This has to be the 1970 season, as the deck is covered with canvas. After the QUEEN was "saved"' the canvas was replaced at Avondale Shipyard with DexoTex, a concrete-like deck coating.
Joyce was my first wife who went to Withrow High School with Jane Greene, daugther of Captain Tom and Mrs. Letha Greene. Dale Flick, of Coal Haven, was also in that illustrious class.
The MISSISSIPPI whistle sounded like huge bumblebee in a great glass jar when it was blown. Part of the trouble was it did not have a flange that fit tightly and it was half-held onto the steamline with a set of Vise Grips. Eventually I gave the whistle to Hartford, and he sent me an audio tape of the whistle being blown on the JULIA BELLE SWAIN. John and Captain Trone tried adjusting the bell above the cup to obtain different tones.
Although I heard this whistle blown on the MISSISSIPPI on several occasions, the Summer of 1960, I just remember the whole presentation of an ancient wooded steamboat with a lovely, melodic steam whistle as one enchanting event played out behind President's Island below Memphis.
Cap'n Betty Blake is visible in the mirror just over the head of the woman seated at the extreme left of the picture. Who's the guy in the string tie and full mutton chop whiskers talking to the folks seated on the right?
