I was unable to attend the Route 66 Summit before the Route 66 Festival set for this weekend in Litchfield, Ill.
However, Peter Stork, an Illinois Route 66er was there and filed a detailed report for the Route 66 yahoogroup.
Go there if you want to see the report in full. However, I gleaned a few pieces of information that readers should find newsworthy:
— The Fabulous Palm Spring Follies‘ upcoming season, titled “Get Your Kicks,” not only pays tribute to the Mother Road, but the production may go on tour for the very first time.
— The Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program is hammering out details on its cost-share grant recipients for 2008. However, a program manager confirmed that Donut Drive-In in St. Louis will receive a grant to help repair its historic neon sign, which was damaged by a severe thunderstorm.
— A drive to have the U.S. Postal Service issue a Route 66-themed stamp is gaining some steam, and perhaps one will be announced in 2010 or 2011. It was noted that 2011 will be the 85th anniversary of Route 66.
— There was strong sentiment by the summit attendees to hold the 2010 Route 66 Festival in southwest Missouri. The Show-Me State has never hosted it, and placing it in the southwest corner of the state entice participation from nearby Kansas and Oklahoma. The 2009 festival is scheduled to be in Flagstaff, Ariz.