Chevrolet announces finalists for Route 66 ad campaign December 22, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Television, Vehicles.add a comment
Chevrolet today has chosen 35 finalists who seek to have an advertisement aired during the 2012 Super Bowl.
All of the videos can be viewed at ChevroletRoute66.com. If you share one of them, you earn a chance at a $10,000 prize (registration is required).
According to USA Today about the campaign:
Chevrolet Route 66 is the theme and the ads are supposed to capture “the global experience of life’s journey” and “everyday heroes.” Despite the Oprah-speak, that’s one of videos above and it’s funny.
Your sharing won’t pick the ad that’ll air in the game — the way Doritos does with its “Crash the Super Bowl” amateur ad contest — but Chevy says its in-house judges will be “influenced” by which ads are shared most.
So the ads aren’t strictly about Route 66, but as a very broad metaphor about life.
I’ve viewed all of the ads, and many of them are well-executed. But my favorite is this one by William Kirkley, which fits terrifically with the current “Chevy Runs Deep” campaign and how the brand has been a favorite for generations. Kirkley’s done some other Route 66-related work for Chevy you can see here.
This is a behind-the-scenes video about the overall campaign, posted yesterday:
Tests begin for Mater ride at Cars Land December 22, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Movies.add a comment
Testing has started for the Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree ride at Cars Land at Disney California Adventure.
This is where baby tractors twirl and swing around, pulling trailers behind them. Riders sit in those trailers.
According to the Disney Parks Blog:
When completed, the tractors will appear to be dancing to songs that Mater is singing – they just can’t help themselves!
In addition to starting the ride testing, we’ve been making some other big changes to this area with the installation of our marquee and a huge new set piece – Mater’s Junkyard Jukebox. Take a look and see all the great work that’s being done in Mater’s junkyard. (Please note that the music you hear in the video is for the video only and will not be part of the fun songs you’ll hear Mater singing. More on these fun songs later!)
Cars Land is based on the fictional Route 66 town of Radiator Springs from the 2006 animated hit movie “Cars.”
Doing it their way December 21, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, Television.1 comment so far
Here’s a wonderful clip made by the folks at Mother’s Brewing Co., based in Springfield, Mo. You’ll quickly find it’s inspired by a certain 1970s sitcom.
The microbrewery, by the way, sits less than a block south of the St. Louis Street / College Street alignment of Route 66.
(Hat tip: Christian Gideon)
Milk Bottle Building December 20, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, History, Restaurants.2 comments
Here’s a short video of the Milk Bottle Building along Route 66 in Oklahoma City (map here).
The clip shows the building’s triangle shape and how small it is. According to the National Park Service, the 1930 building measures 350 square feet.
The building once housed a grocery, an ice-cream shop and other things. It now operates as a Saigon Baguette sandwich shop, which is much-praised for its quality and inexpensive prices.
The milk bottle, which is 10 feet tall, was built in 1948.
Santa Rosa applying for byways grant for Route 66 museum December 19, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Gas stations, Museums, Preservation, Towns.add a comment
Santa Rosa, N.M., is applying for a grant from the National Scenic Byways Program so it can renovate the historic Ilfeld-Johnson Warehouse near downtown and eventually house what would be the state’s only Route 66 museum.
On Dec. 15, Santa Rosa tourism director Richard Delgado announced the intent during a mass email to about 30 Route 66 supporters or officials. Delgado requested letters of support for the grant request. The deadline to submit the application is Dec. 29, he said.
Delgado wrote:
Our Ilfeld/Johnson warehouse project is truly “shovel ready” and work on the facility could begin as soon as January 2012, and we have one Interpretive Exhibit for the warehouse already in the works and 2 of the 4 are near completion.
Santa Rosa is in good standing with our Scenic Byways projects and we will be looking to take some steps to get more work done in the Ilfeld Warehouse as a Byway facility which will house in part the New Mexico Route 66 Museum. New Mexico is the only one of the 8 Route 66 States, that does not have an ‘official’ State Route 66 Museum. The visitor and interpretive center and museum can become known worldwide as a must-stop along Route 66.
The Ilfeld-Johnson Warehouse is just northeast of downtown Santa Rosa. The building was constructed in 1901, and contains about 9,000 square feet.
A photo illustration of the proposed Route 66 museum inside the Ilfeld-Johnson Warehouse in Santa Rosa, N.M.
According to a 2008 report produced by a Santa Fe firm for the city, the warehouse would cost $1.2 million to renovate. It’s not impossible for the National Scenic Byways program to award $1 million or more, as this listing of the 2011 grants shows. And Santa Rosa may acquire enough cash in hand to shrink that grant request.
Delgado would not say how much is being requested from the Byways Program.
In addition to housing Route 66 memorabilia, Santa Rosa envisions the warehouse containing railroad artifacts, Western heritage and Spanish Colonial exhibits, a vintage travel trailer, movie and music exhibits, a research library, gift shop, and performance stage.
Johnnie Meier, a longtime Route 66 enthusiast and owner of the Classical Gas Museum in Embudo, N.M., would move much of his petroliana collection into the warehouse for the Santa Rosa Route 66 museum. He said he submitted a lease proposal to the city “years ago,” and says the offer stands. In an email, he said:
My message to the city officials in Santa Rosa has always been, “I’m ready when you are.”
My assessment of the historic building is that it would meet the requirements for National Register recognition. With expansive exhibit space, oak floors, beamed open high ceilings, stone walls and available outdoor exhibit space, it is an ideal location for a future New Mexico Route 66 Museum. The building is in remarkably well preserved condition, well worth the modest renovation costs.
Tucumcari, about 60 miles to the east, also is trying to land a Route 66 museum and Meier’s collection at an abandoned truck stop on the west edge of town.
Lisa Lauriault, executive director of the Tucumcari / Quay County Chamber of Commerce, said in an email, without providing specifics, that ” there are grants … in the works for projects such as a Route 66 museum.”
And Richard Talley, owner of the Motel Safari in Tucumcari and a proponent of a Route 66 museum in town, said Tucumcari could quickly offer an alternative site for the museum if the truck-stop property wasn’t available.
As for me, I don’t have a dog in this hunt. Wherever a Route 66 museum lands in New Mexico is good for Route 66 in general. Given that several Route 66 museums in other states are more than a decade old, I’m a little surprised someone in the Land of Enchantment hasn’t stepped up to create one long before now.
Continuing the tradition December 19, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Motels.add a comment
This nativity set was erected each Christmas season for at least 50 years by Pauline Armstrong, longtime co-owner of the Wagon Wheel Motel in Cuba, Mo.
Connie Echols, the new owner of the historic Route 66 motel, has continued the tradition:
If you have other wintry scenes of Christmas-related photos along Route 66, email them to route66news@yahoo.com for consideration.
(Photo courtesy of Jane Reed)
El Trovatore resurrected as a motel December 18, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Motels, Preservation.2 comments
El Trovatore Motel in Kingman, Ariz., recently reopened to overnight travelers after being used as apartments for the past few years. The owner says he plans to restore the historic Route 66 motel in the coming months, including its distinctive neon signs.
El Trovatore owner Sam Frisher, born in Israel but has lived in the United States for more than 30 years, said in a phone interview Sunday that he acquired a motel license from the City of Kingman last week. El Trovatore had been used as apartments for the past few years.
Twenty-two guest rooms are available for $39.99 a night (plus free breakfast for two at a nearby restaurant). All of the rooms will be renovated and reopened in the coming months.
Frisher told a few of his plans for the property:
— Many of the rooms will have Hollywood star themes, such as John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn.
— Frisher kept many of the original bathroom furnishings, including the triangle-shaped sinks and tile floors.
— The main El Trovatore sign near the highway will be repainted and its neon restored. Frisher estimates that work will be finished by early January.
— Frisher hopes to restore the neon on the distinctive El Trovatore tower sign on the rear of the property within the next three months. A recent photo of the sign can be found here.
— Frisher plans to launch a website for the motel within the next few weeks.
— Longer term, Frisher wants to build an observation deck around the base of the El Trovatore sign tower. That spot affords good views of the nearby mountain ranges and the city.
All told, Frisher thinks he’ll have the renovations completed by mid-summer.
He said he’s paying for the restoration effort by refinancing the mortgage to a lower rate, plus another loan for the remodeling.
He said he initially explored using LED lighting in place of some of the neon, but reconsidered.
“What’s the point of restoring it if you don’t do the original look?” he said. “So we’re going with the original neon. That’s the kind of stuff you want to keep for America and Route 66.”
Frisher acknowledged that El Trovatore saw troubled times with police calls and code violations in recent years. He blamed poor management. He said he’s living on the premises to make sure the restoration proceeded properly.
One reason restoring El Trovatore may be a good move is because it will accommodate large Route 66 tour groups. Kingman boasts several vintage motels –Hilltop Motel is a good example — but they’re too small for tour buses.
El Trovatore Court was built in 1939 on El Trovatore Hill by John F. Miller, who gained fame and fortune years before by building the first hotel in Las Vegas, Hotel Nevada, in 1906.
UPDATE: Jim Hinckley at Route 66 Chronicles has a few more details about the motel, plus photos.
(Hat tip to Jim Hinckley; vintage postcard images of El Trovatore courtesy of Joe Sonderman)