NELSON JONES, REGATTA FOUNDER
8.2.1957 – 7.25.2010
At age 13, Nelson Jones mentioned the idea of a sternwheel race to his surrogate mother, Henny Cook, executive secretary to then-Mayor John Hutchinson. Cook encouraged him to present the idea to the Mayor.
On September 5, 1971, Jones corralled five sternwheelers and launched the Regatta.
Thousands lined the banks to watch the majestic sternwheelers parade up and down the river.
