The Oklahoma Route 66 Association is launching a new type of membership focused on engaging youth 8 to 18 years old, called the Route 66 Explorer’s Club.
“Our hope is to inspire the next generation of roadies by encouraging more youth to explore Route 66,” Rhys Martin, president of the association, stated in a news release. “This new membership creates the opportunity for a year full of adventure, learning, fun, and memory-making for families in Oklahoma.”
Route 66 Explorer’s Club members receive a button to wear when they are traveling Route 66 in Oklahoma that identifies them as a member and entitles them to special benefits, discounts and freebies.
Examples of these benefits are two free admission tickets to the Stafford Air & Space Museum in Weatherford, free ice cream and a sticker at the Hi-Way Cafe in Vinita, a Free Mesmer Island Expedition Member button and a dinosaur sticker at Decopolis in Tulsa, and free entry to the Route 66 Spirit of America Museum in Str
For a complete list of member benefits, go here.
An interactive membership, a unique aspect of this new membership, is the four year-long challenges. Youth can work at their own pace on four challenges that connect to the four tenets of the association’s mission: preservation, education, culture and imagination.
For each challenge, members can create their own activity or project (or choose from a list of 10 activities) to complete.
For example, to complete the Imagination Challenge, members can create their own miniature roadside attraction using any materials they want, reimagine the lyrics to “Get Your Kicks on Route 66,” or create their own recipe for a road trip snack.
Once challenges are completed, members receive a special sticker.
Upon completion of all four challenges, members earn their certificate and a special prize — a commemorative Route 66 Explorer’s Club pin.
Membership is $20. thanks to its sponsor, the Route 66 Train Town in Yukon. To help keep the cost of membership down for families, its sponsorship covers the cost of challenge gifts, mailing and more.
“We have plans to add more member benefits and exclusive events in the coming years as this new membership develops,” Martin said. “We’re excited to launch the Route 66 Explorer’s Club well in advance of the 2026 Route 66 centennial so that youth can take advantage of all of the planned activities and events in that historic year.”
(Image of a mockup of the Sheriff of Radiator Springs at the Rock Cafe in Stroud, Oklahoma, one of the Explorer’s Club participants)
Hopefully they won’t be using that “Sherrif” to teach kids to spell.