The documentary “Route 66: Ten Years Later” will have its debut at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 9 at the Portage Theater in Chicago.
Writer Tim Steil and photographer Jim Luning collaborated on their “Route 66” book during a Mother Road trip in 1999. A decade later, they decided to revisit the places they saw and see some new things. This time, Luning brought a video camera. The final cuts on the film have been made; it’s now a 55-minute movie.
Steil and Luning have rented out the entire theater for the event. According to their Facebook page, the event is open for everyone; ticket prices will be the same as in 1966. Here’s a trailer for the movie:
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TUCUMCARI MUSEUM?: It’s in the very early stages, but a number of Tucumcari, N.M., leaders are exploring the idea of converting the long-abandoned Tucumcari Truck Terminal on the west end of town into a Route 66 and auto museum, welcome center, and a new home for the town’s chamber of commerce. A number of issues remain with the property, including environmental remediation. But since New Mexico remains the only state without a Route 66 museum, this is an idea that might have legs. Tucumcari may have to hurry, though — Albuquerque is considering the same thing with its El Vado Motel.
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FROM DOWN UNDER: KOLR-TV in Springfield, Mo., caught up with a television crew from Australia following some Aussie road-trippers in the Ozarks. The link includes a video, which will show Gary Turner’s Gay Parita gas station near Halltown, Mo. The TV crew is shooting footage for Australia’s “Classic Restos” program.
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FESTIVE TIME: It’s a rather eventual weekend for Route 66. The Vettes in the Midwest III event started Friday in Joplin, Mo., and the inaugural Route 66 Classic Car Cruise in the St. Louis suburbs of Crestwood and Sunset Hills begins Saturday. A story about the Corvette event is here; a preview of the Crestwood cruise is here.
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MOTHER ROAD ENVOY: You’re advised to surf over to the blog of Matthew Comer, the British citizen who is the new Illinois Route 66 Ambassador. He’s barely been at his Mother Road duties for a month, and he logged nearly 30 entries on the website.
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TV TIME: The Travel Channel and on-air personality Henry Cole came to Cuba, Mo., last week to shoot Route 66 footage, including at the newly refurbished Wagon Wheel Motel and the World’s Largest Rocker at the Fanning Outpost.
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ROAD TO INSPIRE: Disney Imagineers who are working on the Cars Land complex traveled on the Mother Road in New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma a few days ago to “get some inspiration,” reported several roadies in that vicinity. Cars Land, based on the 2006 hit movie “Cars,” is expected to be open in 2012.
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