[Walt Stout]

Originally Posted by Walt Stout

Capt. Childers first name was Jerome. During the summer of 1965, he was the captain on a tow boat named after then West Virginia Governor Hulett Smith. The towboat was used to push the West Virginia Showboat Rhododendron, which was unable to operate under her own power. The Rhododendron was originally the towboat Omar whch had been converted into a floating theater as a part of WV's centennial celebration in 1963. As a 12 year old during the summer of 1965, I travelled throughout WV, Ohio, PA and Kentucky on the Kanawha, Ohio, and Monongahela Rivers. Capt. Childers, who was then in his 80's, spent hours telling us stories about his life on the rivers.

The tow mentioned above was actually named the Mary Alice, after Gov. Smith's wife.