A ‘Proud Mary’ cruises her sternwheeler into the heart of Huntington
By Virginia K. Crowe
HQ 8 | SUMMER 1991
A small crowd begins to gather along the tree lined sidewalk at Harris Riverfront Park.
Dressed in the light fabrics of summer, the group’s members seek refuge in the smatterings of shade offered by the young trees and chat easily amongst themselves.
Another couple joins the group and, after the usual greetings, someone says “there she is” and points. All heads turn toward the river and eye the instrument of entertainment for the evening.
She sits in the water, calmly awaiting her passengers to whom she will offer dinner, dancing, and various other delights. While making her way down the Ohio River, the evening sun tosses diamonds on the water along her path. She is the West Virginia Belle, the state’s largest stern wheeler and she is a source of merriment for residents of Huntington and Charleston.
With her four decks, the Belle can accommodate a wedding, seminar, class reunion, and bus tour all in one cruise. And that’s the way Mary Gantz, co-owner and operator of the West Virginia Belle, likes it.
“Once we had a wedding on the fourth deck and a seminar on the third deck and they were seated together to eat on the second deck,” Gantz recalls. “It was so nice because at dinner everyone was congratulating each other and mixing together.”
Gantz and younger brother Tim bought the Belle a little more than 18 months ago from previous owner Robert Keel. Owning a riverboat was not exactly the Gantzs’ first dream. She actually kind of stumbled upon the opportunity.
“Bob was a good friend of my family and talking on the phone one day, he mentioned in passing that he was thinking of selling it,” Gantz said. “It didn’t register at first until I got off the phone. I called him back immediately and said ‘Are you serious about selling that boat?”‘
In October of 1989, Gantz set her first foot on the Belle. Her first impression was not exactly love at first sight. “I thought, ‘My gosh, I don’t think there is any way I could keep from going crazy on a daylong cruise.'”
But that impression soon wore off and the brother and sister team took possession of the Belle in January of 1990. They now work to ensure all their cruises are enjoyable to their passengers.
Possibly not too difficult a task. After boarding the Belle, one of the evening’s couples begins an immediate, but leisurely, tour of each deck. After a brief stop on the second deck for a drink, the twosome stroll hand-in-hand about the boat, pointing out the interesting features to one another. Just as they lean comfortably against the railing on the fourth deck, the announcement is made that dinner is being served. Dinner is served buffet style, complete with meat carvers in tall, white chef’s hats.
The Belle offers several different cruises, the most popular of which are their daylong cruises which leave port at 7 a.m., and their famous prime rib dinner cruises which depart at 6 p.m. They have also begun special cruises including a comedy night cruise and the WTCR dance cruise. They have even added a special teen cruise featuring non-alcoholic beverages.
Another recent addition has generated numerous calls. The Belle added an 8 a.m. round-trip from Marmet which travels the Kanawha River.
“That is a beautiful trip to go on,” Gantz said. “It’s like traveling in a cave because the passage gets narrower and narrower and the hills get higher and higher. We’ve even seen deer crossing the water in the morning.”
But Gantz’s personal favorite of the Belle’s cruises is the daylong trip between Charleston and Huntington, the trip on which she once thought she would go crazy. Far from that first impression, Gantz has since put together a trip filled with lively entertainment, good food, and interesting stories. The passengers are 90 percent out-of-towners so Gantz has a great time telling them the history of her ship. “I tell them a lot of history on the state, too. I hope they fall in love with West Virginia the way I did,” the Debuque, Iowa, native said.
But talking to the passengers is not the only duty the Gantzes perform. Either she or her brother are on every outing and they do it all from selling tickets to driving the Belle. During the prime rib dinner cruise, passengers are often served by one of the duo.
Gantz said the “hands-on” management style came naturally to her and her brother. “My Dad was always that way and he brought us up the same way. I think it makes a real difference.”
The Gantzes’ next step in their operation is to establish a permanent office in Huntington to handle this end of their business. They have been working closely with Huntington Mayor Robert Nelson on finding a suitable location.
“I would really like the stability of an office in Huntington,” she says, then raises an eyebrow and adds: “So, if you know anyone with some riverfront property not too far from town … “
Gantz is then off to attend to her passengers’ needs. But the young couple has found endless entertainment on their own. Taking a breather from the dance floor, they step outside into the cooling night air to marvel at the setting sun. And, even though the day has nearly ended, their night on the West Virginia Belle has just begun.
