When Splash Duck Boat Tours closed its doors in Providence in 2007, the aquatic bus’ captain of four years, Jack Keefe, wasn’t ready to quit, he said last week.
“The owner sold the duck boat and is now happily retired in San Diego,” said Keefe, who had been the captain, driver and announcer for those tours for four years. “I didn’t want to get a real job so I bought the business and I bought the trolley [to replace the duck boat] and the rest is history.”
Now in its second summer season, Keefe’s new company, Trolley Tours of Providence, is doing well – although he declined to say how well – and he hopes to expand. On WaterFire nights, he routinely sells out his tours, he said. While now there are just two employees – him and his daughter, Erin DiLibero – Keefe said he’d like to hire another driver and buy another trolley soon.
Finding the first trolley wasn’t easy. The one he found – he declined to say just how much he paid – was 22 years old and had previously been operated in Taunton. When Keefe found it, it had been sitting in a field in New Hampshire for years. It was in poor condition and mice were living in it.
Keefe had it refurbished. Inside, he was able to keep the woodwork, including the park-like benches. Outside, the trolley was given a new maroon paint job. Now it takes three daily tours around Providence, going up Federal Hill, back through downtown and the Financial District and then through the historic East Side neighborhoods.
And while some of the material he uses during the tours – he’s the driver and narrates through a headset – have been cribbed from his days as a Splash Duck Boat driver, other parts have been created through research and given a Jack Keefe touch: plenty of jokes. It’s more of a “fun-ducation” tour, he said.
On Aug. 18, several kids were still laughing after hopping off the bus. Maybe it was because Keefe told them that former Rhode Island Gov. [Stephen] Hopkins had signed the “declaration of indigestion.” Or that he pointed out that “in Providence, Friendship is a one-way street.”
“You can’t just tell them what size shoe Roger Williams wore,” Keefe said. “When you joke around, the kids perk up, you can see their ears perk up.”
And although much of it is rehearsed and researched, there’s still an element of spontaneity in Keefe’s “cornball” jokes. He sometimes adlibs comments about pedestrians the trolley passes. “I never know exactly what I’ll say,” he said.
The road to being a tour operator has been a winding one for Keefe, who grew up in Providence. He left at age 17 and joined the U.S. Navy. When he found his way back to the Ocean State, he worked for years as a telephone lineman. Then, during 1998, Keefe took advantage of an early retirement offer – “I thought about it for about three microseconds before taking it,” he recalled – and moved to Florida with his wife, Kathleen. There, he thought that he would become a ship captain and earned a license. He took a job in the local shipping industry, making deliveries to nearby islands. But by 2002, he was back in Rhode Island.
“My wife missed the grandkids and she was bloody well sick of me, so she wanted to move back,” Keefe joked. “And the only captain’s job around was the duck boat. I also happened to have a commercial driver’s license, so I took it. And I really liked it.”
So he ended up there for four years, until it shuttered its doors and he ventured out on his own.
Keefe offers services other than the tours. He customizes charter service for special events, including weddings and convention visits, he said. The trolley can handle groups of up to 26.
Keefe said business has been good enough that he hasn’t had any need to put out marketing materials and hasn’t taken out advertisements. (The trolley does have advertisement space for sale on the side.) Instead he relies on his location – on Eddy Street near the intersection with Fountain Street – which is highly visible, with a few of the city’s major hotels within sightlines and more within walking distance.
“Most of our business is from the hotels,” he said, adding that some Rhode Islanders have taken the hour-long tour and been surprised with what they didn’t know.
Keefe takes the winters off – aside from events like weddings. During the summer, he narrates and drives three tours every day of the week.
“If I do more than three tours, I get like a pony,” he said last week, pausing before the punchline. “You see, my voice gets a little hoarse.” •
COMPANY PROFILE
Trolley Tours
of Providence LLC
OWNER: Jack Keefe
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Tour bus operator
LOCATION: Fountain Street at Eddy Street, Providence
EMPLOYEES: 2, including the owner
YEAR ESTABLISHED: 2007
ANNUAL SALES: WND
