The riverboat captain is a storyteller. Captain Don Sanders shares the stories of his long association with the river — from discovery to a way of love and life. This a part of a long and continuing story.
By Capt. Don SandersSpecial to NKyTribune
Following the intensity of the past two weeks’ columns announcing the plight of the DELTA QUEEN while reflecting on the throes and final rescue of the DELTA KING, I’m kicking back to chatter about less profound matters.
A few years ago, Popular Mechanics magazine, or one similar, featured the plans for a simply-built model of the DELTA QUEEN. With some fanagling, a clever builder could modify the plans to construct a tiny replica of the DELTA KING. The mag containing the plans gathered dust for several years until after Rick Starker applied for a deckhand’s slot on the GRAND VICTORIA II casino boat in Rising Sun, Mile 506 on the Middle Ohio River, across from Rabbit Hash, Kentucky. Starker, as we soon discovered, was a master wood butcher, capable of crafting just about anything made from deceased trees. Before long, Rick became the “Finisher” for the entire casino property, operating with an assistant named Leo from their exclusive floating studio on the GRAND VIC’s mooring barge.
Several miles downstream from Rising Sun, in the slightly smaller Hoosier town of Vevay, Rick Starker converted an ancient 1820s barn into a woodshop with a sign above the door identifying the structure as “Dream WoodWorks.” Inside, the barn contained the tools of Starker’s trade– a commercial tablesaw, plainer, joiner, and ample clusters of clamps with a sizeable storage room and loft for stacks of assorted lumber. After eight hours on the gambling boat payroll, Rick retired to his private Dream WoodWorks shop in the converted barn in Vevay, his hometown, and often worked late into the evening on custom orders…