Route 66 Rendezvous moving to another town with a new name April 22, 2013
Posted by Ron Warnick in Events, Towns, Vehicles.4 comments
The Route 66 Rendezvous classic-car show, canceled this year in the traditional host city of San Bernardino, Calif., because of the town’s financial woes, is moving to nearby Ontario, Calif., with a new name, according a post over the weekend from the Rendezvous’ Facebook page.
The event will be renamed the Route 66 Reunion, and will take place along Euclid Avenue in Ontario on Sept. 20-22.
According to the Facebook page’s writer:
I am existed to say that I have been hired by the Ontario Convention & Visitors Bureau to make this car show bigger and better. The San Bernardino Convention & Visitors Bureau has given me their full support and is backed me in my efforts to continue to keep the car show in the Inland Empire. However, they will keep custody of the name “Route 66 Rendezvous.”
I know you want an event like the Rendezvous to continue, and there are several other organizations willing to put their hat in the ring, but this could be the only solution to continuing a QUALITY car show like the Route 66 Rendezvous. The challenges with doing the car show on the downtown streets of San Bernardino became greater with an unpleasant element at night. We want to give the car enthusiast back the freedom they once had to relax and enjoy the reunion of family and friends while sitting next to their babe.
The Route 66 Reunion would have the same elements as the Rendezvous with vendors, entertainment, contests and a continuous 3-mile cruise route looping around Euclid Avenue from Holt Blvd to 6th Street. Euclid has 3-lanes to park cars on both sides and cruise down the middle. There are businesses, historic homes, and a beautiful grass median about 50 feet wide with trees for participants to sit under, historic monuments, and a gazebo. It really has a great feel and I think it would be a perfect location for the car participants.
I believe the Route 66 Reunion could pull the same if not more attendance and car participants as the Rendezvous. I hope you will stand by me and participate.
Organizers in February canceled the Rendezvous, scheduled for Sept. 19-22, after the City of San Bernardino filed for bankruptcy and the state eliminated funding for the San Bernardino Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The City of Ontario offered to host the Rendezvous just days after its cancellation. And organizers in March reportedly were in talks with Beaumont, Calif., to host the event.
Ontario sits about 20 miles west of San Bernardino. It never was part of Route 66, but lies just a few miles south of the Mother Road communities of Rancho Cucamonga and Upland.
UPDATE 4/23/2013: The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin reports that Shelly McNaul, former director of special events for now-defunct San Bernardino Convention and Visitors Bureau, wrote the Facebook post.
UPDATE2: The San Bernardino County Sun reported that San Bernardino is hosting a competing car festival the same weekend:
Meanwhile, an alternative car show, Rendezvous Back to Route 66, is scheduled for the same weekend at San Manuel Baseball Stadium in San Bernardino. The car show is being planned by the San Bernardino Area Chamber of Commerce and car clubs, including Over the Hill Gang, according to chamber president and CEO Judi Penman.
Stanley Marsh 3 may have lost Cadillac Ranch some time ago April 22, 2013
Posted by Ron Warnick in Art, Attractions, People, Vehicles.add a comment
Several weeks ago, we learned the embattled millionaire Stanley Marsh 3 no longer owns the famous Cadillac Ranch art installation off Route 66 near Amarillo, Texas.
On Sunday, an in-depth report by the Amarillo-Globe News indicates Marsh may have lost ownership of Cadillac Ranch in 2011.
The newspaper reported that Marsh’s wealth is caught in a web of trusts, foundations, and corporations. Another section of the report indicates Marsh no longer held control over Cadillac Ranch about 18 months ago:
Marsh 3’s financial affairs are now run by former attorney David Weir because Potter County Court at Law Judge W.F. “Corky” Roberts conditionally found Marsh incapacitated in October 2011. A final judgment of mental incapacitation was filed this year on Oct. 26 by Potter County Clerk Julie Smith.
A power of attorney document executed in 1986 gives Weir control of Marsh 3’s business affairs while Roberts awarded Wendy Marsh guardianship in November 2011 to oversee Marsh 3’s daily life.
Terms of the guardianship say Marsh 3 is no longer allowed to drive, vote, divorce, change his will, decide on medical or dental care, choose his residence, access government assistance, make gifts of property, sign contracts, seek a job, or hire or fire people who assist him.
It’s likely Cadillac Ranch is controlled by one of Marsh’s associates or trusts.
Marsh recently was indicted by a grand jury on child sexual-abuse charges, after being criminally charged on similar counts in November.
In mid-February, Marsh settled out of court with 10 alleged sexual-abuse victims. An attorney for the plaintiffs stated that Marsh no longer was owner of Cadillac Ranch, but did not elaborate.
At one point, an attorney of one of the accusers and a few locals debated whether to tear down Cadillac Ranch if Marsh were found guilty. However, it appears that sentiment has cooled.
Marsh didn’t create Cadillac Ranch in 1974, but owned the land. Chip Lord, Hudson Marquez, and Doug Michels of the Ant Farm art group came up with the concept.
A second in-depth article about Marsh’s colorful life also is worth reading.
Jay Leno interviews Route 66 authors April 21, 2013
Posted by Ron Warnick in Books, Road trips, Television, Vehicles.1 comment so far
I bet this was quite a thrill. Buddies Sal Santoro and Bob Walton were recently interviewed on “Jay Leno’s Garage” by the host about their Route 66 book.
“Route 66 — The People, The Places, The Dream” can be ordered here. You can read my review of the book here.
Home movies of Tucumcari, circa 1960 March 5, 2013
Posted by Ron Warnick in History, Music, Towns, Vehicles.3 comments
The Historic Tucumcari page on Facebook posted this 15-minute home movie, circa 1960, from the Route 66 town of Tucumcari, N.M.
Locations in the film include the Tri-Angle Café, Tucumcari Memorial Park cemetery, Harry’s Cafe, and the train station. Does anyone know whether Harry’s or the Tri-Angle were on 66?
Regardless, the film is fascinating to watch, especially of the old cars.
And the songs added to the video all refer to Tucumcari. Those songs made the 2010 compilation “Songs of Tucumcari,” produced by the Tucumcari-Quay County Chamber of Commerce in 2010.
Atlanta, Ill., organizes a cruise for all-electric vehicles February 27, 2013
Posted by Ron Warnick in Events, Towns, Vehicles.add a comment
Credit the town of Atlanta, Ill., to find a new twist to the typical Route 66 car cruise — it has organized an event for all-electric vehicles on June 8.
The Electric Vehicle Cruise-In will be from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. that day in downtown Atlanta, where an older alignment of Route 66 runs. From the news release:
When Route 66 was commissioned in 1926, it helped develop the gas and service stations that today we take for granted. Back then, however, these fixtures of the highway didn’t exist. If you wanted gas for your new automobile, you had to go to the local hardware or grocery store, where you’d find a single gas pump the owner had put in to earn a little extra cash.
With the huge increase in automobile traffic created by Route 66, the need for businesses dedicated solely to serving the traveling public arose – and service stations were born.
Route 66 is now poised to help create the next big transportation infrastructure needing to be developed: charging stations for electric vehicles. Atlanta is interested in helping other Route 66 communities discover how to better serve the traveling public that will be searching not for a pump, but a plug-in. Attend Illinois’ first Electric Vehicle Cruise-in on June 8, check out some cool EV cars, and learn more about how the Mother Road is working to give birth to a new travel infrastructure.
The release goes on to plug the town’s downtown businesses and landmarks, including the Palms Grill Cafe, J.H. Hawes Grain Elevator Museum, Bunyon Giant, Gunnar Mast Trading Post, Chubby’s restaurant, Atlanta Museum, Arch Street Artisans, and The Korner tavern.
Atlanta was among the first Route 66 towns to establish an EV charging station. Best of all, to top off the batteries, Atlanta will do it free of charge.
(Photo of Dodge concept electric vehicle by saebaryo, via Flickr)
Area chamber considers a smaller Route 66 Rendezvous February 25, 2013
Posted by Ron Warnick in Events, Vehicles.1 comment so far
The San Bernardino Area Chamber of Commerce is considering a slimmed-down version of the annual Route 66 Rendezvous, which was suspended last week due to funding cuts and the City of San Bernardino’s bankruptcy, according to the Redlands Daily Facts.
“There is a concern that if we don’t have an event this year, it may never come back,” said Jim Gerstenslager, the chairman of the board of directors of the chamber and the San Bernardino Convention and Visitors Bureau. “If there is a possibility, through some means, that we could put on a smaller event, just to keep the enthusiasm going, it might make sense.”
A part of the problem is the San Bernardino Convention and Visitors Bureau, a key organizer of the event, will be disbanded next month.
The chamber may assume “a custodial role” of the Convention and Visitors Bureau while it’s in a “dormant stage,” which would give it “some kind of control over the Rendezvous,” Gerstenslager said.
But nothing has been settled.
“A lot of people have a lot of ideas and suggestions, but until we come up with solutions, there’s not going to be a Rendezvous,” Gerstenslager said.
Danny Flores, a longtime auto enthusiast, thinks San Bernardino business owners should band together to organize an event, even if it’s scaled down.
“This is a void. If San Bernardino doesn’t come up with something, Ontario or Rancho Cucamonga will,” said Jerry Casillas, the owner of the Windjammer store and the nearby Ray’s Deli, two E Street businesses that have benefitted from Rendezvous crowds.
The Rendezvous already has received invitations to move to Ontario, Calif.
Organizers cancel Route 66 Rendezvous February 19, 2013
Posted by Ron Warnick in Events, Towns, Vehicles.1 comment so far
Organizers canceled the annual Stater Bros. Route 66 Rendezvous classic-car show due to severe financial problems and cutbacks by the host city of San Bernardino, Calif., reported the San Bernardino County Sun and other media outlets Tuesday afternoon.
The newspaper reported:
The San Bernardino Convention and Visitors Bureau today announced its decision to suspend the annual car show for the year, citing financial difficulties.
“It was a gut-wrenching decision that we had to make, but we just didn’t have the resources to put it on this year,” said Jim Gerstenslager, chairman of the Convention and Visitors Bureau’s board of directors.
The document that announced the event’s suspension can be read here. The release indicated that Stater Bros. and organizers would try to revive the event in 2014:
In consultation with Jack H. Brown, Stater Bros. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, the decision was made that, in order to preserve the quality and integrity of the Rendezvous, the best course of action was to suspend the 2013 Stater Bros. Route 66 Rendezvous®.
“The cars are the stars,” said Brown, “and in order to continue to provide the participants and our visitors with a
safe and first-class car show we need to put the Rendezvous temporarily on hold so that we can come back bigger and better.”
The Rendezvous was scheduled for Sept. 19-22.
The bureau said the City of San Bernardino’s bankruptcy last year, plus the elimination of California’s redevelopment agencies, have let the event with no money.
The city’s financial troubles were discovered mere weeks before the 2012 Rendezvous, and rumors flew that the event would be canceled. With the help of donations, the 2012 Rendezvous went on as scheduled, albeit with somewhat reduced attendance. The Rendezvous typically draws more than 500,000 spectators during the weekend.
UPDATE 2/20/2013: Organizers for the Rendezvous rebuffed advances from Ontario, Calif., to move the event there, according to the Redlands Daily Facts.
(Image from the 2011 Route 66 Rendezvous by dcarlson54, via Flickr)