The eighth annual Miles of Possibility Route 66 Conference will be Oct. 19-22 in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois, with the theme “The Great American Road Trip” and four days of speakers, tours, museums, networking, plus musical and movie entertainment.
In a nod to this year’s hosts, Thursday’s events will be at the McLean County Museum of History in Bloomington, and Friday and Saturday’s events will be at Uptown Station in Normal.
(Disclosure: Miles of Possibility is an advertiser on Route 66 News.)
At this year’s event, four nationally known speakers will present the keynote speeches. They are:
- Evan Stern, actor and podcaster (New York City) – “Beyond Nostalgia and Neon: The Voices of Route 66”
- Jim Hinckley, author and tourism expert (Kingman, Arizona) – “In the Beginning: Dawn of the Great American Road Trip”
- T. Lindsay Baker, author and professor (Texas) – “Roadside Food and Mother Road Travelers”
- Marian Pavel, media expert and designer of the Route 66 Navigation and Route 66 Passport
(Bratislava, Slovakia) – “Post-Pandemic Route 66″
New is a series of three Lunch & Learn special sessions offered for attendees who work in tourism or community leadership. The sessions are:
- Cory Jobe, CEO of Great Rivers & Routes Convention and Visitors Bureau – “The Last Hundred Miles of Route 66 in Illinois”
- Scott Dahl, CEO of Visit Springfield CVB – “Route 66: The Road to 2026”
- Bob Navarro, CEO of Heritage Corridor CVB – “What’s New Along the First Hundred Miles of
Ol’ Route 66″
The full slate of speakers for Thursday through Saturday includes:
- Joe Culpepper – “Bicycling Route 66 at 66 Years Old”
- Matt Hawkins – “Route 66 in McLean County”
- Cheryl Eichar Jett – “Dreams, Dares, and Driving: Early Women Cross-Country Motorists”
- Spencer Johansen – “From Memory Lane to 2026 and Beyond”
- Bill Kemp – “The Henney Kilowatt: Bloomington’s Battery-Powered ‘Car of Tomorrow’”
- Greg Koos – “Out of the Mud and onto the Hard Roads”
- Mike Matejka – “Route 66 Pathfinder: Following the Railroad”
- Terri Ryburn – “Saving Two Route 66 Icons”
- Jeff Woodard and Rochelle Gridley – “Bloomington-Normal Breweries: Then and Now”
A panel discussion about “Solo Women Travelers” will include longtime Route 66 travelers Angie Fickert Patarek and Brenda St. Clair and panel moderator Cheryl Eichar Jett.
Two tours are planned. On Thursday morning, a walking tour called “Downtown Bloomington: A Business 66 Survivor” will be led by Koos, executive director emeritus of the McLean County Museum of History.
On Sunday, publicist and writer Ruth Cobb will present a tour and program, “The Road to Home: Stories from a Shared Past on Route 66,” at the former Illinois Soldiers’ & Sailors’ Children’s School in Normal.
Social activities begin Thursday evening with a hot dog roast at Sprague’s Super Service in Normal.
Friday evening’s festivities will begin with a special welcome and updates from Debyjo Ericksen and Ron Romero of the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum on Route 66. Also that evening is the return of singer/guitarist Tim Dial at the Eagles Club in downtown Bloomington.
On Saturday evening, there is a special showing of the film “Young Frankenstein” at the Normal Theatre.
For registration, complete schedule, bios of all the speakers, and updates on hotel, parking and WiFi
information, go to route66milesofpossibility.com.
Ticket prices begin at $60 for a one-day pass; register for the weekend for just $100 before Oct. 1. Lunch & Learn sessions (which include lunch) require registration of $60 for all three sessions.
For updates, follow the event on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
—