As a small girl growing up along the Ohio river, one of the biggest thrills was to watch the Delta Queen glide by the shores of Warsaw, Ky. To see that red paddle wheel, to hear the calliope, and to dream of trips far on down to bayou country was a grand summertime fantasy. After the Great Steamboat race, we would frantically search for "The Golden Antlers" symbol of a win. I can remember at night, watching the queen go quietly by. Grandma and I would flash the porch lights at the boat's pilot, and he would in turn flash his overhead light in response.
A few year's back, Progressive Insurance used to sponsor one of "the other boats" in the Great Steamboat Race. Charlie and I were fortunate enough to be aboard several times. What a thrill! I am saddened to report this may be the last year "my" Delta Queen is permitted to participate in the Great Steamboat Race. Here's an article that made my heart sing...and my eyes well up with fond memories.
Delta Queen to Receive Silver Horseshoe Award
By: KDF Press Office Posted: 4/10/2008 9:31:51 AM
The Kentucky Derby Festival is pleased to announce that the Silver Horseshoe Award, which is traditionally presented to an organization or individual for community service, will be given to the historic Delta Queen steamboat at the 52nd annual They’re Off! Luncheon on Friday, April 11, at the Galt House East Hotel. Accepting the award on behalf of Ambassadors Cruise Group, owner of the Delta Queen, will be Capt. Nico Corbin, Executive Vice President. The Delta Queen has participated in the Derby Festival’s Great Steamboat Race nearly every year since the event was first held in 1963. Corbin will present the $1,000 award that goes with the Silver Horseshoe to the Howard Steamboat Museum in Jeffersonville, Ind., which is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2008.
The Delta Queen’s first two decks and steam engines were ordered in 1924 from a shipyard in Scotland. The Queen and her sister boat Delta King were shipped in pieces to Stockton, California, in 1926. There the California Transportation Company assembled the two vessels for regular Sacramento River service between San Francisco and Sacramento. At the time, they were the most lavishly appointed and expensive sternwheel passenger boats ever commissioned. During World War Two, both boats were requisitioned by the U.S. Navy for duty in San Francisco Bay. In 1946, the Delta Queen was purchased by Greene Line Steamers of Cincinnati and towed via the Panama Canal and the Mississippi and Ohio rivers to be refurbished in Pittsburgh. In 1948 she entered regular passenger service, plying the waters of the Ohio, Mississippi, Tennessee and Cumberland rivers between Cincinnati, New Orleans, St. Paul, Chattanooga, Nashville and ports in between.
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Charlie Pinson Insurance is an independent insurance agency representing many Kentucky Auto Insurance companies including Progressive Insurance. Kentucky car insurance quotes are available online at www.pinsoninsurance.com Joyce Pinson, is a native of Boone County, KY and spent many summers on the Ohio River banks in Gallatin County near Warsaw.
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