Chandler Phillips 66 station named to National Register September 15, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Gas stations, Preservation.add a comment
The historic Phillips 66 station along Route 66 in Chandler, Okla., was named to the National Register of Historic Places effective Sept. 8, according to an email from the National Park Service.
The station, built in 1930, has been owned by Bill Fernau since 1997, and he’s been steadily restoring it in exacting detail ever since.
In 2002, Fernau earned a Cyrus Avery Award for historic preservation at the National Historic Route 66 Federation’s Steinbeck Awards dinner.
According to a story by Route 66 historian Jim Ross in American Road magazine a few years ago:
Station No. 1423 operated as a Phillips 66 until 1967, when it became a Skelly. In 1983, it was under the Getty Oil banner, and when last operating sold Texaco products. Fernau first laid nostalgic eyes on it in 1997. It was for sale, and had been since 1993. “Each time I came through town, I’d see it just sitting there, vacant. I finally got motivated in 1998 when an old house nearby was torn down, and I worried that it could meet the same fate.” [...]
His commitment goes deeper than simply resuscitating an endangered icon for display to tourists and those with a personal connection, however. Bill Fernau is a disabled Vietnam veteran, something he seldom talks about. “This may sound sappy, but I set aside my disability check for this every month. It’s my way of returning something for posterity—using that money to preserve America. It’s what I fought for.”
Phillips 66 built the station and others during the 1930s in a cottage style so it would blend into residential neighborhoods.
(Photo by Emily Priddy)
Billy Connolly’s Route 66, Episode 1 September 15, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Road trips, Television.15 comments
The first episode of “Billy Connolly’s Route 66″ aired on ITV earlier today in Great Britain. And someone has already posted it in five parts. I commend it to your attention:
http://youtu.be/D0tj19prCIo
http://youtu.be/Gy31esahn-Y
http://youtu.be/lXMkFmM4W9w
http://youtu.be/n-ZcuvAK7eE
http://youtu.be/lWzIEQ1xSjs
I just watched the whole thing, and it’s delightful. It’s well-photographed, and the side trips are very well-chosen. And I got a little misty-eyed when Connolly took a walk through deceased Route 66 artist Bob Waldmire’s old schoolbus home (in parts 3 and 4).
I’m really looking forward to seeing the other three episodes.
Ed Galloway’s Totem Pole Park September 15, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Art, Attractions.1 comment so far
Here’s a very good film by John Parham about Ed Galloway’s Totem Pole Park near Foyil, Okla.
The park isn’t on Route 66. In fact, it’s 3.5 miles east. But it’s been inextricably linked to the Mother Road because of its beauty and quirkiness.
Music is by The Ventures.
New “Tucumcari Tonite!” billboard September 14, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Gas stations, Signs, Towns.1 comment so far
A new billboard usually isn’t anything special. But this one for the Route 66 town of Tucumcari, N.M., boasts a retro look that’s difficult to ignore.
Richard Talley, owner of the Motel Safari in Tucumcari, said in an e-mail:
We’re helping to celebrate New Mexico’s Centennial 1912-2012 this time, with a turquoise colored background, much like the state’s new license plates, which recently won best new state license plate in the United States. This time we’re also going for an old postcard kind of look too, and will be adding a few more locations than we had before, which reflects our slow but steady positive growth we’ve now sustained over the past 3 years and still continue…
Also, Tucumcari’s ongoing gas-station repainting project will continue on Saturday. The smoke shop, almost directly across the street from the Lowe’s grocery, will receive a face-lift.
Pixar’s podcasts from the Mother Road September 14, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Movies, Restaurants, Road trips.add a comment
A few weeks before “Cars” debuted in movie theaters in 2006, Pixar Animation Studios made available a series of behind-the-scenes podcasts about the film.
The podcasts were available only via iTunes. But an enterprising soul on YouTube recently posted the videos for greater mass consumption.
Here’s the “Kickin’ It on Route 66″ podcast, showing how the Pixar crew was guided down the Mother Road by “Route 66: The Mother Road” author Michael Wallis. Pixar was researching Route 66 for the film.
And here’s one of the Pixar animators taking on the 72-ounce steak challenge at the Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo:
All of the Pixar “Cars” podcasts from 2006 can be found here.
“The Road to Amarillo” video September 14, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Music.2 comments
A few months ago, The Road Crew composed and recorded a new song about the International Route 66 Festival that came to Amarillo in June.
After the festival, the country-rock band has unveiled its video for “The Road to Amarillo.”
The band was presented with the Bobby Troup Artistic Recognition Award during the festival’s awards banquet.
“My Hometown” September 14, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Music.add a comment
David Lowe, an opera singer who is a native of Joplin, Mo., composed this song after the tornado destroyed much of his hometown on May 22.
The song is part of a CD, titled “Back to My Roots,” of which proceeds of its sales will go the Bright Futures program at Joplin High School. The album includes a version of Bobby Troup’s “Route 66.”
“My Hometown” can also be downloaded for $1. Everything can be ordered online here.