Richard Anderson grew up in St. Charles on the east bank of the Fox River in a home that today stands next to the Pottawatomie Community Center. His father, Chet, began giving riverboat tours in 1945.

During the summer, Anderson steers one of his company’s two boats, the Fox River Queen and the St. Charles Belle, up and down the river from Pottawatomie Park on daily sightseeing cruises. The boats also are available for private chartered trips for groups of 30 to 100. For information, visit www.stcriverboats.com.

The Republican took a ride with Anderson on Monday, July 6, to get a glimpse of a day in his life.

9 a.m. Anderson arrives at work and begins his day by ordering food for the week’s chartered trips. He spends the rest of the morning and early afternoon filling out paperwork and cleaning the St. Charles Belle, which he will take out for a sightseeing cruise in the afternoon. Anderson took over the company after his father retired about 20 years ago. His mother, Barbara, answers phones and does other office work for the company.

3 p.m. Crew member Ian Scales, 21, comes out to the dock for the afternoon’s trip. Scales, an economics and German major at Wabash College in Indiana, has been friends with Anderson’s son since childhood. This is his first summer working on the riverboats. “It’s very relaxing,” he said. “I get to meet really interesting people who, for some reason, come from all over the world to visit St. Charles.”

3:15 p.m. After the gate is open, passengers begin boarding the boat and buying tickets from Anderson, who sits at a folding table on the lower deck. The one-hour trip is $7.50 for adults and $6 for children 15 and younger. The majority of the afternoon’s 34 passengers take seats on the upper deck.

3:21 p.m. Scales finishes unchaining the St. Charles Belle from the dock.

3:30 p.m. Anderson puts away the cash box, closes the boat’s screen door and fires up the diesel engine. The paddlewheels on the back of the boats are merely decorative. After looking out the window at the stern, Scales gives Anderson a thumbs up. The captain begins backing the boat away from the dock and starts heading upstream.

3:34 p.m. After greeting the afternoon’s passengers over the boat’s public address system and going over safety procedures, Anderson fills out the captain’s log with information about the weather and passengers.

3:36 p.m. Anderson begins his narration with the history of the Fox River. The waterway’s name comes from the Fox Indians, who lived near its source near Menomonee Falls, Wis. The river feeds into the Illinois River near Ottawa.

3:39 p.m. With golfers visible off the starboard side, Anderson tells passengers about the history of the Pottawatomie Golf Course. Renowned course architect Robert Trent Jones Sr. designed the links in 1939. The Works Progress Administration built the course along with the swimming pool, softball field and bandshell in Pottawatomie Park. Despite growing up near the river and the course, Anderson said he doesn’t fish or golf.

3:46 p.m. Anderson points out the Norris Wood Nature Preserve to the port side. The Fox River Bike Trail, which runs from Aurora to Crystal Lake, passes through the 73-acre park. A century ago, the area was known as Jones Beach. Couples could rent canoes at Pottawatomie Park and paddle to Jones Beach for a picnic, Anderson said.

3:53 p.m. The St. Charles Belle passes the Q Center, formerly a training center for the accounting firm Arthur Anderson, which was brought down by the Enron scandal. Before Arthur Anderson bought the property, it was a women’s college called St. Dominic, the captain said.

4:01 p.m. After going about two miles upstream, Anderson turns the boat around to head south for the return trip to Pottawatomie Park.

4:21 p.m. Anderson points out the view of downtown St. Charles, with City Hall on the east bank and Hotel Baker on the west. Both buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Anderson said.

4:24 p.m. As he turns the St. Charles Belle back upstream to pull into the dock, Anderson details the history of activities at Pottawatomie Park. “Activities on the Fox River have long been tied to activities at Pottawatomie Park,” he said. Canoes, paddle boats and rowboats could be rented at the park over the years, and the riverfront used to feature a public beach with a diving board. Before Anderson’s father started his tours, the SS Pacific gave cruises beginning in the early 1900s, he said.

4:29 p.m. Anderson steers the boat back to the dock and steps down from the captain’s chair. After saying good-bye to his passengers, he closes up the boat before heading home for the night.