BY JIM BEERS, Contributing Writer
CHESTER – The American Queen, the biggest paddle wheel cruise ship in the country, visited Chester Saturday July 15. The ship left Memphis earlier in the week with approximately 250 guests on board. The American Queen can house up to 400-plus guests when fully booked.
The American Queen, the largest paddle wheel ship in the country, visited Chester Saturday July 15. The ship is seen here docked at Chester Landing on the Chester Riverfront. Jim Bers Photo
Following the ship via interstate routes and regular highways were five tour buses which shadow the ship at all stops to take guests on tours and sight-seeing ventures in ports where the ship docks.
The paddle wheel of the American Queen is shown in this photo. The Queen is the biggest existing paddle wheel ship that remains in the country. Jim Beers Photo
The tour buses arrived in Chester Friday afternoon and drivers enjoyed a relaxing evening dining and then stocking up on personal supplies at Wal-Mart. The buses were parked at the Best Western Hotel in Chester where the drivers had a well-deserved rest from hours of driving and touring.
Guests on the American Queen had the opportunity to take tours of the City of Chester on one of five tour busses that travel with the ship. Tours stop at one of five locations in Chester where they can get off the bus and visit various attractions in that location. Each bus has a tour guide which is trained to educate guests regarding facts about Chester. Shown here, Don Berry, a Certified Tour Guide, chats with his tour bus driver prior to taking off for another tour. Berry is a veteran guide for the visiting tour boats. Jim Beers Photo
The American Queen arrived from its winding, arduous trip up the Mighty Mississippi during the late hours Friday night July 14 or very early hours Saturday July 15. Once docked at Chester Landing, located at the Chester river front boat ramp, American Queen Staff secured the ship, lowered the gang-plank-walkway, and prepared for the morning of visiting the City of Chester.
The American Queen departs the Chester Landing Dock where it stayed throughout the morning of Saturday July 15. The paddle wheel departed for the first time at approximately 12:30 p.m. and made it almost to the Pierre Menard Home when it had to turn around and return to Chester to allow an injured lady to be taken to Memorial Hospital to be treated for a fall she took down a set of stairs on the ship. After getting her on board an ambulance and escorted to Memorial Hospital, the American Queen departed Chester for the second and final time at 1:40 p.m. and traveled to its next destination at Alton. Jim Beers Photo
The tour buses arrived at the river front at approximately 8:30 a.m. and guests began making their way up the gang-plank-walkway to board one of five buses that departed the loading area every 15-minutes throughout the morning. The last bus was scheduled to drop off the last group of touring guests at 12:30 p.m.
Emily Lyons, a distinguished Randolph County Historian, greets visitors from the American Queen on their second-to-the-last stop of five stops in Chester to see historical sights. This was the Randolph County Archives and Muesum which saw a great many visitors from the cruise ship throughout the morning. Jim Beers Photo
Aboard each tour bus was a Tour Guide supplied by the Chester Recreation Department. Guides were trained by the tour staff at various points over the past many years. One such guide, Don Berry of Chester, has even taken advanced 2-day training earning him the title of “Certified Guide”.
The other four guides giving the tours Saturday July 15 included Charlie Bargman, Sr., (Chester’s “Citizen of the Year”), Linda Schafer, Bob Lockhart, and Cynthia Lauder.
A popular stop for visitors from the American Queen and other ships docking at Chester Landing each summer is the Mississippi Valley Art Guild located in beautiful downtown Chester. Shown here Ace Smith and Billy Lang greet visitors throughout the morning of Saturday July 15. Smith is a budding artist while Lang is well known for his many creative wooden sculptures. Both artists enjoyed seeing the many guests that visited from the Queen. Jim Beers Photo
Throughout the bus tours each guide adheres to a prepared script that tells the guests about each area of town that the tour covers. The tours allow for five different “Hop on-Hop Off” stops at which guests have the opportunity to get off the bus and visit attractions in that area of town.
The five stops include 1) The Cohen House; 2) Hardees; 3) The Chester Gazebo; 4) The Randolph County Courthouse; and 5) The Chester Welcome Center. Guests that have special needs and desires can also arrange for individual transportation to various businesses and agencies in Chester to fulfill their needs and desires.
Chester artist Ace Smith proudly greets visitors from the American Queen Saturday morning July 15th. Smith is shown here with her collection of paintings on display at the Mississippi Valley Art Guild located in downtown Chester. She enjoyed the many guests from the ship that chose to visit the Guild throughout their morning stop in Chester. Jim Beers Photo
For example, some guests need to visit a bank, medical facility, or store, such as Wal-Mart. Others may want to enjoy food or snacks from one of Chester’s many eating establishments. The Post Office is another stop for many guests.
Guests can visit at each of the five locations for as long as they wish. A new bus arrives every 15-minutes to pick up guests and take them to the next attraction (bus stop).
On Saturday July 15 most of the 250 American Queen guests took advantage of the tours and seemed to enjoy the adventures throughout Chester. Of special interest was the Spinach Can Collectibles store and attached Museum, the Chester Welcome Center, the Randolph County Archives and Museum, The Chester Art Guild, and Cohen House.
One guest said, “Most of us were really excited about hearing everything about Popeye the Sailor Man. We went to the Popeye Store and Museum and enjoyed it, but we expected to hear the Popeye theme song and learn about his origin and creator. Unless I missed it, there wasn’t much educational information about Popeye. We had a good time, but would have appreciated more information about Popeye.”
By 12:00 Noon buses began bringing the tour guests back to Chester Landing and guests were able to board American Queen and enjoy their lunches. The scheduled time of departure was 1:00 p.m., however, all guests had boarded the ship by 12:30 p.m., so the ship departed about 30-minutes early.
As some local spectators arrived at 12:30 p.m. they were disappointed to see that the American Queen has already left the river front. By 12:40 p.m. the American Queen had already made its way to the Chester Bridge.
Several spectators quickly drove towards the bridge to catch a last-second glimpse of the ship as it slowly made its way up the Mighty Mississippi River against the brisk current. Others drove to the area near the Pierre Menard home and up the winding entrance of Ft. Kaskaskia to see the ship as it made the final turn towards Alton.
One spectator recalled being near the Pierre Menard home and actually saw the American Queen getting close to his location, but before actually reaching the Pierre Menard home, the American Queen made a sudden U-Turn in the middle of the Mississippi River and seemed to be heading back towards Chester.
According to Chester authorities and information provided to those authorities from the American Queen Staff, a lady passenger fell down a flight of stairs about the time the ship made its way to the area of the Pierre Menard home.
Staff reported that the lady did not appear to be seriously injured, but requested to return to Chester Landing where the lady could be taken by ambulance to Memorial Hospital in Chester to be examined.
By the time the ship returned to Chester an ambulance and two City of Chester Police units were waiting to meet the ship and provide emergency treatment to the injured lady. Officers Hammel and Laramore said, “The lady did not appear to be seriously injured, but as a precaution, we do have her secured in the ambulance and we are escorting her to Memorial Hospital so she can be examined and treated.”
By approximately 1:30 p.m. the ambulance was on its way to the hospital with police escort and the American Queen was once again departing the river front in Chester for the second time.
The destination for the rest of the day was for the American Queen to arrive in Alton late afternoon where the ship would dock for the evening. Busses would later travel to St. Louis, Missouri. On Sunday July 16, guests would take tours of St. Louis attractions and end their portion of the cruise.
New guests were reportedly going to board the ship and take a brief trip to Hannibal, Missouri and eventually terminate their trip at Red Wing, Minnesota.
According to Patti Carter, Chester Recreation Director, the injured lady from the Saturday afternoon fall down the stairs on the American Queen, was released from Memorial Hospital in Chester late in the afternoon and she re-joined her group in Alton later Saturday evening July 15.