April 23, 2005
Boaters pay up for dockside Thunder
High bidders party near Great Lawn
Gregory A. Hall - Courier-Journal
While hundreds of thousands of people will pay nothing to see Thunder Over Louisville today, Rusty Hocker is one of eight people shelling out more than $1,000 each to put their boats at ground zero for the fireworks show.
For Hocker, who owns more than a dozen cellular phone stores, the prime viewing for the event is a "thank you" to about 20 of his employees. He considers it a bargain.
"If it was just for myself, I'd have to question my sanity," Hocker said.
His bid of $1,267 was the highest in the annual auction held by the Waterfront Development Corp. for the boat slips just upriver from the Clark Memorial Bridge. Since 2001, the auction has raised more than $50,000 to help maintain Waterfront Park.
Six additional boats landed slips for bids ranging from $610 to $815.
The fact that people on the Great Lawn just a few feet away are getting a view almost as good for free doesn't bother them. Some of the craft have their own entertainment and shelter from the elements; they can have hot food and avoid vendor prices; and no one will stand in front of them with someone on their shoulders.
M ost importantly, perhaps, many have their own bathrooms.
"I would not show up if I had to use the Thunderpot," Doug Stiglitz, the second-highest bidder, said of the portable toilets for the masses on the Great Lawn.
Both Hocker and Stiglitz described their locations for Thunder in the same way that Derby fans would talk about box seats at the Churchill Downs finish line.
People on Stiglitz's boat can feel the concussion of the fireworks. "Thunder is an event where thunder is a part of it," he said.
Hocker called it "the way fireworks should be looked at; you're just looking straight up at them."
Both also said the slips are much safer than anchoring in the middle of the river with the hundreds of other boats.
The auction, which topped $13,000 this year and last , has become bigger than Waterfront officials expected when they created it.
Generally, the highest bidders are given the slips closest to the river , said Mike Kimmel, the waterfront corporation's deputy director.
With chilly weather forecast, Stiglitz said his boat makes sure the party goes on. "With an oil furnace, weather is not that critical for us."
Despite all the comforts, there are some inconveniences.
Loud speakers for Thunder are near the boats, Stiglitz said, so he gives everyone on his boat earplugs.
Boats also have to be in the harbor - with all passengers already on board - by early afternoon and can't leave until 11 p.m.
One year, the wind carried ash from the fireworks into the boats, Hocker said.
That resulted in a heavy-duty cleaning job the next morning, Hocker said.
"Last year it was great," Stiglitz said. "The wind was actually blowing towards Indiana."