Paddle Wheel Queen: a 30-year voyage with an unhappy ending

Paddle Wheel Queen
Public Domain/State Archives of Florida

By Jane Feehan

The Paddle Wheel Queen entertained a reported five million visitors in its 30-year history in Fort Lauderdale. The vessel many are familiar with is the Paddle Wheel Queen II. The original boat operated from West Palm Beach beginning in 1942 and was captained by Lucille Colyer.

Bruce Colyer, Lucille’s son, had the second Paddle Wheel Queen, also a Mississippi river replica, built in Dubuque, Iowa. He launched the 128-foot, three-deck Paddle Wheel Queen II in Fort Lauderdale in March 1965. It proved to be a popular 400-passenger entertainment venue that locals and area visitors equally enjoyed.

The boat sailed out of its dock south of the Oakland Park Boulevard bridge for two- or four-hour cruises and special events. A tour took passengers along the “modestly rich homes” along the Intracoastal in central Fort Lauderdale, Hugh Taylor Birch State Park, Bahia Mar, Port Everglades and to the once undeveloped area south of the port. 

With the only charcoal grill galley of its kind, the Paddle Wheel Queen served  steak dinners that garnered favorable newspaper restaurant reviews (and an A+ from me). Meal prices started early in its history at about $9 and topped out by the time paddles stopped turning at around $12. Early fares for the trips were less than $10.

Colyer retired about 1989 and stopped operating the same year. Lonnie Reeder and David Boyd bought the Paddle Wheel Queen II in 1992, remodeled and relaunched the business with blackjack bingo. The future looked promising. In December the same year, the boat was tapped the “Official Winterfest Boat” for the annual—and high-profile—Winterfest Boat Parade. Disney World dispatched Mickey and Minnie Mouse to take seats of honor on the riverboat.

Instead of a bright future, financial turmoil ensued. The business pulled up its gangplank May 31,1994 and sailed off to the Bayside Market Place in Miami for a brief “port” stop. It returned to Fort Lauderdale shortly after. The owners, according to news accounts, went $1.4 million into arrears and the Paddle Wheel Queen II was seized in March 1995 leaving ticket holders angered. The story ended in irony. Jerry Faber, president of Jungle Queen, a competing Fort Lauderdale tour boat that still operates today, reportedly mollified ticket holders with a free ride (until a possible settlement) on his riverboat.

 Copyright © 2023. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan

Sources

Fort Lauderdale News, July 2, 1965

Fort Lauderdale News, Feb. 11, 1972

Fort Lauderdale News, May 21, 1974

Fort Lauderdale News, Feb. 24, 1978

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, July 8, 1991

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Sept. 30, 1992

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Dec. 16, 1992

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, April 1, 1994

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, March 28, 1995

Tags: Fort Lauderdale history,Fort Lauderdale tourist attractions, Fort Lauderdale in the 1960s, Fort Lauderdale in the 1990s

Actor Mickey Rourke debuts professional boxing career in Fort Lauderdale

 

Rourke (R), 1991
State Archives of Florida

By Jane Feehan

Among highly publicized events at Fort Lauderdale’s War Memorial Auditorium during its decades-old history was actor Mickey Rourke’s professional boxing debut in 1991. 

In March 1991 Sal Cherch, an entrepreneur and boxing promoter from Lauderhill, spotted Rourke at the Fifth Street Gym in Miami Beach and asked him if he’d like to participate in a match two months later. Rourke, already a well-known actor (and nearly an icon in France) agreed. He had chalked up a number of amateur fights during the 1970s and continued to train, sometimes at the Miami Beach gym. Cherch picked May 23 as the date because he planned to donate event profits to the Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 23.

Rourke, 34, would fight part time mechanic Steve Powell, 33, from the Fort Lauderdale area. Powell, a Medfield, MA native, came to South Florida less than a decade before and opened an auto garage in Oakland Park. He was also a boxer. By 1991, he had scored four wins out of eight professional bouts. Powell had just won a match in the Bahamas and was reportedly known for a strong right jab. He was promised $300 for a four-round fight with Rourke.

Thanks to Rourke’s team, the media expected to see a roster of celebrities including Don Johnson and wife Melanie Griffith, Kim Basinger, Sylvester Stallone and Gene Hackman. About 2,400 showed up to watch Rourke, a 168-pound super middle weight, duke it out with the part-time mechanic. Of the spectators about 375 presented press credentials. The event was expected to be a Hollywood story, if not a memorable boxing match.

The celebrity list of those who actually appeared at War Memorial that night was a short one. Counted among the famous was boxing promoter-trainer Angelo Dundee, fighters Leon Spinks and Alexis Arguello, Rourke’s girlfriend actress Carre Otis (Wild Orchid) and Robert Conrad who left “in disgust” after round 3.

Rourke, booed several times, reportedly connected a few questionable jabs to the back of Powell’s head. He also lifted and pushed Powell a few times through the ropes, more befitting a wrestling match rather than a boxing bout.

The four-round fight was called in a decision (no surprise) for Rourke. Two judges scored 38-37, the third judge, 39-37. The real winner was the Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 23. As promised, Cherch donated the night’s profits, $8,553 to the group a few weeks later. The match took in $45,846 and costs were assessed at $37,293.

Mickey Rourke grew up in Miami and Miami Beach and attended Nautilus Junior High and Miami Beach High before his boxing and acting days. He went on to fight several more times in other cities after the Fort Lauderdale match. His acting career has captured far more headlines than have his pugilistic pursuits.

A fan of boxing (and of Rourke), I would have attended that match had I been in town, though I’m not sure I would have enjoyed it as much as his Pope of Greenwich Village, a film favorite.

Copyright © 2023. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan

Sources:

Miami Herald, Dec. 30, 1990

Miami Herald, April 8, 1991

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, May 23, 1991

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, May 24, 1991

Miami Herald, June 9, 1991

Tags: Boxing, celebrities in Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale history, history of Fort Lauderdale, Mickey Rourke, Jane Feehan