From the “Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down” column today in the Williams-Grand Canyon News in Williams, Ariz.:
Thumbs down – Witnessed just last week – a tourist was asking a local store clerk for directions to westbound Historic Route 66 leading to Kingman. The store clerk was unable to provide the directions. Another one of our amazing locals told the tourist that there was nothing along that portion of Route 66 to see. Luckily, another local stepped forward to help the tourist. Williams is Route 66. We all should be proud of where we live and more importantly, become educated enough about our area to share what we know with our visitors. Let’s show our pride in our community by being helpful to our visitors. If you are new in town, stop by the city of Williams-Forest Service Visitor Center, 200 W. Railroad Ave. There’s tons of free literature about our area and the staff is more than happy to tell you everything you want or need to know.
The sad part is Williams has about as much civic pride in Route 66 as any town. I hope the local who said there was “nothing” along the Mother Road in western Arizona had his chops busted.