The Road Crew wins big award at Route 66 banquet

The Road Crew music group won the inaugural Bobby Troup Artistic Award during the 2011 International Route 66 Festival awards banquet Saturday night at the Galleries at Sunset Center in Amarillo, Texas.

David Wickline, an author and Route 66-themed restaurant owner, won the Route 66 Roadie Award.

And Alan McNeil and his mother, Marianne, were honored for their tireless work to restore the Triangle Motel of Amarillo.

The Road Crew country-rock band released a Route 66-themed album, “Songs from the Mother Road,” and performed at several Route 66 festivals in the past few years. They even recorded a song specially for the Amarillo Route 66 festival.

Here’s the Road Crew’s official video for “That Ol’ 66”:

Bob “Crocodile” Lile, who served as an awards presenter with David Rushing, said the Bobby Troup Award was given to recognize achievement in the arts, including music and writing. The festival committee received permission from Troup’s heirs to use his name in the award.

Wickline wrote and shot the photographs for his two acclaimed “Images of 66” books and owns the Roadhouse 66 Bar & Grill in Worthington, Ohio. Wickline was unable to attend Saturday’s banquet.

Kaisa Barthuli of the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program recognized the McNeils for their efforts in restoring the long-neglected Triangle Motel. Shortly after they acquired the motel, about 70 tons of trash was removed from the rooms. They received a federal cost-share grant to help stabilize the motel’s structure, and a new roof was installed a few weeks ago.

Lile also gave Alan McNeil a plaque that listed all of the people who made donations to help retire his mortgage to the Triangle Motel. Paying off the mortgage early will help McNeil sink more of his money into restoration efforts.

Awards were given to Dale and Kristi-Anne Butel, Richard and Robyn Hattrill, and John Mascali — all of Australia — and Akio Takeuchi of Japan for traveling the longest distance to attend the festival.

Lanelle Berry and Dean Walker also won awards for the Best-Dressed Cowgirl and Best-Dressed Cowboy at the western-themed banquet.

“Route 66: The Mother Road” author Michael Wallis gave the annual “State of the Road” address. He provided a lot of stories about people on Route 66 in the Lone Star State, and urged attendees to make and capture new memories. A video of Wallis’ entire speech will be made available in a future post on Route 66 News.

The Red River Steakhouse, a popular restaurant along Route 66 in McLean, Texas, catered the barbecue-themed meal for the banquet.

The barbershop harmonies of the Amarillo-based Golden Spread Chorus — of which Lile is a member — provided musical entertainment before and after the awards. Here’s a song the group performed: