Route 66 guidebook in the works July 17, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Books.1 comment so far
Tucked into this story from the Carthage (Mo.) Press about a Jasper County board meeting was this:
In other business, Gerry “Ringo” Meyer, Shawnee, Kan., spoke with the commissioners about the county buying advertising space and getting involved in a travelogue his company was putting together about Route 66.
He described “Keeping You on the Mother Road” as a 300-page travelogue that was the first of its kind to detail the entire route from Chicago to Los Angeles.
He said it would have chapters about the different states, maps, stories about Route 66 icons and the people who live on the route and advertising by businesses on or near the route.
The commissioners said they would get back to him regarding whether the county could participate.
An Internet search about this travelogue book has been fruitless. Does anyone out there know more about it?
UPDATE: I tracked down Meyer by phone on the road. He said “Keeping You on the Mother Road” will contain a schedule of events, Route 66 maps, directions, stories, photos and histories in full color, magazine-quality paper.
He anticipates distributing the books sometime in early 2010. The minimum print run will be 20,000, although that could rise depending on how much advertising is sold. Longtime Route 66 enthusiast Jim Conkle is writing the introduction for the publication.
In addition to distributing the books at museums, businesses and associations along Route 66, the company has deals with Borders and other major bookstores.
The price of the book, Meyer said, will be $19.66. Advertisers will receive a minimum of 10 free copies.
Blue Valley Inc., which is a longtime publisher of phone directories in Shawnee, Kan., is the publisher. Meyer said the Web site for the “Keeping You on the Mother Road” is motherroadinc.com, although the site wasn’t loading as of Friday morning.
If you are interested in advertising or want more information, you can call Meyer at 785-766-7800 or Dave Emerson at 913-387-6539.
I’ll be eager to see the finished product.
Another critic of “Great American Road Trip” July 16, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Movies, Road trips, Television.6 comments
I got this e-mail today from Kathleen Miller, a longtime member of the Illinois Route 66 Association and co-editor of the association’s The 66 News magazine:
Is the Great American Road Trip on Route 66 really that great? Over the past two weeks NBC broadcast a television show called “The Great American Road Trip.” They tout it as “a wholesome show the whole family can watch!” And it is just that, I can say that after watching it I agree, it is a wholesome family show! On the NBC website it says this about the show, “Adventure and competition prevail as seven families begin their journey across America on Route 66, beginning at Chicago’s Wrigley Field.”
I wondered why they chose Wrigley Field. The ballpark has nothing to do with Route 66 in Illinois. Couldn’t they have met in Chicago on Michigan Avenue or on the steps of the Art Institute? That is closer to where Route 66 starts in Illinois, not Wrigley Field. I watched with eagerness to see our wonderful historic sites, the icons of the road revealed as the families made their way to Springfield, IL.
They left the ballpark and made their way to the Mother Road, we saw the Sears Tower and then we saw I-55. Ok, I thought they’re waiting for Joliet, and then they passed Joliet. What about the Gemini Giant in Wilmington, they have to stop there. Nope, instead they showed I-55 and farmland and barns. Did I see the Odell Station? Nope, instead I saw I-55 and heard comments like, “All Illinois has is farmland and barns!” Did they at least stop at the Meramac Cavern Barn, which was a preservation project in Cayuga? Did they stop in Pontiac to visit the Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum to learn the history of Route 66 in Illinois? Did they make their way to Atlanta to visit Paul and the Palm’s Café? How about Ernie Edwards and the Pig Hip? Nope, they continued on I-55 and talked about how boring Illinois is. They spent the night in Springfield, performed their challenge and left to continue on I-55. When they left Springfield a sign flashed that read “Monee”. For those who don’t know, Monee is located on Route 50 approximately 35 miles east of Route 66 at the closest point. We saw more farmland, then they magically appeared at “The Chain of Rocks Bridge”, so much for Illinois. I was devastated!
In one hour this show has done more harm to the tourism on Route 66 in Illinois than I-55 ever could have. Everything that the Route 66 Association of Illinois and the Preservation Committee, the cities, towns, and villages, the Mom and Pop businesses and the people on Route 66 have worked for years to promote and preserve was invalidated in one hour.
How many hundreds of thousands of people saw that show? How many hundreds of thousands of people now think there is no reason to visit Route 66 in Illinois? How many hundreds of thousands of tourism dollars did Illinois just lose? All in one hour!
The promotion for upcoming episodes boasts about visiting “Branson, MO.” Is Branson on Route 66? Heck NO! They are using the Mother Road to lure viewers to see “Route 66” and I feel all they will see is I-55 and all the other super slabs from here to California.
I wish associations, cities, villages, towns, Mom and Pop businesses and the people of Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California better luck than Illinois had. I fear especially, with the economy the way it is now, we just lost more revenue potential than we can recoup this summer.
I urge everyone who has seen this show to write to NBC and complain about their misrepresentation of Route 66 to the American public!
Miller has made her views known. Now it’s time for mine.
I don’t begrudge the show’s producers for stopping in non-66 places such as Wrigley Field in Chicago and Branson, Mo. Side trips have long been part of the Route 66 experience, and both of those very popular destinations qualify. If I didn’t think side trips were relevant, I wouldn’t have news about the Grand Canyon and other sites that are inextricably linked to the Mother Road.
Miller’s complaint about the families doing a lot of interstate driving may have merit, on the surface. Then again, you’re talking about people who are inexperienced in driving large RVs. The show’s producers probably thought it would be safer — and less troublesome logistically — to stick mostly to the interstates. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt on that.
As for Miller saying the show “has done more harm to the tourism on Route 66 in Illinois than I-55 ever could have,” that’s giving “Great American Road Trip” waaaaaaaaay too much credit. The show saw such abysmal ratings in its original Tuesday night premiere that NBC moved it to Monday nights. There, it continued to flounder for viewers in Week 2, finishing a distant fourth of the four major networks.
Sure, the show may not have presented Illinois Route 66 is the most flattering light. But, with ratings lower than a snake’s belly, few ultimately are going to care. And I can attest from Route 66 News’ traffic that people are far more interested in the three-year-old “Cars” movie, not the current “Road Trip” TV show.
Frankly, I’m more offended that NBC squandered a great opportunity and made a bad show. If you still feel the need, you can give your opinion to NBC on “Great American Road Trip” here.
Problems with DVDs reported in “Route 66″ set July 16, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Movies, Television.2 comments
It looks like another botched rollout for the DVDs of the original “Route 66″ television series.
TVShowsOnDVD.com reports that an exclusive early release of the Season 3 of “Route 66″ by Best Buy has playback problems. The site reports:
We’ve received numerous complaints that discs 5-8 will not play in a DVD, and thanks to Chris, one of our loyal readers, we know why: the DVDs don’t contain information to work properly. It looks as though the authoring house burned source files onto the DVDs, skipping a test in the mastering process. [...] There’s no way these will play on any DVD player, and all copies are affected. It’s painfully obvious that no one bothered to check the release before it went out to Best Buy.
If you bought one of these sets, it’s advised that you hold on to the receipt for a refund or until replacement DVDs are produced.
Infinity Entertainment, which distributes the “Route 66″ DVDs, has a less-than-stellar track record with these releases. Some fans groused about the Season 1 DVDs because some episodes were mastered from second- or third-generation copies. In one case, an episode had about six minutes edited out. Other subsequent DVDs from Season 1 drew complaints because producers put a letterbox look on the screen that didn’t exist in the show’s run from 1960 to 1964.
Roxbury Entertainment President Kirk Hallam, who owns the rights to the “Route 66″ series, also was supposed to begin filming a new “Route 66″ feature film in 2008. But, for whatever reason, the project was put on hold. The film, which once was on the IMDB.com site, has been delisted.
UPDATE: Here’s a statement Friday from Infinity’s publicist:
Infinity Entertainment Group (IEG) has issued a recall advisory to any consumer experiencing playback issues with the Route 66: Complete Season Three DVD collector’s set.
The recall – which does not affect any other Route 66 DVD collection in the marketplace – is due to a manufacturer’s defect that affects playability on some of the eight discs.
Consumers may return Route 66: Complete Season Three to the original point of purchase for a full refund. Currently, the only retail outlets offering the complete season three collection are Best Buy and Critic’s Choice (www.criticschoice.com). A corrected complete season three collection will be available through these retailers within a few weeks.
The catalog and UPC numbers of the affected merchandise are:
BEST BUY: Catalog #IEG2145 and UPC #617742214598.
CRITIC’S CHOICE: Catalog #IEG2149 and UPC #617742214994.
Commented Rick Buehler, VP, Sales & Acquisitions, IEG, “We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused to our customers and to consumers. The issue does not affect the majority of Route 66 DVD inventory in the marketplace, only a season three collection currently being offered exclusively at Best Buy and online through Critic’s Choice. We are correcting the issue as quickly as possible. Full refunds are available to anyone experiencing difficulties with this product.”
Marathon will still be on Mother Road July 16, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Events, Sports.add a comment
In December 2008, the Joplin (Mo.) Visitors and Convention Bureau announced with much fanfare that it would organize a Mother Road Marathon footrace on Route 66 from Miami, Okla., through Kansas and to Joplin, to be run in October 2009.
Citing a weak economy and problems with certifying the race, organizers announced in February that it would be delayed a year.
A recent Joplin Globe report that organizers would not run the race on original Route 66 alignments in Kansas caused consternation with Cherokee County officials — and at least one Route 66 News reader.
That reader wrote in an e-mail:
Incredible to me is that “… half of the marathon would be through Cherokee County, but it would bypass sections of old Route 66 between Baxter Springs and Riverton and from Galena to the Missouri state line…” according to the organizers.
So, what’s the point of calling this event the “Mother Road Marathon” considering HALF the route is OFF Route 66? What a rip-off!
It took me a while to track down the information, but the argument that race organizers are abandoning the Mother Road in Kansas doesn’t hold water when you consider there is more than one alignment of Route 66 there.
Martha Getz, an assistant with the Joplin Visitors and Convention Bureau, said Wednesday that the Mother Road Marathon would start in east Miami, Okla., and go through Commerce, Okla.; Quapaw, Okla.; Baxter Springs, Kan.; Riverton, Kan.; and Galena, Kan.; before finishing on the west edge of Joplin — most likely at Joplin Athletic Complex in Schifferdecker Park.
Although an exact route won’t be final until late August, Getz said the route through Kansas would follow Kansas Highway 66 — a major road in that region.
It’s true the marathon won’t follow the older, more rural alignments of Route 66 in Kansas because of “logistical problems” in keeping the marathon course to 26.2 miles, Getz said.
But Kansas Highway 66 was designated as U.S. 66 from 1960 to 1985. Some parts of Kansas Highway 66 near the Missouri border carried U.S. 66 since the 1940s. So the marathon still will deserve its “Mother Road” moniker.
Perhaps it’s a bit disappointing the marathon won’t go over the Rainbow Bridge near Riverton, the Front Street Bridge near Galena and past 4 Women on the Route in Galena. But the fact the Joplin Bureau is planning Route 66-type festivals in those towns during the marathon weekend mitigates that considerably.
Mother Road couple to mark 70 years of marriage July 16, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in People.add a comment
Gene and Clara Hodkin of Barstow, Calif., will observe their 70th wedding anniversary on Saturday, reports the Contra Costa Times.
And their history goes up and down the Mother Road.
Gene, 93, and Clara, 87, were childhood sweethearts when they were married just before midnight by a justice of the peace in Carthage, Mo., where they grew up.
They were married on Route 66 – they lived there, had their first child there, and when they moved to Barstow in 1952, continued their connection to The Mother Road in their new home.
“We practically lived our whole life on Route 66, Gene recalls. “We traveled it a lot to visit relatives back in Missouri.”
The Route 66 link goes even further. Their daughter-in-law, Deborah Hodkin, is curator for the Barstow Route 66 Mother Road Museum.
Hail Hale July 15, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in People, Sports.add a comment
You usually don’t hear the word “toughness” in descriptions of professional golfers. But Hale Irwin is an exception.
Phil Richards of the Indianapolis Star talks about Irwin’s background:
Hale Irwin grew up playing Baxter Springs Country Club, which was anything but the exclusive playground its name implies. Irwin’s home course in Kansas was a nine-hole municipal course with sand greens. It was an incubator of dreams.
“My fantasy was to hit the shot to play in the U.S. Open or to win the U.S. Open,” Irwin said. “I was always thinking of the U.S. Open, U.S. Open, U.S. Open because that was something I could qualify for.” [...]
Irwin’s background bred determination.
He never thought about it while growing up in Baxter Springs, an old cow town along Route 66 in southeastern Kansas, but his roots are lower-middle class. His father, Hale, sold mining equipment in Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma and played golf on weekends with his son. The latter had cut-down adult clubs with electrical-tape grips.
Irwin wasn’t just a golfer. He was an All-Big Eight safety in football at the University of Colorado. He also played basketball in high school.
Irwin has qualified in 32 consecutive U.S. Open golf tournaments, a record. He’s won 20 PGA tournaments, including three majors. He won the PGA’s Heritage Classic at age 48, making him one of the oldest winners on the regular tour. He’s won 45 titles and $23 million on the seniors tour.
He is now 64 years old, and will be playing in the U.S. Senior Open later this month. Although he’s long in the tooth even for the seniors circuit, his superb athleticism and toughness (that word again) ought to keep him in contention.
They’re Cozy Dogs, not corn dogs July 15, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Food, History, Magazines, Restaurants, Television, Web sites.1 comment so far
Dave Bakke of the Springfield (Ill.) Journal-Register explains that in Springfield, you order “cozy dogs,” not corn dogs at the Cozy Dog Drive-In on Route 66 in south Springfield.
“We usually give them funny looks when they say (corn dog),” says the Cozy Dog’s Sue Waldmire.
The newspaper decided to do an update about the restaurant, namely because it seems to be getting a lot of international attention this summer. National Geographic was wanting photos of the Cozy Dog’s famed product last month. Craig “Meathead” Goldwyn of the Huffington Post prominently mentioned the Cozy Dog in a rundown of great hot-dog restaurants. And now the Food Network’s “Man v. Food” is set to film a segment there this weekend.
And the history of the Cozy Dog is interesting, if a bit fuzzy. Contrary to popular belief, the Cozy Dog does not claim to have invented the corn dog.
Most people credit Ed Waldmire, originator of the cozy dog, with selling the first hot dog on a stick, which, to be technical about it, may not be a “corn dog.”
“Ed had never told me he was the first,” says Sue. “He told me he thought there was a better way to do it.”
Sue and I agree that the Texas State Fair’s “corny dog” is usually credited as being the original, going on sale at the fair sometime between 1938 and 1942. But the Minnesota State Fair’s Pronto Pup also claims to be the first – it was invented, according to various Minnesotans, in 1941.
The guys at the Burgers for Brunch Web site put it this way: “Cozy Dog Drive-in, in Springfield, IL, claims to have been the first to serve corn dogs on sticks, in 1946. Also in 1946, Dave Barham opened the first location of Hot Dog on a Stick at Muscle Beach, California.” [...]
Ed’s own memory, from a 1988 State Journal-Register story, is that he first tasted a corn dog in Muskogee, Okla., in 1941. “It was made in a contraption like a waffle iron,” he said. “They poured the batter in a trough, put in three wienies and baked it for 15 minutes.”
Fifteen minutes for one corn dog would be an intolerable for many. So it’s probably more accurate to say that Waldmire perfected the modern corn dog.