by Denny » March 9, 2025, 9:12 am
Hi Dawn. Glad to see and hear that my information that I came up with worked out for you. Your original question though was “Who was the first ship at the Soo from 2005-2024?” If you’re interested in knowing sometime I can go even deeper than that! Such as who was first Downbound and Upbound as there are many surprises on that list and a few boats that are no longer with us anymore. It should be noted on my list to you Dawn that the Soo opened early before the March 25 date in 2010, 2012 and most recently last year in 2024! I would not be a bit surprised to see the USACE open the Soo up early again this year! Unconfirmed reports I think 🤔 had the opening date for Friday, March 21? This would make perfect sense with Spring’s arrival on March 20, I’m sure many boatnerds will be at the Soo for the 2025 opener so having the opening date on a weekend would make perfect sense than having it the following week on a Monday or a Tuesday. You would have more people in town at the Soo then on the weekend plus, Roger would have tons of people waiting in line to buy and have him sign his 2025 KYS Book as well then! It just makes perfect sense to have the opening set then for March 21 and ironically in 2010 they opened on March 21. So, we’ll see what happens then this year. YES indeed Dawn if we can ever have your Lee and my Paul meet up face to face on the river sometime, hopefully we can finally meet up in person as I would enjoy that and we’d have lots to talk about and to share as well. Just wish I could get the James R. Barker to do “A Barker Bark” once for me! I can’t seem to get the Barker Bark for anything yet Captain Brad Newland will blow it to anybody anywhere else but on the river in St. Clair! I’ve often heard Dawn that years ago somebody on the river made a complaint about the horn blows and salutes and that’s why you don’t see or hear them do it as much! Don’t know if that story is true or not but, I’ve heard it several times before. As for seeing my Paul in 2025, I saw him 5?times in 2024 but now he’s gotten a new paint job so he should look really good this season! Ironically 25 years ago this Spring was when they renamed her and next year she will turn 45 years young hard to believe. I’m hoping that she’s first at the Soo either in 2025 or 2026! She definitely should be first next year at the Soo since she will be 45 and will have retained her title to which she already has as “Queen of the Lakes” longer than any ship including the Sykes, Ryerson, Bradley and the Fitz all of which were Queens once and think they all held that honor and title? Take Care my dear friend!
Hi Dawn. Glad to see and hear that my information that I came up with worked out for you. Your original question though was “Who was the first ship at the Soo from 2005-2024?” If you’re interested in knowing sometime I can go even deeper than that! Such as who was first Downbound and Upbound as there are many surprises on that list and a few boats that are no longer with us anymore. It should be noted on my list to you Dawn that the Soo opened early before the March 25 date in 2010, 2012 and most recently last year in 2024! I would not be a bit surprised to see the USACE open the Soo up early again this year! Unconfirmed reports I think 🤔 had the opening date for Friday, March 21? This would make perfect sense with Spring’s arrival on March 20, I’m sure many boatnerds will be at the Soo for the 2025 opener so having the opening date on a weekend would make perfect sense than having it the following week on a Monday or a Tuesday. You would have more people in town at the Soo then on the weekend plus, Roger would have tons of people waiting in line to buy and have him sign his 2025 KYS Book as well then! It just makes perfect sense to have the opening set then for March 21 and ironically in 2010 they opened on March 21. So, we’ll see what happens then this year. YES indeed Dawn if we can ever have your Lee and my Paul meet up face to face on the river sometime, hopefully we can finally meet up in person as I would enjoy that and we’d have lots to talk about and to share as well. Just wish I could get the James R. Barker to do “A Barker Bark” once for me! I can’t seem to get the Barker Bark for anything yet Captain Brad Newland will blow it to anybody anywhere else but on the river in St. Clair! I’ve often heard Dawn that years ago somebody on the river made a complaint about the horn blows and salutes and that’s why you don’t see or hear them do it as much! Don’t know if that story is true or not but, I’ve heard it several times before. As for seeing my Paul in 2025, I saw him 5?times in 2024 but now he’s gotten a new paint job so he should look really good this season! Ironically 25 years ago this Spring was when they renamed her and next year she will turn 45 years young hard to believe. I’m hoping that she’s first at the Soo either in 2025 or 2026! She definitely should be first next year at the Soo since she will be 45 and will have retained her title to which she already has as “Queen of the Lakes” longer than any ship including the Sykes, Ryerson, Bradley and the Fitz all of which were Queens once and think they all held that honor and title? Take Care my dear friend!