DAILY MAIL STAFF
If you hear musical whistles and see puffs of steam blowing offthe Kanawha River, it's probably Capt. Doc Hawley playing theCalliope, a piano-like instrument made from a series of steamwhistles. The instrument was mounted on a barge - known as DerrickBoat 25 - with a 150-foot, red-and-black steam crane docked atHaddad Riverfront Park. The steam for the Calliope comes from thecrane's boiler.
The barge's crew said it's the last steam crane operating on theKanawha River. According to its owner, Nelson Jones, it has quite ahistory.
Made in 1954, the old barge was used to build both downtownbridges in New Orleans, most of the locks on the Ohio River and theInterstate 77 bridge at Campbells Creek.
"It's worked the length of the Mississippi River system," saidJones. From Minneapolis to Mobile; New Orleans to Houston.
Hawley, who is from New Orleans, started playing Calliope musicthe year the old steam crane was built. He played steam whistlemusic and popped popcorn on the Avalon, now called the Belle ofLouisville, in Charleston.
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The Kanawha County Sheriff Department's crime scene van was atthe Charleston Sternwheel Regatta Friday. Not because the festivalwas a crime scene, just to show off the high-tech van.
Shaped like an ambulance, the truck carries blood collectionkits, fingerprint collection kits, a mobile data terminal that canrun warrant checks and a microwave.
"We brought it to show the taxpayers what we're capable ofdoing," said Deputy Earl Osborne.
They also brought along the Sheriff Department's sleek blackmuscle car. The 1971 Plymouth Satellite is just a showpiece, though,Osborne said. No one gets to ride in it.
The truck and the ambulance were parked behind the stage onKanawha Boulevard.
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Free tobacco may have been banned from Regatta, but there wasstill tobacco around for those who wanted it: West Virginia CigarCo. had a small booth set up on one of the barges at HaddadRiverfront Park Friday.
The booth was selling five types of cigars blended in Charleston.The tobacco comes mostly from Honduras. The company blends it inWest Virginia and sends it back to Florida to be rolled by expertcigar-rollers in Tampa.
The idea of a West Virginia cigar was new to some people.
"A West Virginia cigar- I've gotta try this," said Mike Short,49, of Oconomowoc, Wis.
Others swore by them.
"I have them sent to me in Michigan," said John Holmes, 55, ofWixon, Mich. "I've tried a whole bunch of cigars and these are thenicest I've found."
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Dale Young, 42, came all the way from Baton Rouge, La., to cooksome authentic jambalaya for festival-goers.
He made a small batch on Friday in a Number 20 cast iron washpot.
He cooked it slowly over a wood fire at Haddad Riverfront Park.He and others stirred the pork, sausage, onions and rice almostcontinuously for four hours to get it just right.
It was a small batch, but it was still enough to feed about 150people, he said. On Friday he gave out the jambalaya for free as apromotion for Reagan Marine Systems.
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Speaking of freebies, Brian Henry, 41, and Bill Duty, 48, gaveout over 1,000 free condoms Friday night. They also gave outhundreds of educational brochures on body piercing and HIV.
The two were volunteers for Charleston AIDS Network. The giveawaywas part of their street outreach work.
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