Try, try again.
The volunteer cleanup day for the Allen’s Fillin’ Station site at 101 S. Main St. in Commerce, Oklahoma, has been rescheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 16, after two previous attempts were canceled because of bad weather.
Rhys Martin, president of the Oklahoma Route 66 Association, announced the new date Sunday in an email:
We will be freshening up the paint on the building and doing any other general site clean-up that is needed. Third time is the charm and we’d love to have your help! Thanks again to Kay Russell for lending us a bit of scaffolding AND to Bobby Allen, the owner, for doing some pre-work for us and getting some of the old paint pressure-washed off the brick. We also received a donation from the folks at the Abandoned Atlas Foundation for water and ice!
Fingers crossed that the weather stays clear for us this time! Please reach out to me or Marilyn Emde at the Oklahoma Route 66 Association office directly if you have any questions.
Martin can be reached at rhys.martin@oklahomaroute66.com; Marilyn can be reached at info@oklahomaroute66.com.
Allen announced last summer he was putting the property up for sale. Allen said he was prompted to sell because of the death of his wife, Linda, 65. The Allens had used the station as a small souvenir shop and photo op for years.
The station originally was a Conoco when it was built in 1929 or 1930, then became a Phillips 66 station during the late 1930s. It’s been known as the “Hole in the Wall Conoco Station” for years.
(Image of Allen’s Fillin’ Station in Commerce, Oklahoma, in 2013 by formulanone via Flickr)