Details emerge on Route 66 festival January 8, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Events.1 comment so far
It’s still six months away, Bob “Crococile” Lile provided readers of the Route 66 yahoogroup a lot of new details about the 2011 International Route 66 Festival in Amarillo, Texas.
Here are a few of the events at the festival on June 9-12:
- A sock hop and Texas two-step dance at the historic Natatorium.
- Children’s games based on the Disney-Pixar “Cars” movie and the upcoming “Cars 2.”
- A Route 66 cruise in Texas with prizes available.
- A Route 66 bowling tournament at Eastridge Lanes.
- Live music on Amarillo’s historic Sixth Avenue District (aka Route 66).
- A special discounted Route 66 night at the “Texas” theater production at Palo Duro Canyon.
- “Music Under the Neon” at the historic U-Drop Inn in Shamrock, Texas.
- Tickets for the annual Will Rogers Awards Evening will be $30 each, which includes a Texas barbecue meal. It will also be a less-formal affair, with organizers encouraging attendees to put on western attire.
- The host hotel will be the Ambassador Hotel with a discounted price of $79 a night, which includes free breakfast. That free breakfast also includes the annual Route 66 yahoogroup breakfast.
That’s not all; the events are listed on the festival’s website here. Details are still being worked out, but it sounds like a lot of things are already set. Check back with the festival website often.
This is the first time Texas has hosted the festival since the 1990s, and it sounds like folks in the Lone Star State are going all out for it.
Just down the road a piece January 7, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Music.1 comment so far
Many of the music artists we show performing Bobby Troup’s most famous song are from far-flung places. But Ms. Stevie Woods hails from Phoenix, just a few hours’ drive from the Mother Road in northern Arizona.
Former Parkey’s restaurant building razed January 6, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, Restaurants.add a comment
I received an e-mail Thursday afternoon from Randy Chevrier at Paintmaster Collision Center in Tulsa that the building that once housed Parkey’s Restaurant along 11th Street (aka Route 66) near Sheridan Road in Tulsa was being torn down.
I wasn’t able to track much down about the location online, but Chevrier provided informative tidbits, including that Parkey’s once hosted the Will Rogers 645 Toastmasters Club, plus a 1950s or early ’60s postcard you see below.
Also, a poster at Tulsa TV Memories said in 2009 that the building, which had become a nightclub, “bounced from bad country to karaoke to serious pool player crowds in just the past few years. It’s a hip-hop pool player hangout right now.”
Chevrier’s recollections were that Parkey’s stopped being a restaurant in the mid-1970s and was converted into a shooting range at one point.
“I’ve passed by this building every work day for just short of 30 years,” he wrote. “It wasn’t anything special, but it had history, and I’ll miss it.”
(Images courtesy of Randy Chevrier)
Maplewood adds Route 66 plaques to sidewalks January 6, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Businesses, History, Towns.add a comment
The St. Louis suburb of Maplewood, Mo., has added commemorative Route 66 metal plaques along its historic downtown area, according to an article in the Maplewood-Brentwood Patch.
The markers are situated in the sidewalk in historic Maplewood, commemorating longtime and bygone sights from Route 66′s heyday, including six businesses from those days that endure to the present. The markers showcase the business’s name and description within the iconic Route 66 sign outline. [...]
The businesses showcased are: Citizens National Bank, Saratoga Lanes, Empire Supply, Kalb Electric, Sunnen Products, and Scheidt True Value. [...]
And the city isn’t done planning yet. The newsletter notes the city will add pamphlets, a web presence and an informational kiosk.
Manchester Road serves as the main drag through Maplewood, and the artery served as Route 66 from 1926 to 1933.
A close-up of one of the plaques can be seen here. They’re reminiscent of the St. Louis Walk of Fame stars seen in the west St. Louis suburb of University City, Mo. And downtown Maplewood does exude old-fashioned charm that’s worth visiting.
UPDATE: Here’s the city’s website about the Route 66 sidewalk program.
UPDATE 5/18/2011: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch published a story about the Maplewood plaques, with more details about each of the businesses honored.
Another word from our sponsor January 5, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Restaurants, Television.add a comment
Here’s another ad from Schlotzsky’s Route 66 promotion last summer:
Honored volunteer’s efforts included Route 66 charity cruise January 5, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Events, People.add a comment
Nick Dragan of Sunset Hills, Mo., received a 2011 South Journal Award from the Suburban Journals newspaper chain in the St. Louis area for his volunteer work.
The former Marine was honored for his efforts with the area Semper Fi Society:
The group also hosted a Route 66 classic car cruise on Watson Road in August to benefit the USO and the Lindbergh School District.
“We raised about $4,000,” Dragan said.
They also generated plenty of business along Watson Road.
As a businessman who has volunteered for numerous civic boards and committees in Sunset Hills, Dragan said one of his goals is to combine charity with economic benefit.
Other honorees were Caya Aufiero and John Chen of the Urban Eats Cafe, schoolteacher Laurie Tretter-Larkin, and community gardener Tim Bolt.
Rancho’s Route 66 Memories store closes January 5, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses.1 comment so far
The Route 66 Memories antique and memorabilia store in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., closed Tuesday after 15 years of operation because of a poor economy, according to the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin.
The whimsical but rustic store in a century-old house at 10150 Foothill Blvd. (aka Route 66) was known for its water fountains, custom-made dinosaurs, rustic furniture, garden decor and Route 66 memorabilia.
The newspaper reported:
On Tuesday, owner Rosa Ramos watched as her husband, Gilbert Ramos, and other workers put the remnants of the store on the back of trucks. The dinosaur with three heads went with the patio furniture and garden gnomes. Meanwhile, Rosa sobbed.
“I get too emotional. I don’t really want to leave,” she said. “But the economy was really bad.”
“They didn’t have money to buy fountains or art that my dad makes,” said Ramos’ daughter, Michelle Ramos. “We have our loyal customers but it was just not enough.” [...]
Melissa Guerrero, a Highland resident who drives by Route 66 Memories every day, was reduced to tears when she paid her last visit to the store.
“I want to cry,” Guerrero said. “This is a landmark. This is Route 66.”
Ramos said she wouldn’t rule out opening a similar store in Victorville, Calif. (another Route 66 town), or reopening at the same spot if the economy improves. California has been especially hard-hit by a deep recession and a real-estate bust.
If you’re interested in buying the remaining merchandise there, call 909-843-0498.
British author sets novel in Tucumcari, Route 66 January 5, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Books, Road trips.add a comment
Brendan Yates, an BBC researcher based in Manchester, England, has written a novel that’s set on Route 66 and the town of Tucumcari, N.M.
Several retail websites are not carrying a street date for the book yet, but it is available for pre-order in the United Kingdom.
According to an article in the Quay County Sun:
In a phone conversation, Yates emphasized that his book and its characters are strictly fictional. A trip through Route 66 two years ago brought him to Tucumcari, which inspired him to use the city for his novel’s setting.
“I noticed a lot of very welcoming motels that seem to go out of their way to be very friendly and tell people about the history of the town,” Yates said.
Here’s a plot description of “Devil’s Dust” from Amazon:
“It was to be the trip of a lifetime. Yet what lay in store would change them forever. Friendship, hedonism and wanderlust compel Mancunians Conrad, Rob, Will and Paul to visit the US at a confusing time. With the Iraq war petering out and the prospect of a recession about to break their trip culminates in the dark heart of New Mexico where primeval traditions and internecine disuptes rage on. Their sanitised view of American culture: poker, hot dogs and skyscrapers – is replaced with horrific ancient rituals and the kidnap of one of their number. To save him the others must win big in Vegas…”
The novel is published by Empire Publications, a British company.
Route 66 program taking applications for cost-share grants January 5, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Preservation.add a comment
The Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program is now taking applications for cost-share grants through April 1 for its 2011 season.
The cost-share program’s purpose is:
… to support the preservation of the most significant and representative historic Route 66 buildings, structures, road segments, and cultural landscapes in the eight states through which the route passes. Assistance is also provided to support research, planning, oral history, and education outreach projects related to the preservation of Route 66.
The program has been running for 10 years. In that time, it’s awarded almost $1.5 million in grants. A number of those kept historic Route 66 structures from literally crumbling into the dust. Other grants have made Route 66 businesses more viable by restoring historic neon signs, replacing roofs, or getting better HVAC systems. You can read more about the program here.
The Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program has been run on a shoestring compared to other federal agencies. Yet it’s provided a lot of goodwill, publicity, and small-business support over the past decade — a lot of bang for the buck, in other words.
If you own a historic Route 66 business that could use some TLC, I urge you to consider applying for such a grant. Even if you’re leery about the paperwork, the friendly folks at the program probably can direct you to other people in your state or region to help you with that.
More details can be found with this document here.
(Photo of the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Ariz., a recipient of a cost-share grant in 2003.)
Mayor: Blue Whale on short list for grant January 4, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, bicycling, Preservation.1 comment so far
As expected, Rogers County endorsed the City of Catoosa, Okla.’s effort to apply for a $600,000 state grant to buy the Blue Whale on Route 66 and make improvements to the property, reported the Claremore Daily Progress today.
But the most intriguing part of the story is this:
Mayor Rita Lamkin said the city is on the short list for the grant and hopes to know by February whether the state will accept its application.
I’m not sure whether Lamkin was supposed to tip her hand. To my knowledge, this is the first report I’ve seen that indicates how good Catoosa’s chances are in landing the grant.
If true, the requirements for receiving a Transportation Enhancement Grant from the Oklahoma Department of Transportation are considerably looser than I first believed. The “About” page of the program (link is to a cache; the main site was down Tuesday) reveals this:
As a requirement, all projects must be related to the Intermodal Transportation System [i.e, other forms of transportation than just cars -- Ed.]. The required relationship must be one of function, proximity, or impact. For example, an independent bike path is a 2 functional part of the Intermodal Transportation System. The removal of outdoor advertising within sight of a highway is justified because of its proximity. Retrofitting an existing highway by creating a wetland to filter highway runoff would qualify based on the impact of water pollution from the highway. In the case of alternative transportation enhancements such as railroad depot restoration, or trail development, it is not necessary for the project to lie within or be adjacent to the highway right-of-way. Federal guidelines also provide that environmental analysis, planning, design, land acquisition and construction activities necessary for implementing a qualifying transportation enhancement project are eligible for funding.
I initially thought Catoosa’s proposal to build a pedestrian/bicycle trail from the Blue Whale to a Reasor’s grocery west of the grounds was too peripheral. But that, with the “activities that are over and above normal transportation activities,” may be enough for Catoosa to win that grant.
Or perhaps the state simply is all too aware of the Blue Whale’s iconic status and wants it preserved indefinitely.
The city proposes covering $120,000 of the $720,000 cost for the property and improvements, which also include enlarging the parking lot, improving the entrance, enhancing the landscaping, and even rebuilding the long-closed Ark on the property.
A member of the Hugh Davis family owns the property and is willing to sell, according to reports.