A hello from the Route 66 Alliance May 10, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Route 66 Associations.add a comment
After a leadership shake-up last year and a long period of semi-dormancy, it’s good to see the Route 66 Alliance show signs of activity. This video of Route 66 Alliance chairman and “Route 66: The Mother Road” author Michael Wallis was posted Monday:
The website for the Alliance is here, and it’s not much more than a placeholder. But it appears, at the least, the organization is moving again.
UPDATE: YouTube appeared to be having server hiccups while I was sending this post. But everything seems OK now.
Students present revitalization plan for Carthage May 10, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Motels, Preservation, Restaurants, Towns.add a comment
Students from Drury University in Springfield, Mo., presented a final proposal Monday to revitalize the downtown area of Carthage, Mo., according to the Carthage Press.
The plan includes the renovation and reopening of several R0ute 66 landmarks. A map of the proposal reveals a restored Boots Motel and the long-closed Boots Drive-In restaurant, a Route 66 museum, a Route 66 neon shop, and a Route 66 marker.
Parts of the plan include preserving and restoring the Boots Motel, which has been a goal of many in the city for some time. It’s a goal that has taken on new urgency now that the Route 66 icon is on the market. [...]
The plan includes public transportation to connect downtown Carthage to the south business district and the parks on the east and west sides of town, and walking and biking trails throughout town to promote a more active lifestyle.
One big change in the plan is extending the sidewalks on the Carthage Square out into the street, reducing the driving lane to one lane and parking to the side facing the businesses on the outside of the Square.
The goal is to create a more pedestrian-friendly Square that might feature coffee shops and bistros. To make up for the lost parking, the plan includes parking closer to the Carthage Courthouse on the east side of the building, and a multi-level parking garage south of the Square, connected by a covered walkway where the gap now exists on the south side of the Square.
A 160-page book of the proposal will be given to a city committee later this week. The Carthage Downtown Visioning Committee will meet in June to discuss the plan.
Students help design Mickey Mantle projects May 9, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, History, Sports.add a comment
Students from Oklahoma State University helped design what will be called Mickey Mantle Monument Park and other related projects in the Route 66 town of Commerce, Okla., where Mantle grew up, according to a story in the Tulsa World.
A 9-foot-tall Mickey Mantle statue dedicated last summer stands at Mickey Mantle Field, next to a newer alignment of Route 66 through town. The World reported:
His proposed namesake park will implement the town’s commemorative brick and tile program and will include a picnic area, landscaping, informational murals/kiosks and pathways to the statue. Signage detailing Mantle’s life and baseball career will be anchored by a design that accentuates the player’s famous No. 7 jersey. Also, the house where Mantle was married is scheduled to be moved from Picher to Commerce.
Work on the initial phase is expected to begin in a matter of weeks, and initial funding is expected to come from the brick-and-tile program, said Brian Waybright, chairman of the Commerce Sports Authority.
The proposed routing plan would direct tourists to places such as Mantle’s youth football and baseball fields and include enhanced signage and lighting. City officials also want to build an adjacent sports complex that would include a baseball field and four to five Little League and softball fields.
The design project, which cost just $4,000, is so acclaimed that a city councilor wrote OSU President Burns Hargis to praise the OSU students and their professor.
As a baseball fan, I’d say Commerce’s additional attention to Mantle is overdue. “The Commerce Comet” is one of the 10 best players in baseball history, and is surely the greatest to hail from the Sooner State. Check his statistics if you don’t believe me.
Report from the Waldmire Weekend May 9, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Art, Events, Museums.1 comment so far
These photos from the Illinois Route 66 Red Carpet Corridor Festival in Pontiac, Ill., were shot by Cathie Stevanovich, president of the Illinois Route 66 Association.
For all practical purposes, the weekend served as a tribute to Route 66 hippie, artist and Illinois native Bob Waldmire, who died of cancer in December 2009. Festival-goers, including Stevanovich (below), were allowed to apply their painted handprints to Waldmire’s last commissioned artwork — a mural of a map of Route 66 on a downtown building.
The Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum also opened to the public a former school bus that was converted into a home by Waldmire.
The best report of the Waldmire-related events was by Emily Priddy (aka Redforkhippie), who participated.
UPDATE 5/10/2011: Here’s a report from the Pontiac Daily Leader about the weekend’s attendance, including more than 1,000 who toured the Waldmire bus. Tourism director Ellie Alexander said the festival was supposed to end by 3 p.m. Sunday, but officials extended it to 5 p.m. to accommodate the continuing inflow of crowds.
Redforkhippie also posted a blog about Waldmire’s bus. The Daily Leader also published a story about the Waldmire family dedicating the bus to the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum. This excerpt is particularly poignant:
Cathie Stevanovich, president of Route 66 Association of Illinois, became emotional recalling her memories of Bob Waldmire.
“We have a group coming from Czechoslovakia this afternoon. We’ve had visitors already this year from all over this country and many foreign countries. And it reminds me of how Bob would really enjoy all this because he related to everyone. He was just that type of guy,” she said.
“He lived his whole life as a lover of Route 66 and a believer in preserving its significance.”
Stevanovich also shared the memory of picking up the bus and the VW bus, located in the Route 66 museum, from the Waldmire property in Rochester.
“The Gray family was just phenomenal, volunteering their time and tow trucks. But what was really amazing was we stopped and checked on the vehicles in Towanda. That’s when Roger (Gray) said we were coming the rest of the way home on Route 66. We had people following us, people literally turning around to catch a glimpse of this bus. And Roger insisted that we bring him home on Route 66. It was an amazing journey,” she said. “And I want to personally thank the Waldmire family for entrusting us with these treasures.”
UPDATE 5/11/2011: The Daily Leader published a story about Dave Jostes and his Chevrolet Chevelle, which is decorated with Waldmire’s artwork.
Here are more photos from the weekend, courtesy of Robert Roarty:
A pitch for Pontiac May 9, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Museums, Towns.1 comment so far
This is a new tourism video produced by McCoy Studios for the Route 66 town of Pontiac, Ill.
It’s well done. Chambers of commerce, take note.
Where’s Johnny Depp when you really need him? May 8, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Music, Religion.add a comment
Most of these fellows in the Titus chapter of “Route 66: A Road Trip through the Bible” are listed as Cretans, but they look and act as if they walked off a “Pirates of the Caribbean” set. The only one missing is Jack Sparrow.
And the video reminds me of this song (I know the spelling in the Ramones‘ tune is different from Titus’, but go with me here):
Tourist season begins at Blue Whale … and more May 7, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Events, Preservation.4 comments
Today marked the opening of the souvenir shack at the historic Blue Whale, just off Route 66 in Catoosa, Okla. It will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays, or for special occasions or sizable tour groups.
The stand sells postcards (many of them decades old), T-shirts, magnets, coozies, Catoosa creme soda, and even Blue Whale bottled water.
The reopening of the Blue Whale souvenir shack caps weeks of cleanup and reconstruction by dedicated volunteers with the Catoosa Arts & Tourism Society. But the work is not finished by a long shot.
As British tourists frolicked in and around the Blue Whale (including Billy Connolly and his film crew later that day), key Catoosa Tourism & Arts Society volunteer Ron Edwards told about other plans this summer:
— Within weeks, the souvenir stand will be fully renovated and enclosed so it can be air-conditioned. This will allow visitors to take a respite from Oklahoma’s notorious heat as they shop for souvenirs.
— The souvenir stand will be equipped to handle credit-card purchases, and already is partially.
— The Blue Whale soon will be established as a free Wi-Fi hot spot for those with laptops and mobile devices. Edwards has called it “Blue-Fi.”
— The Blue Whale’s official website launched Friday, and an online store will be operational later this year.
— Catoosa Arts & Tourism Society is recognized as a nonprofit in Oklahoma and is working on its federal nonprofit status. This will make it eligible for many grants.
— Free concerts on the grounds will be organized.
— The Blue Whale volunteers also will set up movie nights for children. The 2006 Disney-Pixar movie “Cars” was cited as an example.
“We want to get a whole new generation to have a good memory of the Blue Whale,” Edwards said.
In the long term, projects include:
— Repairing the west dock that extends into the pond.
— Building a full trail around the pond, including a floating walkway on the east side. This would allow visitors to expand their photo opportunities.
— Renovating and rebuilding the nearby Ark so it can serve as a museum to the history of the Blue Whale, the Ark, and their creators, Hugh and Zelta Davis.
It’s an ambitious set of plans. But having seen what’s been accomplished this year, nothing for this group seems impossible.
Rolling out the Red Carpet May 7, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Art, Events, Food, Towns.add a comment
Today produced a plethora of news stories about the Illinois Route 66 Red Carpet Corridor Festival. Of course, when you essentially are holding a party in 13 towns along 90 miles of the Mother Road, it will draw media attention.
A roundup of the news items:
— WJBC radio filed this report from Pontiac, which focuses on the town’s salute to late Route 66 artist Bob Waldmire. Organizers are painting a large mural in his honor, and Waldmire’s school-bus house and Volkswagen minibus will be on display. Five waywide exhibits also were dedicated at the historic Illinois Highway 4 bridge, which served as an early alignment of Route 66.
— Joliet chilled out by handing out a huge number of Dilly Bars. The city is marking its history as the home of the first Dairy Queen. Another ceremony involving DQ executives will be held May 20.
— The Bloomington Pantagraph filed this report from nearby Lexington.
— Livingston County Master Gardeners are taking advantage of the crowds from the festival to hold its annual plant sale in downtown Pontiac.
I’ll post more stories Sunday if more arrive.
Pearls of news items May 7, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Books, Events, History, Preservation, Radio, Signs.3 comments
Today, I was asked to attend the Route 66 Archives and Research Collaboration at Oklahoma State University-Tulsa. The event was organized by the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program.
I made my pitch for the ample online news archives of Route 66 News. But, as is typical of such gatherings, I heard a few pearls of newsworthy items from other attendees during the session.
— OSU-Tulsa, which holds the Cyrus Avery Archives, said is digitizing the archive’s papers and photographs. Avery, an advocate of good roads during the infancy of the highways era, is known as the “Father of Route 66.”
— Lee Anne Zeigler, executive director of the Tulsa Foundation for Architecture, said the group also is digitizing its collection of about 50,000 architectural drawings, including Tulsa’s many art deco buildings. A number of structures on Route 66 undoubtedly will be part of that collection.
— Zeigler also said TFA received a grant to restore the two clocks that originally were at the top of the historic Meadow Gold sign in Tulsa. The original plans for the clocks were found in Cincinnati, so the new clocks should resemble the old ones.
— David Dunaway, an author and the producer of the acclaimed “Route 66: Across the Tracks” radio program, is compiling a literary and oral history anthology of Route 66. It will be published in March 2012 by the University of Texas Press.
— The Autry National Center in Los Angeles will host a “Route 66 and the Way West” exhibit in summer 2014. It likely will be a traveling exhibit once it finishes its run at the museum.
— Dennis Whitaker, planner for the City of Tulsa, provided a report on various Route 66 projects in town, including:
- The city is conducting a feasibility study on how the Route 66 Experience near the Arkansas River can be built. It’s anticipated the complex will house a restaurant on its third floor, a museum and interpretive center on the second floor, and office space and a gift shop on the first floor.
- The long-awaited bronze statues will be installed at Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza later this summer. The sculptor suffered a serious injury in a fall, delaying the project.
- Whitaker said the Route 66 decorative “gateways” on the east and southwest parts of Tulsa are set to go out for bid in late 2011.
- A park, called Oasis Park, will be built near 11th Street (aka Route 66) and Mingo Road. It will include a history of Route 66 motor courts.
Mother Road matchmaker May 6, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Music, People, Road trips.1 comment so far
News broke Friday afternoon that music legend Paul McCartney and girlfriend Nancy Shevell are engaged to be married after a four-year courtship. You can read many of the particulars from the Daily Mail in London here, along with seeing a charming photo of the couple.
And it’s fairly likely a Route 66 trip that McCartney and Shevell took a few years ago likely cemented that relationship.
In case you’re new to Route 66 News, the Mother Road community was all atwitter in August 2008 when it became apparent that McCartney and his new girlfriend Shevell were cruising Route 66 in a 20-year-old Ford Bronco, starting from Chicago.
The buzz started when the newspaper in Lebanon, Mo., reported that a Paul McCartney lookalike was spotted in a gas station across the road from the now-closed Bell Restaurant that week.
News then quickly emerged that McCartney and Shevell were seen at the Joliet Area Historical Museum and in Springfield, Ill., the day before.
Soon, McCartney sightings were all over the Mother Road clear to Flagstaff, Ariz., where the former Beatle had to cut short his trip because his daughter was giving birth back in England. You can read about all of the reports from eyewitnesses and newspapers here and here about McCartney and his gal pal on Route 66.
The next year, during a sellout concert in Tulsa, McCartney briefly talked about his trip on Route 66. Then he sang “The Long and Winding Road” (alas, that audience patter didn’t make it to this clip).
Today’s news is especially good for McCartney, who had to deal with the cancer death of his first wife and an ugly divorce from the second. And what do I mean by “Mother Road matchmaker” in the title? Well, there’s this report from the Daily Mail shortly after McCartney’s Route 66 journey was announced:
A source said: ‘The road trip was Nancy’s idea as a way of them getting to bond and spend time together – just the two of them.’
I guess it worked.