By Anna Guido
Enquirer contributor

Mike Smith, chief executive officer for the Tall Stacks managing agency, hopes themed cruises attract more people. (Tony Jones photo) | ZOOM |

Got a sweet tooth? A taste for Kentucky bourbon? An interest in local history?

Tall Stacks - the Tristate's signature celebration of America's steamboating era - can satisfy all of these interests and more with themed cruises.

The cruises are new this year at the Oct. 15-19 Tall Stacks Music, Arts & Heritage Festival, renamed and redefined.

"We want to make it more appealing to more numbers of people," said Mike Smith, chief executive officer for Music & Events Management Inc., managing agency for Tall Stacks.

When the Tall Stacks collection of steamboats last visited Cincinnati in 1999, the $11 million celebration drew half a million people and celebrated the Queen City's river heritage.

Meal and harbor cruises were available each of the four times the event has occurred, beginning in 1988.

Smith said this year's themed cruises will help broaden Tall Stacks' approach, without forgetting its core element.

The most popular cruise to date - Graeter's "Ice Cream Social" cruise - is close to selling out.

EMPHASIS ON EDUCATION

In addition to new themed cruises with educational components, the 2003 Tall Stacks celebration on shore also will have a dramatically heightened emphasis on education. The new on-shore festival will feature interactive displays about slavery, the military, ecology and biology. "We'll be delivering a new product on shore that will better educate us all on the impact the river has had on Cincinnati, our people and our culture," Pete Gomsak, chairman of the non-profit board that oversees Tall Stacks, said. Plans are being finalized, and details will be announced later in the summer.

"We thought it would be wonderful to be associated with Tall Stacks," said Rich Graeter, executive vice president of the Cincinnati-based ice cream company. "After all, we've been around Cincinnati almost as long as the tall stacks themselves."

For different tastes, Nicholson's Tavern & Pub is hosting a "Scotch Sampling" cruise, and deSha's American Tavern is hosting a "Bourbon Sampling" cruise.

"Bourbon (production) is unique to the area and was ... consumed in those days," said Nick Sanders, president of the Tavern Restaurant Group, which owns the two Greater Cincinnati restaurants.

Single-barrel bourbon and single-malt scotch will be featured on the cruises. Light appetizers and expert advice on how to select the best bourbon and scotch also will be available.

Among other themed cruises:

• Mountain Mist Quilting will focus on the history of quilting in Greater Cincinnati, as well as today's contemporary styles and products. Sponsored by the Stearns Textile Co. of Cincinnati, riders on this cruise will be able to talk to quilting experts.

• On the Steamboat History Cruise, Jane Greene, whose family owned and operated the Delta Queen in Cincinnati from the 1940s through the 1970s, will tell stories about her family's life on the river. Included in her "Reflections On The River" presentation will be tales of her grandmother, Captain Mary Greene, who is said to be haunting the Delta Queen today.

• The Family Fun Cruise is sponsored by Paramount's Kings Island and will feature SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, Tommy from the Rugrats, clowns, face painting and balloon animals.

• Cruisin' with the King, on the Island Queen from Memphis, will be an Elvis impersonator.

• The one-hour Harbor Sightseeing Cruise offers snack bar with food and beverages.

• Evening music cruises will spotlight the best of local talent performing bluegrass, big band, country and western, blues, jazz, disco and a gospel river revival. Bands will be announced.

Cruise tickets, $18 to $75 per person, are on sale at the Tall Stacks Store, Tower Place Mall, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Ticket buyers will receive the new Tall Stacks general admission pin providing access to the festival all five days. Information: www.tallstacks.com.