Streetcar Diner’s new home November 22, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Preservation, Railroad, Restaurants.add a comment
The Streetcar Diner at its new home in downtown Gardner, Ill. It will be repainted at a later date.
I received this e-mail today from Route 66 preservationist John Weiss:
The Streetcar Diner that was behind the Riviera has been moved onto its new space on the grounds of the two-cell jail in downtown Gardner. Before the move it was stripped down, sanded and primed by members of the Illinois Route 66 Preservation Committee. The major exterior work will be performed by residents of Gardner. We are thrilled to have their involvement.
The Riviera Roadhouse restaurant in Gardner, Ill., was destroyed by a suspicious fire in June. The long-closed Streetcar Diner sat behind the restaurant and was not harmed in the blaze.
But with no apparent caretaker on the property, Weiss and other Illinois Route 66ers grew concerned the streetcar would be vulnerable to vandals. They decided to relocate it near the grounds of Gardner’s 100-year-old two-cell jailhouse, where townsfolk could keep a better eye on it.
The Streetcar Diner began as a simple streetcar in Kankakee, Ill., in the early 20th century, was converted into a diner in Gardner in the 1930s, then became a cottage and playhouse a few years later. It finally was moved behind the Riviera in 1955.
(Photo courtesy of John Weiss)
A look inside Keepers of the Wild November 22, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Animals, Attractions.1 comment so far
Take a look at a good video by AAA Highroads magazine about the animals inside Keepers of the Wild animal sanctuary, on Route 66 north of Kingman, Ariz.
The park contains more than 175 exotic animals, many of which would have been destroyed if it were not for Jonathan Kraft’s facility. And Keepers of the Wild plans to expand in the coming years.
The park is between Truxton and Valentine on old Route 66.
9,000 runners participate in Route 66 Marathon November 21, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Events, Sports.add a comment
More than 9,000 runners participated Sunday in Tulsa’s annual Route 66 Marathon. In addition to the regulation 26.2-mile course through downtown, riverside, midtown and west Tulsa, the event also consisted of a marathon relay, half-marathon, a five-kilometer race, and a one-mile fun run.
Andy Derks, 30, of St. Louis won the marathon in a time of 2 hours, 32 minutes, 27 seconds. Laine Sommers, 27, of Merriam, Kan., was the top women’s finisher in 3:15.32.
The Route 66 Marathon's medals for finishers.
Jerry Faulkner of Edmond, Okla., triumphed in the half-marathon in a time of 1:10:03. Faulkner is an old hat at crossing the finish line first; he’s won the full marathon and quarter-marathon in previous years. Sara Major of Springfield, Mo., was the top female finisher of the half marathon, in 1:27:17.
Tragically, a 27-year-old Tulsa resident collapsed and died during the half-marathon. He collapsed during the 10-mile mark. A physician immediately helped him, but the stricken man could not be revived. A 21-year-old Claremore man also collapsed and died during the half-marathon two years ago.
The Route 66 Marathon included a classic-car show.
The Route 66 Marathon has rapidly swelled into a major event in Tulsa in just five years. It’s projected that the event will draw 20,000 participants by its 10th year.
In case you’re wondering, the main race included several small sections of Route 66 alignments in downtown and west Tulsa, including Southwest Boulevard.
Unofficial results of the races can be found here.
San Bern restaurant once served the stars November 21, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in History, Restaurants.add a comment
Here’s a long-closed restaurant that even the oldest Route 66 enthusiasts would be hard-pressed to remember.
Mother Massetti’s Inn at 1396 W. Fifth St. (aka Route 66) in San Bernardino, Calif., became a way for an Italian immigrant widow to support herself and her family. The Italian eatery became a hangout for many Hollywood stars during the 1930s and ’40s who happened to be in town, according to an article in The Press-Enterprise.
Eugenio Massetti, Caterina Croce Massetti and their two children emigrated to the United States in the early 1900s. The family moved to a house at Fifth and Pico in San Bernardino about 1909. Eugenio died of pneumonia in 1916, so Caterina began taking in boarders at her house for income. Guests received meals and laundry service, and soon she stared providing meals to organizations as another way to support herself and her family.
An adjacent street to Massetti’s house became Route 66 in the mid-1920s, and she opened her restaurant shortly after that.
From the late 1920s to the early 1940s, the Arrowhead Springs Hotel was popular with movie stars, who came to San Bernardino for movie previews. Nick Cataldo, of the San Bernardino Historical and Pioneer Society, wrote about Mother Massetti that some Hollywood stars staying at the hotel would dine at her restaurant. The stars included Bob Hope, Kay Francis, Gary Cooper, Janet Gaynor, Lou Costello, Dorothy Lamour and Frank Sinatra. When the movie “Skippy,” starring Jackie Cooper, was filmed in the city, Massetti catered food for the film crew. [...]
As Massetti’s restaurant grew in popularity, she again added onto her home, this time in the front of the house. Her own popularity grew so much that W.C. Fields offered to help her open a restaurant in Hollywood. She was invited to Bud Abbott’s home in Victorville, Walter Houston’s lodge in Running Springs and Loretta Young’s place in Lake Arrowhead.
Shortly before Massetti died in 1946, she sold her restaurant and retired to another home in San Bernardino. The article does not mention how long the restaurant survived without Massetti running it.
A Google Street View look at the address reveals it to be a parking lot now.
A bit of clarification: Massetti’s Fifth Street address was part of Route 66 from 1931 until she retired in 1946. Fourth Street, just a block away, was Route 66 from 1926 to 1931.
Acts with conviction November 21, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Religion.add a comment
Here’s another entry for “Route 66: A Road Trip through the Bible.” This one focuses on the Book of Acts.
The year in review at one little corner of the Mother Road November 20, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, Restaurants.add a comment
The good folks at the Historic Seligman Sundries coffee bar in Seligman, Ariz., put together a compilation of highlights from the past year.
Barstow museum featured in Japanese documentary November 19, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Movies, Museums.add a comment
Barstow Station and other stretches of Route 66 in Arizona and California will be featured in a documentary currently being shot by the Tokyo Broadcasting System, according to the Desert Dispatch in Barstow, Calif.
Barstow Station serves as home to the Barstow Route 66 Mother Road Museum.
Yoko Honda, the location and production manager for the documentary, said the documentary should be aired early next year. She said that there will also be a DVD made and that she plans to give a copy to the City of Barstow.
Honda said that she is based in Los Angeles, but said that the rest of the film crew was from Japan. She said that the crew was looking forward to the rest of their trip on Route 66.
“We started in Santa Monica this morning and we will be traveling along Route 66 for most of the way into Needles tonight,” said Honda.
Honda said that the crew was going to travel to Arizona on this trip along Route 66 before flying back to Los Angeles. The crew is going to be filming the documentary in several segments.
Honda said that the documentary will feature famous and historic places around Route 66.
The newspaper also said that downtown Barstow was used earlier in the week for scenes for a movie titled “Pizza Man,” starring Frankie Muniz, most famously known for the lead role in the television series, “Malcolm in the Middle.”