Emory Duick update December 20, 2009

Emory Duick, the 71-year-old man who is attempting to jog from Chicago to Santa Monica in an effort to get more of his fellow senior citizens to become physically active, has made it to Victorville, Calif., according to the Victorville Daily Press.

He’s less than 120 miles from his final destination. Duick hopes to make it to the Santa Monica Pier by New Year’s Eve.

Mother Road Samaritan December 18, 2009

In the wake of Route 66 artist Bob Waldmire’s death, I received this e-mail from Route 66 Alliance co-director Michael Wallis that deserves some attention:

When it comes to those who truly helped Bob Waldmire, his family, and the greater Mother Road community a true unsung hero is Tom Wanko. This native of St. Louis who heads up T.A.W. Promotions, one of the most active and visible purveyors of quality merchandise on the Mother Road, devoted untold man hours, money, and sweat equity for the past many weeks as Bob began preparing for his ultimate journey.

It was Tom Wanko who drove solo to southern Arizona to pickup Bob’s beloved 1972 VW Van and tow it to the Waldmire family farm near Springfield, Ill. Tom asked for no money, no thanks, and he will surely be perplexed that we are now calling attention to his courageous effort. Tom and his lovely wife, Teresa, also helped organize part of the successful art show staged to benefit Bob, and they made many trips back and forth to from St. Louis to help Bob distribute some of his incredible artwork.

It dawned on me that with all the kudos going out to various folks, the Wankos had been entirely overlooked. [... ] When Jim Conkle and I rushed to Bob’s deathbed last week, it was Tom Wanko who picked us up at the airport in St. Louis and drove us to Bob. Tom brought along some W.C. Fields movies — Bob’s true hero — and one of Teresa’s dynamite apple pies. Bob couldn’t eat any of it, but he had Tom put the still-warm pie beneath his nose so he could breath in the sweet aroma. That put a big smile on Bob’s face.

I’m sure more praise will be heaped on the Wankos during Bob Waldmire’s memorial service this weekend.

But it doesn’t surprise me that someone stepped in to help Waldmire and his family. People’s fondness for Waldmire would naturally produce such an outpouring.

And having grown up near a small town in Illinois a few dozen miles from Route 66, I saw such quiet, selfless acts fairly regularly. I remember a specific time in which a local farmer was seriously ill in the hospital and couldn’t harvest his crop in the fall. A bunch of other local farmers pitched in with their combines and fuel and trucks, harvested the grain in a flurry, took it to the elevator, and gave the ill man’s wife the check for the grain — all for no charge. It was just done; no praise was expected.

But I guess if you’re from another part of the country, or if you step back to examine such generosity, it really is remarkable what the Wankos have done.