LOOK WHAT'S COOKING; TOWBOAT KITCHEN WAY OF LIFE FOR ROE

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Ruby Roe spends half the year cooking and the other half trying to stay out of the kitchen.

The 62-year-old Roe is a towboat cook, a job in which she works 30 days and then is off for 30 days at a time. It's a job she has held for the past 14 years.

She was in her late 40s when she began her career on the river. "But I've been a cook (at home) a lot longer than that. I raised a big family," she explained.

For the last seven years, Roe has worked for American River Transportation (ARTCO) out of Decatur, Ill. She previously worked as a cook for two other barge lines.

Roe, who has lived in Cape Girardeau for the past 10 years, is no stranger to the Mississippi River. She grew up in Commerce and was still living there when she decided to embark on a career on the river.

"It was good pay; that's why I took it," she said.

Roe had previously held other jobs. "I worked in a bank a couple years and I worked in a factory at one time."

Roe was working at a bank in Illmo (now Scott City) in January 1977, when she decided to embark on her new career. "It was so icy that I couldn't even get to work (at the bank), so that's when I decided to try the river," she recalled.

Roe's next-door neighbor at Commerce was a towboat captain, who, she says, encouraged her to pursue a job as a towboat cook.

Her first job was as a cook on a towboat traveling between St. Louis and Minneapolis. It was winter, and the ice-clogged waters made it slow going. "Part of the time we were stuck," she remembered. "That was my first trip. That's something I'll never forget."

The first week on the job she was assisted by another cook, who showed her the ropes. "When she left, I cried," said Roe.

Roe's not crying now. In fact, she thoroughly enjoys her job. But she admits not everyone would like it.

"It's a full-time job," she said. "You are there 30 days and you don't get off (the boat) for any reason unless you are sick."

By necessity, Roe's an early riser. "I get up at 3 o'clock in the morning," said Roe, who has breakfast on the table at 5:30 a.m. "You have lunch at 11:30 a.m., and the evening meal at 5:30 in the afternoon."

Roe spends a lot of time in the galley cooking meals. Even with a morning and an afternoon break, Roe figures she cooks 11 to 12 hours a day.

And there's a lot to cook; for instance, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, hash browns and biscuits are typical breakfast items. Lunch and dinner are both big meals. There are no fast-food, sandwich-type affairs aboard a towboat. "Out there, (lunch) always is a big meal," said Roe.

Roe cooks everything from roast beef to pork chops, and even Chinese cashew chicken. Roe said she cooks a lot of ground-beef dishes. "On Saturdays we always have steak," she said. Shrimp and fish are regular dinner items.

And there's always dessert - pies, cakes and cookies, made fresh each day.

Feeding a crew isn't cheap. Roe said the grocery bill amounts to at least $3,000 a month.

The towboat Sally Archer operates with 11 crew members, counting Roe. Forward-watch crew members work from 6 a.m. to noon and 6 p.m. to midnight, while the after-watch crew works from noon to 6 p.m. and midnight to 6 a.m.

"We run from St. Louis to New Orleans," explained Roe. "We take loaded tows down from St. Louis to New Orleans and empty tows back up." Most of the barges handled by the Sally Archer carry grain.

It generally takes 30 days to make two round trips between St. Louis and New Orleans, averaging 10 mph downstream and from four to six mph upstream.

"Going north we're running full (throttle); going south a lot of times we float, which is a fuel saver," said Roe. "Our boat is big," she said. "Sometimes we have 42 barges coming north."

Crew changes are generally made at Memphis, where the towboat generally takes on supplies, including the food.

Roe's sleeping quarters are on the second deck of the Sally Archer, where the officers also have their sleeping quarters. The boat has five levels or decks, with the top level being the pilot house. The galley and the deck crew quarters are on the first deck.

Roe said her furnished quarters are about 9-by-12 feet and include an overstuffed chair, a television and bedroom furniture. "Everybody has a private bath," she said.

By the end of the work day, all you want to do is sleep, she said. "I try to get in bed by 8 p.m."

On the towboat, Roe seldom watches television; she prefers to listen to music on the radio or tape player.

When she's not sleeping or working, Roe likes to walk around the deck. "When it's nice weather, I walk every day. I walk on the second deck. I walk about half an hour after breakfast."

After 30 days, the crew is ready for some rest and relaxation. "It's wonderful when you get off; everyone is just kind of on a high," said Roe.

On shore, Roe lives in an apartment with her son, Jerry. She spends time talking to her friends and family, and dancing. "That's my hobby; I go dancing," she said.

When she's not working, she tries to stay out of the kitchen. "I don't do very much cooking at home."

On the towboat, said Roe, there's a closeness between crew members. "It's almost like a family. You hear all their troubles, the good and the bad. They are a good bunch of people. I like it when I put a meal on the table and everybody compliments it."

Said Roe, "There's a lot of good times" on the river.