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Webb City’s Route 66 Center opens Tuesday November 13, 2010

Posted by Ron Warnick in Art, Events, Gas stations, Preservation.
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The Route 66 Center that’s being built in a vintage gas station in downtown Webb City, Mo., will open Tuesday morning, reported the Joplin Globe.

The building one block west of Main Street on Broadway will house a shop of Webb City and Route 66 merchandise, a display room, a meeting room, and an office.

It also includes a mural by Major John Biggs. The mural’s a beauty; you can see it here in the photo gallery of the Route 66 Center.

The opening, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, is 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Joplin may not rehire organizer for Mother Road Marathon November 13, 2010

Posted by Ron Warnick in Events, Sports.
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Reinke Sports Group of Winter Park, Fla., which helped organize and market the recently completed inaugural Mother Road Marathon in Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri that drew 1,500 runners, may not be rehired for the 2011 event.

Tim Cox, the new director of the Joplin Convention and Visitors Bureau, announced Friday on Facebook that Reinke wouldn’t be retained, but backtracked on that when contacted later by the Joplin Globe:

It states that the Reinke group, headed by Dean Reinke, was “an integral part” of helping the communities along Route 66 plan the event.

“However, upon conclusion of the event it has been the decision of the city of Joplin and the Joplin Convention & Visitors Bureau to not utilize the Reineke Sports Group for any future events, races or activities officially associated with the Mother Road Marathon,” the posting reads.

It says the city of Joplin and the CVB are the copyright holders and owners of the event.

There are comments on the page that indicate that Reinke has been e-mailing participants to sign up for next year.

Cox, asked Friday why Reinke won’t be rehired, said a decision on whether to rehire Reinke actually is pending. Globe efforts to reach Reinke on Friday were unsuccessful.

That posting on Facebook couldn’t be found Saturday morning.

The Joplin CVB may be changing horses for any number of reasons. Maybe it got miffed when Reinke jumped the gun for the 2011 marathon. Maybe Cox simply wanted a new direction after succeeding former CVB director Vince Lindstrom, who hired Reinke.

It was Lindstrom, after all, who said the marathon would be run in 2009 before he and other red-faced CVB officials realized the announced course from Miami, Okla., to downtown Joplin would be about four miles too long for an official marathon. Citing economic reasons, the Mother Road Marathon was postponed a year and the course rejiggered.

But maybe it’s simply because the CVB got cold feet after hearing about problems with Reinke. This article from Worcester Magazine in Worcester, Mass., indicates there were problems with Reinke Group at other running events it had organized:

“Research was done on past marathons [run by the Dean Reinke Sports Group] and we found that they really weren’t run well,” says Goolsky. “There was not enough water stations or volunteers in some cases. These may be small things but they’re important things.”

Initially CMS was working with Reinke to help create a course for the marathon, but the group ended the relationship after Goolsky began hearing and reading complaints about Reinke and his past events via postings online.

“All I could find was bad reviews,” says Goolsky, “and I just couldn’t put our name behind something like that. If the race isn’t run well it will paint Central Mass running with the same brush, and we have a problem with that.”

And just last month, Purdue University sued Reinke Sports Group for trademark violation regarding the alleged improper use of “Purdue University” to publicize a local half-marathon.

And, as the Worcester publication cited, the online complaints against the Reinke group are legion.

Regardless of what happens, the Joplin CVB has announced the 2011 Mother Road Marathon would be Oct. 9.

Virtual road trip November 13, 2010

Posted by Ron Warnick in Maps, Web sites.
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This demonstration video by Google shows how you can cruise Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica on Google Street View.

A few gaps still exist, but they’re closing more each day.

Route 66 being used to help sell Camel cigarettes November 12, 2010

Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses.
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For the last few weeks, an online promotion by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. has been using Route 66 and related images from the historic highway to help promote its Camel cigarettes.

This was revealed in a news release today by Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, which is criticizing RJR’s “Break Free Adventure” campaign for allegedly trying to make Camel cigarettes “appealing to kids.”

According to the advocacy group:

Several weeks ago, RJR launched this new online and direct mail marketing campaign, called the “Break Free Adventure,” in which the Camel brand “visits” 10 different U.S. locations over a 10-week period.  Visitors to the Camel web site can win prizes by reading a clue and guessing where Camel is that week.  Each week, a new package design for Camel cigarettes is unveiled that features the name of that week’s location and some of its iconic images. Other locations include Route 66; Bonneville Salt Flats, UT; Sturgis, SD; and Winston-Salem, NC.

The locations involved have several qualities in common, including an association with independent music, fun times, rebellion and freedom of the road.  By associating Camel cigarettes with these locations and their trendy reputations, RJR is continuing its longstanding efforts to make the Camel brand appealing to youth.  It truly is the Joe Camel campaign all over again.  It echoes many of the youth-appealing themes of the Joe Camel campaign, in which the now-banned cartoon camel was often depicted with fast cars and motorcycles or having fun at parties.

I went to the Camel “Break Free Adventure” site and found this, shown in the partial screen capture below:

The image includes what appears to be one of the Wigwam Motels in Holbrook, Ariz., or Rialto, Calif.; a doppelgänger of the Big Texan cowboy mascot at the famous restaurant in Amarillo; a Muffler Man; and an old motel neon sign. All of these real-life Route 66 images are vague enough or have been altered sufficiently so they don’t run afoul of copyright laws.

The text on Camel’s Route 66 promo page reads:

Camel has hit “The Mother Road.” A full tank and a full feeling for the curves ahead, Camel gets its kicks on the original “superhighway.” Cruising from Chicago to L.A., this famous road to freedom is paved to break free with pit stops, motel room memories and plenty of wonderful characters along the way.

Camel is making a limited-edition pack of “Route 66: The Mother Road” cigarettes, prominently featuring the Route 66 shield. Because Route 66 itself remains in the public domain, there’s likely no copyright problem with the shield, either. These limited-edition packs will be available in December and January, according to the group.

Before I go further, I remain a devout non-smoker, and always have been. I hold no fondness for tobacco companies whatsoever.

However, this allegation that this campaign will appeal to kids doesn’t square with the evidence. I could not find the Camel promotion site with standard Google searches. I tracked it down with a semi-buried link on a reference source.

To even access the site, you must submit your name, age, address, phone number, and a state-issued form of identification. It’s difficult for an underage person to even get to the Camel promotions site. I’m way past the legal age for cigarettes, and it proved onerous for me to surf there.

As for direct mail, no one’s getting a promotion from Camel unless that household has already demonstrated an interest in cigarettes. These are targeted mailings; it’s too expensive to ship them willy-nilly to everyone.

Also, my take on the “Break Free Adventure” campaign is it appeals to late-college-age students, at the youngest. The age demographics for those enthused about Route 66 skew much higher than that.

Finally, a certain segment of the adult population smokes. Like it or not, this promotion gives the Mother Road a tad more publicity, and might entice new tourists to the road. According to the Camel website, the campaign has logged almost 180,000 page views. That’s not insignificant. If RJR wants to use Route 66 to appeal to adult smokers, they can.

But this notion that Camel is appealing to kids? Nah. It’s hard to market a campaign to a certain age group if the members of that group can’t even see it.

Birthday party November 11, 2010

Posted by Ron Warnick in Events.
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I wasn’t at the Santa Monica Pier today for Route 66′s 84th birthday party.

But the Voice of Santa Monica was there, shooting a lot of photos for its Flickr pool. You’re bound to see some roadies you recognize, including Ken “The Landrunner” Turmel and 66-to-Cali owner Dan Rice.

And I’m pretty sure this image is of the Gumpathon runners, who finished their cross-country journey at the Pier on Thursday morning. The run was to raise money to help wounded or ill soldiers and their families.

I’ll post more information as soon as I can get it …

UPDATE: Here are dozens of photos from the event shot by the California Route 66 Museum.

UPDATE2: Here’s a report from 66-to-Cali owner Dan Rice and a few photos from the event. First, his report:

Anyhow, the day has come and gone and it was amazing … Even the USC marching band came out for it!
After a two- month run across the whole country in which they criss-crossed Route 66 for the last half, a dedicated group of military veteran runners made it to the Santa Monica Pier in true Forrest Gump fashion, and ended their “Gumpathon” journey on our stage.  It was quite inspiring to see a man with no legs and only one arm show the determination through prosthetics to run the entire country to raise money for injured veterans.  The Gumpathon folks are ecstatic that we included them in our festivities, and although a mix-up with their PR folks hurt our event a little, they really enjoyed being able to celebrate the day with us.  From the feedback I’m getting, everybody in the Route 66 community enjoyed having them there too, so I guess at the end of the day, no harm, no foul, and it made for a more fun time.

My book launch for “End of the Trail” was also a big success, and the feedback we’re getting from folks who’ve already read it is phenomenal.  Sales & PR with my publisher, The Way Things Are Publications, are going really, really well, and with that brings a lot more stuff to do!  The critics love it, the readers are loving it, and the exposure that Route 66 will get by being included in the more general message of traumatic brain injury and the decline of American manufacturing should be good as well.  We’ll reach a whole new demographic than might normally be attracted to Route 66.  Definitely the road will benefit, and I hope so will the USA!  If I can help reach the returning Iraq War veterans who’ve been affected by TBI in the way I was (and TBI is already being called the hallmark injury of this war), then definitely we will have done a good thing for our country.  In my opinion, the old “Support our Troops!” rally shouldn’t end when our troops come back home.  If anything, that’s really just the beginning.  So to show that Route 66 is supportive of them just ties our road’s patriotism to the country even further.

As far as Route 66′s birthday went, the event itself was much bigger than last year’s simple resurrection of the “End of the Trail” sign …  After two months of work, Jim Harris (the Santa Monica Pier historian) and I were ecstatic to meet onstage with Field Representative Kara Seward from Sen. Fran Pavley’s office to receive a Member’s Resolution that declared Nov. 11 “Route 66 Day” in Santa Monica … what an honor that was!  We did a little work to make it happen, but wow, what a payoff!

Route 66 got to enjoy a killer car show that included a 110-mile car cruise across the state to the pier in 100 of the coolest vintage vehicles we could find.  We also had three panel discussions that the crowd seemed to enjoy as well.  The “Route 66 in California” Panel was a hit, largely due to 80-year-old Chick Kirk’s impassioned love for Route 66, which she displays everyday at the California Route 66 Museum in Victorville, Calif.  Our “Authors & Artists” panel seemed to intrigue a new element of folks who may not have been Route 66 fans before, and our “Route 66 Icons” panel discussion was a neat chance to hear from Route 66 personalities like Bob “Crocodile” Lile of Amarillo, Sandra Myers of the famous “Standing on the Corner” store in Winslow, Ariz., and Ken “The Landrunner” Turmel of Oklahoma.  Having each of these people on the pier showed everyone why Route 66 is so much more than just 2,448 miles of concrete road.

I want to say an extra great big thank-you to Darleen Bitter for helping with the Car Cruise and Car Show, Ken Turmel for helping so much with promotions, Route 66 documentarian and Emmy winner Joe Frederick for moderating all those panel discussions, and Jim Harris at the pier for helping us put the whole thing together.  If you get a chance to give any of these folks a pat on the back, please do … if it wasn’t for them, this thing would have never happened.  A lot of people are giving me the credit for organizing it, just like they did last year with the “End of the Trail” Sign, but I never could have done anything if it wasn’t for the help of a great team.  What a great family we have to pull such a great day off.  Even though the crazy wind affected our turnout somewhat, it wasn’t enough to stop our good time.

Lastly, almost everybody in attendance said the day was a lot of fun for them.  It seems that more than anything, people felt like it was a family reunion and enjoyed seeing each other again.  I know I did.

Here are Rice’s photos from the event:

The University of Southern California Marching Band provided a big welcome.

Gumpathon runners, including an amputee, completed their cross-country run on the Santa Monica Pier that day.

Dan Rice (center) accepted the resolution that declared Nov. 11 as Route 66 Day in Santa Monica.

A discussion panel of Route 66 authors and artists was held during the day.

About 100 classic cars took part in a caravan on Route 66 to the pier.

 

Another dressed-up station in Tucumcari November 11, 2010

Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Gas stations, Preservation.
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Here’s another closed gas station in Tucumcari, N.M., that’s been repainted to help dress up the town a bit. This station, which is nearly finished, is made up to look like a petrol stop from the long-defunct Whiting Bros. chain.

Richard Talley, owner of the Motel Safari and one of the volunteers in this townwide effort, said the artwork and lettering were done by local artist Doug Quarles, who plans to paint a mural on one of the walls as well.

The group repainted another station to look like a Texaco.

Next up for the Tucumcari group is another closed gas station that will be repainted to resemble a Continental Oil Co. business.

As I’ve said before, this is one of the best ideas that’s come up on the Route 66 corridor in a long time. Dozens of towns along the Mother Road suffer with closed gas stations that have become or are deteriorating into eyesores. A few gallons of paint can rectify that and give such towns a new twist for tourists.

(Photo courtesy of Richard Talley)

Veterans Day tribute 2010 November 11, 2010

Posted by Ron Warnick in People.
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This is Veterans Day, and we rightfully spend time remembering the people we know who served in the military.

But this serves as a tribute to the veterans who couldn’t make it home from Afghanistan and Iraq. Let’s not forget them, too.

UPDATE: Here’s an editorial in today’s Arizona Daily Sun in Flagstaff that says everything better than I would.

Here is a list of military personnel from Route 66 towns who have died in these wars. I’ve also added informative links to each of the fallen, wherever possible.

ILLINOIS
Chicago

Countryside

Cicero

Romeoville

Dwight

Lincoln

Normal

Bloomington

Springfield

Virden

Carlinville

Edwardsville

Granite City

MISSOURI
Florissant

St. Louis

Wildwood

Ballwin

Pacific

St. Clair

Bourbon

Lebanon

Marshfield

Springfield

Carthage

Joplin

KANSAS
Riverton

OKLAHOMA
Miami

Vinita

Claremore

Tulsa

Bristow

Luther

Edmond

Bethany

Oklahoma City

TEXAS
Amarillo

NEW MEXICO
Las Vegas

Santa Fe

Albuquerque

Los Lunas

ARIZONA
Holbrook

Winslow

Flagstaff

Kingman

CALIFORNIA
Barstow

Victorville

Hesperia

San Bernardino

Rialto

Azusa

Arcadia

Fontana

Glendora

Monrovia

Rancho Cucamonga

Pomona

Pasadena

Hollywood

Los Angeles

(Sources: CNN.com, icasualties.org, WashingonPost.com)

“Lucky Sevens” November 10, 2010

Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Music.
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Ricko Donovan‘s song about “living way too fast” features mentions of Route 66. A few days ago, he decided to perform this song at the Route 66 exhibit at the Petrified Forest National Park in eastern Arizona.

Train may be moved to Route 66 Station this month November 9, 2010

Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, History, Railroad.
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Volunteers may move a historic steam locomotive to Route 66 Station park in the 3700 block of Southwest Boulevard in Tulsa later this month, according to the Tulsa World.

The operative word is “may,” because the group of railroad buffs has blown a number of self-imposed deadlines before.

Later this month, a steam locomotive, a passenger car and a caboose – all restored by Massey and a crew of volunteers – will be moved from the Holly Corp. refineries, where they are being stored, to the Route 66 Station.

To get there, the train will be pulled 2 1/2 miles west along railroad tracks before coming to a rest on the south side of Southwest Boulevard.

Getting the train to the north side of the boulevard, where the station is, will require shutting down the street and placing 300 feet of temporary track.

“We still have things to finish on all three,” Massey said. “Primarily, the interior of the passenger car and the caboose and the cab of the locomotive.”

The three units of the train include the Frisco 4500, a vintage steam locomotive built in 1942; the Murray Hill, a solarium lounge car built in 1929; and a vintage caboose that was built in the 1930s or 1940s as a boxcar.

The Route 66 Station is home to the commemorative 154-foot-tall Red Fork Centennial Oil Derrick. Other items planned for the park include oil-field pump jacks, a replica of the old Frisco Railroad Red Fork depot, a replica of an airport hangar, and stadium seating near the locomotive.

Riding into Devil’s Elbow November 9, 2010

Posted by Ron Warnick in Motorcycles, Road trips, Towns.
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Not too many first-person motorcycle videos are very good, but this one proves to be an exception. Take a ride on old Route 66 into the hamlet of Devil’s Elbow, Mo.