A cruise on the Augusta Canal took an interesting twist Friday.
I’d planned to turn an evening listening to the group Rae’s Creek Revival while on a Petersburg boat into a feature story, but things didn’t go quite as I’d planned.
For this cruise, I had an impromptu class reunion — running into not one but two people I graduated with. One is a member of Rae’s Creek Revival, which I didn’t know prior to getting aboard, and the other just happened to be part of the cruise.
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Considering I only graduated with about 60 people, and there were only 30ish people on the boat itself, what were the odds? Don’t ask me. I’m a writer not a statistician.
Bryan Hatch is one of three members of Rae’s Creek Revival, an eclectic band with a guitarist and vocalist (Hatch), upright bass player and vocalist (Catherine Robertson) and a magician of the strings (Luke Teague) who played banjo, guitar and mandolin and sang in one evening.
The third member of our mini-reunion was Fred Ricketson and his wife, Jeanne. They live in Athens now but had come to Augusta to visit some friends for the weekend.
The cruise begins at the dock near Enterprise Mill and meanders along for about 45 minutes before turning around and heading back.
During the boat ride, Rae’s Creek Revival played a wide range of songs — from Southern gospel to Elton John with some original songs written by Hatch thrown into the mix. Hatch et al added in a R.E.M. song and some Roger Miller for good measure.
“My hobby is to write music and record it,” said Hatch who found two friends in Teague and Robertson who shared his interest.
And they work well together, he said. They rehearse weekly and play regularly around town.
“They are so good,” said Hatch of his bandmates. “They are natural musicians.”
Hatch said the band posts events on its Facebook page, facebook.com/Raes-Creek-Revival-113588617438748
The other member of our mini-reunion was Fred Ricketson who took the boat ride with his wife, Jeanne. The couple now lives in Athens but came to town to visit some friends. They took the journey and were glad they did.
“It was fun,” Fred Ricketson said. “We never take time to do anything like this.”
Being outdoors was better than sitting at home watching TV.
“It’s a cool setting,” he said.
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The setting is indeed a cool one. On our trip, we saw a variety of birds and a golden retriever whose owner had let him off-leash to run along the banks. The dog saw us on the water and wanted to become a castaway, putting his paws in the water before being called back.
Canal walkers and some people on golf carts waved as we passed by.
As we finished our ride, the sun sank deeper into the horizon, making for a picture perfect ending to the day.
And the final weird thing about our mini reunion – all three of us were wearing green, one of the colors of our alma mater. I don’t really like green. I guess our Irish roots were strong Friday. Shamrocks faithful forever!
The Friday music cruises feature a wide variety of musical artists, but they fill up fast. The spring season started a couple of weeks ago. A complete list of the performers is available https://augustacanal.com/boat-tours.php.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the managing editor of The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com
