STEAMBOATS PLAN TO DOCK AT CAPE GIRARDEAU JULY 3

Cape Girardeau's riverfront will take on a festive air when the Delta Queen and Mississippi Queen steamboats dock July 3.

The steamboats will dock about 10 a.m. that Sunday, and depart at 3 p.m. for St. Louis -- the last leg in their annual race up the Mississippi River.

"They are having a special event this year in Cape Girardeau," said Mary Miller, director of the Convention and Visitors Bureau. "It's called Cap'n Foghorn's Floating Follies."

Miller explained, "They are actually having competition for a talent show as they come up river, and the finals will be held here on the parking lot across from the old Buckner-Ragsdale building."

The public is invited to attend the one-hour show, Miller said.

"We are going to have a warm-up piano player," she said. An ensemble from one of the boats is also scheduled to perform prior to the competition.

In addition, the Water Street Six, a local Dixieland band, will provide a musical greeting on the riverfront for the arriving steamboats and their passengers.

Miller encouraged people to bring small, American flags and wave them as the boats dock.

In case of rain, the talent show will be held on the Mississippi Queen, but because of limited space the public won't be admitted.

Miller said she's counting on good weather. "That's what we've ordered," she said.

The majestic boats last docked here a year ago July, shortly before rising floodwaters forced the closing of the city's floodgates.

Miller said she's looking forward to seeing the steamboats. "There is nothing like the sound of the calliope when they dock," she said. "We are really excited about having them."

The Glenn House, the River Heritage Museum and the Southeast Missouri State University Museum will all be open for tours to accommodate the riverboat passengers.

The Mississippi Queen will stop again in Cape Girardeau on July 6, and the Delta Queen will revisit Cape Girardeau on July 20.