TUGGING ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI
Celebrate the River: Great Rivers Towboat Festival 2005
Tug your way down to where the Mighty Mississippi and Illinois Rivers meet to celebrate the river at the annual Great Rivers Towboat Festival on Saturday, June 25 and Sunday, June 26 on the riverfront in Grafton, Illinois. For one weekend only, the public is invited to come tour a working towboat, enjoy great food, and experience life on the Mississippi River.
This year’s festival will roll down the river in full throttle beginning with the river songs performed by Bill Fowler from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday. The festivities will continue all weekend long with the Cajun sounds of Paul Jarvis & the Zydeco Crawdaddies from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and the best of New Orleans flavor on the fire at the crawfish & shrimp boil by noted regional chefs Ralph and Gene Smith.
The highlight of the festival will be the free towboat tours. From noon to 4 p.m. each day, festival-goers will have the rare opportunity (weather permitting) to tour two working towboats: the “Twyla Luhr” provided by the Luhr Brothers of Columbia, IL and “Mary Harter” provided by B&H towing out of Paducah, KY, and see how a real towboat workers and crew members live during the long months spent on the river.
The public will also be able to browse historical and educational displays about the Mississippi River. The Seaman Church Institute of Paducah, KY, will have an informational display detailing the work they do to keep families together during the long months towboat workers spend on the river. Jack Simpson of Little River Books in Florissant, MO, will present historic maps, logs and books detailing river traffic. Rose Stauffer, 30 years a cook on towboats, will be presenting several of her cookbooks published by Bean Burner Books. Local musician Jean King and watercolor artist Jim Kreid will be displaying their work for sale, as well as many other vendors displaying art, books, and Port of Grafton souvenir T-shirts and pins. In addition, the Lewis & Clark mobile Exhibit will be in Grafton for both days of the festival on Main Street at intersection of Illinois Route 3 and 100.
Again this year, visitors will be able to try their hand at steering a boat – a radio-controlled boat that is. The St. Louis Admirals Club will be building an 11,000-gallon “pond” in which to display for the public their radio-controlled boats of all kinds. Kids of all ages will be amazed at the handmade replicas of river vessels controlled like the big ones in the palm of your hand.
Great music, great food and great fun can all be found at the Annual Great Rivers Towboat Festival. The festival is free. Festival hours are Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. River conditions permitting, the towboat tours will run from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on both days. For more information on this event, call 618-786-7000 or 1-800-ALTON-IL or go to www.VisitAlton.com.
