This is Home: Ohio River Marine survives COVID, continues Ohio Sternwheel Festival traditions

MARIETTA, Ohio (WTAP) -The 45th Ohio Sternwheel Festival kicks off tonight. Each year the festival brings boaters from near and far to the Ohio Levee in Marietta.

One of those boaters is Ohio Marine Rick DeMent.

“A sternwheel boat is just almost majestic. If you ride onthis sternwheel boat or any sternwheel boat the sound of that paddlewheel hitting the water will put you to sleep,” DeMent said

DeMent and his family have been making the trip to Marietta on their majestic boats for 20 years-and Dement said it’s a miracle he made it to this year’s festival after getting COVID.

“They gave me about a two percent chance of making it. And with God’s power and my family fighting for me, I came through and I have no heart, lung, kidney, or brain injuries all the doctors said I would have or die from.”

Now DeMent is back with his entire family. He says the best part about the festival is making memories with the people he meets.

“The people on the river are so friendly, as they really are in most life, we started by pulling a cooler up and down this sidewalk to get to know people...made friends with them the first year and kept coming back year after year.”

And chances are, if you make your way down to the Ohio Levee, you’ll see DeMent still sharing food, his boat, and memories with anyone who stops by.

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