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The 2007 Annual Meeting
The historic Lafayette Hotel in Marietta,
Ohio, was the site of the 68th annual meeting of the sons &
Daughters of Pioneer Rivermen, referred by most as simply “S&D”.
Attendees from all over the United States gathered for the festivities
on September 14-15, 2007 with many members attending an annual meeting
for the first time.
Friday
Evening Reception
The traditional Friday evening get together
was held in the ballroom with a renewal of old acquaintances and meeting
of both old and new members attending an annual meeting for the first
time. The highlight of the evening was a special tribute to Helen
Hughes Prater in commemoration of her 95th birthday. Helen,
as most members know, is the daughter of Capt. Jesse P. Hughes, a
charter member of S&D and a legend on the river with the Greene Line
Steamers for over 50 years. President Jerry Sutphin honored Helen with
a superb slide presentation of Helen and her family from her early years
up until the present. It was a wonderful trip down memory lane for
Helen and a chance for the attendees to see some of the old Steamboating
days that she grew up in—and which S&D strives to preserve. Following
the presentation, the gathered attendees were treated to delicious
cookies and a piece of Helen’s birthday cake.
Business Meeting – Saturday
The annual business meeting was brought to
order at 9:30 am, September 15, 2007 by President Sutphin, recognizing
first time attendees and then calling for reports.
Reports:
1.
Secretary (Dick Prater): The status of the membership is
essentially static with losses slightly outnumbering gains. The
membership was challenged to get new members.
2.
Treasurer (Dale Flick): The organization is financially sound
with a slight increase in revenues, but the cost of doing business is
steadily rising.
3.
J. Mack Gamble Fund: Frank Pollack, speaking for the JMG
trustees, thanked outgoing Chairman, Kim McGrew, for her outstanding
work during her tenure. Frank reported that $31,112 was available to the
committee for grants this past year and then detailed the four grants
totaling $24,140 that were given.
4.
Museum Committee: Chairman Jeff Spear reported the completion of
the inventory of the S&D items currently in the River Museum as well as
the completion of the restoration of the Tell City pilot house.
5.
The Reflector: President Sutphin recognized and complimented the
editor, Capt David Smith, for his outstanding work on the magazine. He
noted that many of the kinks experienced in the transition to electronic
desk top publishing were being worked out with Richardson Publishing and
it promises to be a less expensive and more efficient process.
6.
Chapter Reports:
a.
Middle Ohio River (MOR): Mike Jones detailed last year’s MOR
meetings of the “most traveled chapter”. Besides meetings in Ashland
and Maysville, KY, the group traveled to Michigan to ride the last of
the coal fired ferries the Badger. Mike then paid respects to two long
time and faithful members of S&D and MOR, Ann Zeiger and Butch Guenther.
b.
Ohio-Kanawha River: Jim Bupp reported that the “oldest chapter”
met in Point Pleasant, WV, in March to honor and hear a presentation by
our past president, Woody Rutter. He then reported that their treasury
contains $45.58 and five stamps. Jim was followed—by popular
demand—Capt Charles Henry Stone who provided the gathering with some
entertaining recollections of past S&D meeting that he has attended.
c.
Upper Mississippi River: Tom Dunn briefly described the
activities of his chapter, mentioned that the steamer President had been
purchased and would be disassembled, then reassembled at another
location as an amusement center, and gave a report on the activities of
the Merchantile Library.
7.
The River Museum: Andy Verhoff, the director of the museum,
reported that:
a.
The fundraising kickoff for restoration of the WP Snyder that was
started last fall has been highly successful with $163,000 raised to
date ($80,000 pledged by the S&D J Mack Gamble fund).
b.
An endowment fund for upkeep of the Snyder was established in
June by the Ohio Historical Society (OHS).
c.
The surveyor for leading the Snyder restoration project has been
selected and is expected to complete the bid documents by the end of
October, with bids to go out by January.
d.
The number of visitors to the museum was up during the past year
e.
The interpretive panels for the kiosks are to be finalized by
next spring.
8.
Chairman of the Board: After introducing all Board members,
Chairman Bill Judd reported that there were many and complex topics that
the Board deliberated on during its two meetings this year. Some of
these are as follows:
a.
Restoration plan for the Snyder
b.
Operating hours for the River Museum—strongly urged OHS to
increase operating hours.
c.
Complimented David Smith on his efforts as editor of The
Reflector.
d.
Development of the S&D website.
e.
Provision for additional insurance that would protect Board
Members from potential liability law suits.
f.
Discussed and resolved the method for determining funding
available for grants by the JMG fund.
9.
Inland Rivers Library Collection: Patricia Van Skaik, manager of
the History and Genealogy Dept of the Cincinnati Public Library,
reported on activities there. The Library has been restructured to
develop and promote collections in four defined areas, (one of which is
Inland Rivers) and at the same time maintain the existing Rare Book
collection. Plans are to bring selected Inland Rivers materials into
public view (S&D Reflector, Waterways Journal, etc.) and to develop
“Steamboat Wiki”, an on-line internet tool for perusing the thousands of
steamboat photos contained in the Inland Rivers collection.
10. The
Howard Museum: Yvonne Knight thanked S&D and the JMG fund for the grant
to provide the access ramp to the museum. She also outlined the
programs that will be upcoming at the museum.
Old Business: President Sutphin stated
that at last year’s general meeting, it was concluded that because of
rising costs, the dues should be raised. Acting upon this, the Board
voted to raise the dues to $30.00 annually, subject to approval by the
general membership. A motion was made by Doug Wetherholt to raise the
dues to $30.00 annually and seconded by Bill Hindman. The vote for
approval was unanimous except for one dissenting vote.
New Business: Barbara Hameister, chairman
of the Nominating Committee,
was called upon to give the Committee’s recommended
slate of officers. They were: J. Sutphin, President; J. Fryant, V.
President; R. Prater, Secretary; D. Flick, Treasurer; Board of
Governors; Bill Barr, Lee Woodruff, and David Smith. There were no
nominations from the floor and a unanimous ballot was cast in favor of
the slate.
President Sutphin then asked if there were any
member concerns. Bill Barr expressed his concern about the news that
the Delta Queen will no longer be operating on the river past the 2008
season and wondered if there was anything that S&D could do as an
organization to save her. President Sutphin said that it is obvious
that MAL has made a business decision to drop the Delta Queen and
apparently they are using the lack of an exemption to the Safety at Sea
Act as an excuse. He then said that as an organization we really have
no leverage to influence the situation and we will have to address it as
individuals. Jo Ann Schoen took up the challenge by describing her plan
to petition congressmen through a network of callers to get them to
sponsor and/or vote for the exemption. She asked for volunteers for
this effort and several responded positively. John Mullin then took the
floor and pointed out that MAL is reporting that congress has said no to
the exemption, but that is actually false because congress has not had
the opportunity to even vote on it. Since the company is not pushing to
get the exemption, it is up to each of us to educate our congressmen to
what is at stake here and encourage them to pass the exemption or to add
it to another bill.
Valley
Gem Boat Ride and Picnic 
Saturday was a gorgeous fall day that was
perfect for a boat ride up the Muskingum River. Ninety stalwart S&D
members  made their way to the Valley Gem, moored next to the River
Museum and departed up river at approximately 1:00pm. After boarding, a
delicious picnic box lunch, prepared by the Third Street Deli, was
served along with beer and soft drinks. After lunch most everyone made
their way to the top deck to enjoy the beautiful scenery as well as some
camaraderie with fellow passengers. Of great interest to all on the
trip was locking through Devola dam, whose gates are still hand
operated. The trip ended some three hours later and all made their way
back to the Lafayette Hotel to prepare for the evening banquet.
Evening
Banquet
 The ballroom of the Lafayette Hotel was once
again the scene of the annual S&D banquet and 110 were on hand. William
Howland Kenney, professor of History and American Studies at Kent State
University, was the speaker of the evening. Prof Kenney’s presentation
was entitled “Jazz on the River” and was based on his book by the same
name. Prof Kenney, an accomplished jazz musician himself, related to
the audience how the river boats played a key part in the development
and spread of one of America’s greatest contributions of the arts—jazz.
He stated that training on the riverboats helped the skills and
experiences of many jazz musicians, such as Louis Armstrong, as the new
music moved up the Mississippi River to large population centers such as
St. Louis--and even Chicago. Prof Kenney concluded his
presentation with a sampling of the jazz music he had been discussing.
Following the banquet, many attendees
adjourned to the hotel lobby where Helen Prater had taken up residence
at the grand piano. After wowing the assembled crowd, she was joined by
Prof. Kenney and his clarinet for a late night jam session--thus ended
another friendly and entertaining gathering of S&D. |
