Ohio River Sternwheel Festival races to a finish (2024)

Photo by Brett DunlapThe Valley Gem and the Major sternwheelers raced along the Ohio River Sunday towards the end of the 2017 Ohio River Sternwheel Festival in Marietta.

MARIETTA — The 2017 Ohio River Sternwheel Festival came to a close Sunday with sternwheeler races and a huge classic car show in downtown Marietta.

The three-day festival concluded with over a dozen of the featured sternwheelers taking to the Ohio River for four races and what organizers believe to be one of the largest classic car shows for the festival.

“I think things have gone really well and I think our committee is very pleased with the outcome,” said Jeanne Wetz-Elswick, this year’s festival Director General.

Many people lined up along the shore of the Ohio River to watch the sternwheelers — which had been moored along the shore throughout the festival — race along through the river.

Wetz-Elswick believed one of the largest crowds ever attended the Saturday night fireworks.

Photo by Brett DunlapStephanie and Ken Clevenger, of Fly, Ohio, look at a 1957 Chevy automobile Sunday at the car show held during the 2017Ohio River Sternwheel Festival in Marietta.

“We have had more people come to watch the fireworks this year,” she said. “It was absolutely packed.”

Organizers felt the vendors were pleased with the turnout. They also tried to have a mix of different entertainment to appeal to a wide variety of people.

“I think they succeeded in doing that,” Wetz-Elswick said.

The festival continually offers something for a wide variety of people. As the festival is open and free, it is hard to get an exact count, but Wetz-Elswick believed they had tens of thousands of people throughout the area over the weekend.

“Our setup has not changed in 42 years,” she said. “It is a situation where we have good food, good entertainment and more and that brings the people in.

Photo by Brett DunlapThe P.A. Denny sternwheeler raced along the Ohio River on Sunday with other sternwheelers who were part of the 2017 Ohio River Sternwheel Festival in Marietta.

“We always have a good crowd here. Basically, our formula has not changed. It has been the same and we try to make it a family affair and that is what we strive for.”

The annual car show along Second Street has continually grown with cars taking up a number of parking lots and side streets. People were continually walking through, looking at different cars and talking with their owners on Sunday.

“The car show has just gotten bigger and bigger and bigger every year,” Wetz-Elswick said. “They always get a lot of people to come down and see that.”

Ken and Stephanie Clevenger, of Fly, Ohio, had entered the car show after friends from New Jersey came down to show their own car.

“It has been fantastic,” Ken said. “There are a lot more cars down here than I have ever seen before.”

Photo by Brett DunlapKeltin Fliehman, of Lowell, looks at a 1956 Chrysler Windsor on Sunday at the car show held during the 2017 Ohio River Sternwheel Festival in Marietta.

The show is an opportunity to see old friends and get to share a love of cars.

“You run into people you haven’t seen in awhile and get updated on everything that has been going on,” Ken said. “You can look at people’s cars that you haven’t seen.”

Ken said this is the first show he has been to in a few years since a friend of his who helped him build cars had passed away. He didn’t want his cars to just sit in the garage, because of that loss.

“It is just nice to come back and see all the guys I used to see all the time,” Ken said.

“It has been a great show,” Stephanie added.

Photo by Brett DunlapThe Donna Rae and the Dresden Belle sternwheelers raced along the Ohio River on Sunday to help close out the 2017 Ohio River Sternwheel Festival in Marietta.

Roger Stark, of Whipple, said it was a love of cars that brought him and his wife, Teresa, to the car show Sunday.

“We love cars,” he said. “I have one ’84 Chevy pick-up that I am restoring now.”

The car show lets him see what people have done with a variety of different types of vehicles and gives him some ideas on how he might do things.

“It is amazing what people can do with them now, the parts available out there to build them back and bring them back to life,” Stark said. “This is a chance to look at cars and talk to the owners.

“I think it is great people can do this. I think it is something we need to bring back, the old vehicles. It tells a lot of history.”

Photo by Brett DunlapTeresa Stark, of Whipple, looks at one of the many cars on display Sunday during the car show held during the 2017 Ohio River Sternwheel Festival in Marietta.

Keltin Fliehman, of Lowell, wanted to get out and take in the car show.

“It is a nice afternoon and a good time to take a walk, get outside and see some old cars,” he said. “I enjoy looking at them.”

Fliehman recounted once owning a 1937 Ford and has driven a 1931 Ford, Model A Fords and others. He looked at engines and other aspects of the cars that he recalled.

“It brings back memories,” he said. “You remember so many things and think back to when you were a kid.”

Wetz-Elswick said it is the 60-70 volunteers who make the festival a success every year. Committees have specific tasks from entertainment to trash pick-up and everything in between.

“This is a collective volunteer organization that makes sure every committee runs smoothly,” Wetz-Elswick said. “Everyone on a committee has the festival at heart.

“The reason this flows so easily is because of all of our volunteers and their dedication.”