Tornado strikes Williamsville August 19, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, Towns, Weather.1 comment so far
A tornado ravaged the Route 66 town of Williamsville, Ill., on Wednesday afternoon, destroying or damaging at least two dozen homes and businesses. No loss of life has been reported so far.
One of the casualties is the Route 66 Antique Mall (photo of the damage is here). According to the Springfield Journal-Register:
Jack Caldwell, one of five owners Williamsville Route 66 Antique Mall, said it appears that in the tornado touched down first in a cornfield just directly west of his building.
Two employees were in the one-story building of Interstate 55 as the storm approached. They sought shelter in a closet.
“And the only area that’s standing is an office, a break room and the closet,” Caldwell said in a phone interview. [...]
The mall, which houses about antique 100 dealers, is nearing its 10-year anniversary, opening in Nov. 1, 2000.
As he stood near the rubble that remained, he said it was too soon to say what was next.
Also damaged were a convenience store and the Williamsville Christian church. Two motorcyclists were hurt when they were blown off the road by the twister.
More photos of the damage can be seen at the City of Williamsville Web site.
Here’s a short video from the Journal-Register:
The Bloomington Pantagraph also reports nine homes damaged near the Route 66 town of Elkhart, including one that had its front ripped off.
UPDATE: Vendors of the Route 66 Antiques Mall are sifting through the remains to see whether any of their merchandise is salvageable. The mall’s owners haven’t decided whether to rebuild.
UPDATE2: Damage to Williamsville has been estimated at $10 million.
Biofuels plant decision may be today August 19, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, Towns.2 comments
The Kingman (Ariz.) Daily Miner has a pretty good overview about a proposed biofuels plant that would be located near the Valle Vista subdivision off Route 66 north of town.
The county’s Planning and Zoning Commission may decide today whether to allow a permit for the plant. Proponents say the plant will create jobs and tax revenue. Opponents say they fear possible explosions so close to a residential area.
Looking over the commission’s approval of a small solar plant, with another still being considered, it seems the main complaint is that people say they want solar power, but they don’t want it there. Sheesh.
My take on the biofuels plant still applies. We’ll keep an eye on it and see what happens.
“Road Trip” recap August 18, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Road trips, Television.add a comment
I’d hoped by now to have watched Monday night’s episode of “The Great American Road Trip.” However, Firefox won’t allow the episodes to be viewed, my IE browser is balking at loading anything, and I was at the McCartney show last night.
However, this post from Reality TV Magazine does a good job at recapping all the action. The gist:
— The loud but oddly endearing DiSalvatore family, despite finishing near the bottom of almost all their challenges during the show’s run, scratched and clawed their way into the finals. They’ll be facing the Coote family from Illinois, which suffered its first defeat the previous week, for the grand prize of $100,000.
— The Pollard family from Alabama was eliminated from the competition.
— The remaining families spent a lot of time in the Route 66 town Oatman, Ariz., which is a good thing.
— The families also had another meal at Applebee’s, which is a yet another bad thing by the show’s producers.
Haven’t seen the night’s TV ratings posted yet. Will update when they appear.
Mother Road montage that wasn’t August 18, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Music.add a comment
The Paul McCartney concert in Tulsa last night was one of the best I’ve seen, and the postings I’ve read from other attendees on Twitter, Facebook and other Internet sites concur.
However, there’s this excerpt in a report from The Oklahoman that I need to mention:
After recalling his recent driving tour of Route 66, which took him through Oklahoma, he paused in front of the 20,000-strong crowd “to take a moment to drink it all in.” Then, as he performed “The Long and Winding Road,” photos taken on “the mother road” flashed on the fiber-optic screen behind his band.
The first sentence is correct. However, if there actually were photographs from Route 66 during “Long and Winding Road” montage, they were interspersed with images that definitely were not from the Mother Road.
Why do I know this? Because the montage contained many photos of saguaro cacti. As anyone who’s traveled the Mother Road would know, there was only one saguaro cactus to be found along all its 2,200 miles. And that lone cactus at the remnants of Ed’s Camp between Oatman and Kingman, Ariz., was killed by a lightning strike a couple of years ago.
While there may have been shots from Route 66 during that part of the show, it wasn’t apparent to this road veteran’s eyes (believe me, I was looking).
Not that it detracted from my enjoyment of the show …
Hello from Sweden August 18, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Music.add a comment
Here’s a pretty good rock version of Bobby Troup’s “Route 66,” performed by the Backbeats of Sweden.
Touching on its legacy August 17, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, Gas stations, Highways, History.1 comment so far
ConocoPhillips today posted this nifty video that talks about the history of Route 66 and historic Conoco and Phillips 66 gas stations along the Mother Road in Texas.
It’s good to see a major corporation at least acknowledge its history. Sometimes, in the quest to pave roads to the future, corporations forget where they’ve been. And Phillips 66, a division of the company, has considerable ties to Route 66.
Arizona roadie dies August 17, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in People, Route 66 Associations.1 comment so far
Vincent M. Salmon, a founding member of the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona, died Aug. 9 at age 81, according to an obituary in the Kingman Daily Miner.
He was a longtime educator and served in the Army during the Korean War. But here’s the stuff that’s most relevant to roadies:
Dr. Salmon has been a member, president, historian and volunteer for the Arizona Historical Route 66 Association of Arizona since 1988. He was involved in all 22 annual Fun Runs and his 1957 Chevy pickup graced many parades and events in surrounding towns as well as Kingman. He traveled historic Route 66 many times between Chicago and Los Angeles from 1946 until his death.
He was buried Saturday at Mountain View Cemetery in Kingman, and a reception was held in the Powerhouse Visitors Center on Route 66 in town. Donations may be made to the American Diabetes Association in memory of Vincent M. Salmon, P.O. Box 11454, Alexandria, VA 22312.
You also can pass your regards on to Jan at the Arizona Route 66 Gift Shop at the Powerhouse in Kingman. Here is the link for contact information.
A photo of Salmon can be seen here at the 2004 Arizona Route 66 Wall of Fame banquet.
(Hat tip: Rob Chilcoat)