| Dear Capt. Baer: Read your posting on steamboatsorg here this afternoon (I contribute quite a bit) and saw your news Re: BONNIE BELLE. Best wishes to you and your wife on this remarkable venture. Get the word out in such publications as AAA Auto Travel guides regionally. The web site is great. I'll help spread the word and keep on posting on the web. Steamboats.org is a great communications tool. Good luck! Cheers, R. Dale Flick
R. Dale Flick - Cincinnati, Ohio (River rat). on May 14, 2004   |
| Congratulations! I can't even begin to tell you just how excited I am for you and Sylvia with the new adventure! Best wishes for total success with this new vessel endeavour! She's a gem, I know I worked on her for Capt. Lloyd Poore in 1979. You have the best little sternwheeler on the western waters. Good Luck!
Travis C. Vasconcelos Riverlorian, Str. Delta Queen Louisville, KY.
Travis C. Vasconcelos on May 27, 2004 |
| Hi Sylvia and Joe. The website looks great! Danielle and I are so excited and can't wait to see the boat. We hopefully will be able to go to the Seafood Festival for the christening of Magnolia Belle. Congratulations! See ya soon.
Ariane
Ariane Richaud, VA on June 5, 2004 |
| Hi Sylvia and Joe, I wish I could be there for the opening, I am very proud of you guys, it sounds great, and the website is cool. Good luck to both of you on your new adventure and try not to work too hard. Love, Annie from California
Annie Darling on June 12, 2004 |
| Congratulations on this new adventure. I will be there on her first July 4th Dinner Cruise. Looking forward to working with you in the near future. Look out southshore here she comes!
Debra Provenzano, Mandeville, La US on June 17, 2004 |
| Congratulations !!! As the person who watched Joe from his very early years starting to persue the steamboat life, I'm proud to say that he is now able to do what he has always dreamed about, own his own riverboat and I'm sure he'll be great at it. Alan, Bud and I are all proud of you !!!!
Pam Baker on June 18, 2004 |
| Congratulations, Joe...this is Uncle Hank from Arizona. You have sure come a long ways from when I saw you last. I'm afraid the Colorado River is no longer navigable, so I guess I'll have to travel east of the Rockies to see you and your boat. Good luck on your venture, and we are all proud of you.
Hank Bonney on June 22, 2004 |
| Cajun Pride Tours Can't wait to try and sell the dinner cruise Will forward your web page to my client tonight Looks great Jenny
Jenny Rome on June 24, 2004 |
| Hi Joe, Sylvia & Walter, 2004 was the best July 4th we've ever had, it was just delightful being aboard the Magnolia Belle, and you'all were so kind to us. The dinner was great! Thanks for making our 4th of July memorable. We will be seeing you soon. The Morgensterns
Capt. Wolfgang & Donna Morgenstern on July 5, 2004 |
| Walter, Joe & Sylvia, thank you for the hospitality you showed to me and my family on July 4th. We truly enjoyed the dinner cruse and I know we had the best seat on the boat for the fireworks! Best of luck, I believe you have an opportunity for big success with the Magnolia Belle.
Thursdy Moore, NOLA on July 8, 2004 |
| Dear Mr. & Mrs. Joe Baer, I read your large article in the yada yada magazine, and just wanted to let you know how much we appreciate your commitment to bringing something so wonderful back to the Lake Pontchartrain. We have so much to offer here in this parish and you are making these adventures come true for many of us who love living here in St. Tammany. Please continue to live out your dreams and may God bless you and your family.
Ana Walker of Covington, LA on August 3, 2004 |
| Walter, Joe & Sylvia: Caroll and I enjoyed the July 4th cruise and dinner, as you already know, and the pictures in the Photo Gallery were an extra added bonus! We can hardly wait to have another "GO" on the Magnolia Belle! Caroll & Dudley Stewart
Dudley Stewart on September 2, 2004 |
| Joe & Sylvia, the photo of the boat on your website is magnificent. You don't know how many memories it brings back to see this elegant vessel once again brought to life. I just wish you all the luck in the world and hope that your customer base grows until you can hardly handle it.
Bonnie Poore, Kentucky on November 23, 2004 |
| Sylvia - I'm so glad to see the Magnolia Belle cruising the lake and showing off her new renovations. I recently saw it in Mandeville and it looks absolutely beautiful--just in time for summer. Good luck to everyone involved in this wonderful venture.
Linnie Haines, Lafayette, La. on May 11, 2005 |
| Joe and Sylvia: It was so relaxing taking the cruise along the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain. Having known you guys from before the boat venture was even conceived, I'm thrilled to see two great friends now engaged so congenially in a project that's so historic--bringing back a paddlewheeler to the lake. This thing is going to take off in a way you can't imagine. I just couldn't help but wonder what the motorists along Lakeshore drive were thinking as the disco music, dancing and strobe lighting system from afar must have excited the usually serene view of Lake Pontchartrain. With 70 people dancing into the night on the main deck in the calm winds, and room for another 50 in comfort, but still an intimate setting, you're going to have bookings out the wazoo once this thing catches on. It's just an unbelievable deal for a birthday party or even wedding reception. Congratulations.
David Band on May 15, 2005 |
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Dear Sylvia and Joe, I hope you get this message. The energy from the destruction of New Orleans is palpable here. I am so sorry. I grieve with you. I don't know what to say, you both must be devastated as we are here in the north. The name of the storm was not Katrina, it was global warming-know that my heart is with you and your friends and family, and that there isn't an hour in the day that I don't think about you and pray for y'all. Love, Annie
Annie Darling on August 30, 2005 |
| Wanted to check on all the crew! Hope your all doing o.k. down there. Heard about the devastation in New Orleans, are you close to that area? Has it affected all aboard or in area? When things are settled...please post some updates...would love to hear from you!!
Ole' crew of the Bonnie Belle on September 10, 2005 |
| For those of you that have shown interest, please be happy to know that the Magnolia Belle made it through the storm pretty much unscathed. As Capt. Joe is unable to access this site to provide updates at this time, we will update with information as we have it. Capt. Joe can be quoted as remarking "...the Magnolia Belle made it through category 3 winds with no broken windows and she will be back up a going again....". Let's all wish him luck and also wish all victims of this terrible storm our best hopes and wishes on a rough road to recovery.
on September 19, 2005 |
