Route 66 Task Force in Tulsa report February 10, 2012
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, Events, Preservation, Towns.2 comments
So what happened at the inaugural City of Tulsa Route 66 Task Force meeting Thursday night at the Campbell Hotel?
The answer: Not much. That doesn’t mean it was a waste of time. The meeting was more of a reception and fact-gathering mission than a planning session. The Task Force isn’t going to be one group, but a bunch of subcommittees to divvy up responsibilities. The wish list is long, but basically the city wants to exploit Route 66 more as an economic engine.
(Disclosure: I volunteered to be on the Task Force; my duties will be known at a future date.)
I had planned to write something about the event, but other projects got in the way. And Laurel Kane of Afton Station did a good job reporting what happened, so you can read it on her blog and be well-informed.
My impressions: First, a lot more people showed up for that meeting than I expected. I would have been satisfied if 25 people showed up. But the number was closer to 100.
Second, the meeting wound up being a nice showcase for the recently restored Campbell Hotel. I think a fair number of people came away impressed with the facility, and will encourage out-of-town guests to use it.
Finally, I have to give new city councilor Blake Ewing a lot of credit for getting this started. He assumed office barely two months ago, but apparently told the city fathers that Route 66 was going to be a top priority. He regards the Mother Road as “low-hanging fruit” that the city has for too long ignored or under-appreciated.
Enjoy a tipple in Edwardsville February 9, 2012
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, Food.add a comment
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch today mentioned two wineries that operate on the metro-east side of the region — including one on Route 66 in Edwardsville, Ill.
On the outside Springers Creek Winery may look like a corner bar, but the two-building winery has received state and national attention. Last year, the Edwardsville winery was inducted into the Route 66 Illinois Hall of Fame, a designation that recognizes people or places that have made significant contributions to the character or history of the Illinois portion of Route 66.
“It’s worked very well because we’re right on Route 66 and the Madison County bike trail,” said co-owner Colette Andre of her 817 Hillsboro location. “It brings us a lot of traffic. We get tourists from all over the world.”
Springers Creek even offers a Route 66 semi-sweet blush wine and a Mother Road red wine. Springer Creek’s Facebook page is here.
It should be clarified that Springers Creek itself wasn’t inducted into the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame, but the building it occupies did. Its address was the longtime site of Halley’s Cash and Carry Market. The distinctive building was built in 1914, and was a Barns Cash Market before it became Halley’s.
Route 66 enjoys a number of wineries along its path, especially in Missouri and eastern Oklahoma.
A plug for Route 66′s best guidebook February 9, 2012
Posted by Ron Warnick in Books, Businesses.4 comments
Dan Rice, owner of the 66-to-Cali souvenir store on the Santa Monica Pier, explains his endorsement of Jerry McClanahan’s “EZ66 Guide for Travelers” guidebook of Route 66.
It’s an important to note that McClanahan maintains a Web page that contains regular updates to the guidebook. It’s recommended that you consult that page before heading out on your Route 66 journey.
Also, the “EZ66″ guide can be purchased through its publisher, the National Historic Route 66 Federation. However, it’ll be a package deal with at least the Route 66 Dining and Lodging Guide.
You also can buy it from the Amazon widget on the left.
And, yes, we get a cut of the action so we can help defray the costs of this website.
Where is the western end of Route 66? February 7, 2012
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, Highways, History.7 comments
Dan Rice, owner of the 66-to-Cali souvenir shop on the Santa Monica Pier, does a very good job answering that question. The western terminus of the Mother Road has a complicated history:
The Nat will become an antique mall January 22, 2012
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, Music, Preservation.add a comment
The Nat Ballroom, a legendary former nightclub on Route 66 in Amarillo, Texas, will be converted into an antique mall that perhaps will eventually include a cafe and movie screen, reported the Amarillo Globe-News today.
The previous tenant’s lease ended in December after nine years. Kasey Robinson, a local business owner, promptly picked up the lease.
According to the newspaper:
Robinson, who owns Nest, with “green goods” of recycled fabric, organically grown cotton and silk and vegan bath and body goods at nearby 2900 S.W. Sixth Ave., has different plans. She wants to turn The Nat into a large antique mall with a museum of old photos of the place’s heyday at the entrance.
The rest of The Nat would be subleased booths to antique owners as well as to artists with paintings, jewelry and other new, used and handmade items. Eventually, she would like to have a small cafe and to use the large construction screen for a Friday night movie screening. [...]
“This is not just another antique mall,” Robinson said. “I plan to support 10 local artists as well. I had hoped to keep it quiet until we were doing the actual remodeling but as soon as one person found out, the emails started coming in, and my phone was ringing off the hook. It’s neat. A lot of locals in the city want to be a part of it.”
The Natatorium, as it is also called, started as a public swimming pool. The pool was covered in the 1930s, and The Nat was converted into a music venue. Acts that have performed there included Cab Calloway, Guy Lombardo, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, the Ink Spots, and Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys.
The Nat declined as a performing venue during the 1960s with the arrival of Interstate 40 and the Amarillo Civic Center. It sat vacant from 1982 to 1994, until it became an antique mall by day and a performance venue at night.
A recent photo of The Nat can be seen here.
(Hat tip: Bob “Crocodile” Lile)
Another town sees surge of Route 66 tourism January 22, 2012
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Businesses, Museums, Restaurants, Towns.1 comment so far
It isn’t just Pontiac, Ill., seeing a big increase in Route 66 tourism in recent years. According to an article today in the Springfield State Journal-Register, the small town of Atlanta, Ill., is experiencing a surge, too.
From the newspaper:
In Atlanta, sales tax revenue jumped 43 percent last year during the peak tourism season of April to August compared to four years ago, before the opening of the Atlanta Museum and the reopening of the 1930s-era Palms Grill Cafe. Both buildings in the 100 block of S.W. Arch St. are owned by the Atlanta Public Library.
The two endeavors were Atlanta’s first efforts to generate revenue from the steady trickle of Route 66 travelers who drive through the town every summer. [...]
The increase in foot traffic led to the opening of two new businesses: the Route 66 Gift Shop, which sells memorabilia and vintage items, and the Arch Street Artisan Shop.
And Atlanta isn’t done in trying to attract tourism dollars:
This spring, Atlanta will begin preparing a walking trail and signage around a quarter-mile of the original Route 66 pavement north of town. Officials also plan to open a coal-mining exhibit next to the grain elevator museum.
The community also has purchased an 1891 residence that served as a rooming house for Route 66 travelers in the 1940s, before motels were readily available. The city plans to offer the same service to modern travelers, although the Atlanta Route 66 Rooming House isn’t expected to open until 2013.
Between Pontiac and Atlanta, it’s becoming increasingly apparent that a concerted Route 66 tourism effort between locals and city government will pay dividends.
The newspaper article also examines several other Illinois Route 66 towns, whose tourism efforts range from tentative to feeble. Save for a bicycle rack, Virden doesn’t seem to be doing much. But nearby Girard boasts Doc’s Soda Fountain, which displays a map showing all of its foreign Route 66 visitors and hires an additional waitress during tourism season.
Bill Deck said area schools and local groups book tours throughout the year. But out-of-towners traveling the Mother Road make up 40 percent of summer traffic. [...]
“There’s a growing awareness,” Ernst said. “The Europeans are looking for small communities to explore. We want to make them feel welcome to stop in Girard.”
It sounds like a cliche to say: “If you build it, they will come.” But when it comes to Route 66 travelers, that seems to be the case.
Dublin Dr Pepper is no more January 14, 2012
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, Food.1 comment so far
Dublin Dr Pepper, a regionally popular soda pop made in small-town Dublin, Texas, soon will disappear from store shelves after the corporation that owns Dr Pepper forced the small bottler to stop production.
Dublin Dr Pepper was notable because it was made with cane sugar, not the high-fructose corn syrup that flavors regular Dr Pepper. Customers would drive literally hundreds of miles to pick up cases of the soda at the plant.
The Dubin bottler also has been operating since 1891 — just a few years after Dr Pepper was invented in nearby Waco.
Dr Pepper Snapple Group sued the bottler in June, alleging that Dublin Dr Pepper was diluting the main Dr Pepper brand and cannibalizing sales.
If Dublin Dr Pepper was hurting sales, it was hard to tell. According to MSN Money:
The Dublin bottler had sales of $7 million a year. Dr Pepper Snapple Group had sales of $5.6 billion in 2010. And, the Journal reported, Dublin Dr Pepper makes up less than 1% of Dr Pepper’s annual U.S. volume.
To settle the lawsuit, the bottler changed its name to Dublin Bottling Works, and will no longer produce Dublin Dr Pepper — or any Dr Pepper, for that matter. The Dallas Morning News said that anything with a Dublin Dr Pepper logo on it is being destroyed. Details of the lawsuit settlement were revealed Thursday.
Naturally, the news could have an adverse impact on Dublin itself, population 3,800:
You could find Dublin Dr Pepper scattered throughout Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri, including Route 66. One of the biggest and most prominent sellers of Dublin Dr Pepper was Pops on Route 66 in Arcadia, Okla. It sold Dublin Dr Pepper both in the small 8-ounce bottles and from soda fountains. It had long been one of Pops’ biggest sellers.
According to Pops’ Twitter account on Saturday, it still had “plenty” of Dublin Dr Pepper left, but was limiting purchases to one case per customer.
A quick search for Dublin Dr Pepper on eBay on Saturday afternoon revealed that one seller was wanting $9,999 for a case. Prices of $10 to $20 for one 8-ounce bottle were common.
You have to file Dr Pepper Snapple Group’s actions under the Corporate Stupidity Department. In an effort to “protect” its brand from a piddly regional producer, the behemoth has created a public-relations disaster that very likely will prove more costly. Boycotts and other angry campaigns seem certain.
Don’t be surprised if the Dr Pepper Snapple Group tries to walk this back in the coming weeks. Whether it can is another matter.