I thought I'd bring it to the light under a DQ title. My first DQ trip was on a charter in August, 1973. State Bank of East Moline had a travel department, and they chartered the DQ for many cruises from 1973 to about 1979. Their main man was a cigar smoking person named Dick Billings, and he was quite a character. These trips were always on the Upper Miss. My first one was 3 days, from St. Louis to Davenport. That night they turned around and did Davenport to St. Louis. We had the bathroomless rooms at the stern for $60 a night. In ensuing years, State Bank ran a St. Louis/St. Paul, a St. Louis/Dubuque, a Dubuque/St. Paul, and an interesting 8 day St.Paul/Dubuque/St.Paul roundtrip. Transportation was always provided, usually by TriState Bus or Ozark Airlines. These trips were short enough to give many people a chance to ride the DQ who might not have otherwise, myself included. I wasn't sure what to expect the first time, so 3 days was just right. Of course, I never again rode such a short time! My parents even took 3 of these charter trips, and Dave Tschiggfrie's parents were aboard too. Dick picked interesting stops. We stopped in Nauvoo on my first trip. 3 times we went up the St. Croix, the first time just up to Hudson without stopping, the second time to Stillwater without stopping, and the third time up to Stillwater for a shore stop. Capt. Jim was on for at least two of those I remember. If you've never seen the St. Croix, well it makes the UMR look like a wasteland! The DQ company was hesitant to go up the St. Croix, because turning off the UMR at Prescott, we had to negotiate a rather ancient railroad swing span bridge, and there was the real concern that we could get trapped on the St. Croix if it broke down. But Dick wanted to go through, so we went through... and made it back. In those days the DQ brochure was much less a book, rather a flyer, and the entire year's schedule was listed chronologically. Wherever there was a charter, it said "State Bank Charter", and potential passengers figured it was a bunch of bankers so they didn't pursue it. Or if they called the DQ office, they were usually steered to another trip since the company was guaranteed a sellout, regardless of how many rooms Dick sold. And that, in the end, was the demise of those wonderful trips because Dick needed people from outside our immediate area to fill the berths, and he got no help from the company. As to whether Dick is still alive, I think I remember seeing an obit a few years ago, but I'm not sure. And the bank no longer has the travel agency, although TriState Travel Tours is doing fine with their escorted bus tours, but with no connection to the Queens anymore.