Munger Moss Motel owner Ramona Lehman receives Lebanon Community Achievement Award

Ramona Lehman, owner of the Munger Moss Motel in Lebanon, Missouri, for more than 50 years, last week received the Lebanon Community Achievement Award.

Lehman earned the honor, which essentially exists as a lifetime achievement award in the city, during the 21st annual Wall of Honor Banquet in Lebanon’s Cowan Civic Center. A plaque honoring her hangs on the civic center’s wall.

According to a report by the Lebanon-Laclede County Route 66 Society:

Ramona’s family members, including daughters Shelly Cravens and Mary Jo Shadel, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, filled up two tables. The Lebanon-Laclede County Route 66 Society also filled a table in support of Ramona.

A slideshow of photos depicting Ramona through the years was accompanied by the song, “Get Your Kicks on Route 66.”

Ramona was introduced by Gary Sosniecki, a Route 66 Society board member and, along with Ramona and the late Bill Wheeler, one of the founders of the Route 66 Society.

This two-minute video link takes you to Lehman’s acceptance speech.

Lehman had to undergo brain surgery earlier this fall but apparently recovered quickly. More about her and her history can be read here.

This is what it states on the plaque:

An Iowa blizzard was the impetus for Bob and Ramona Lehman to move to Missouri and buy Lebanon’s Munger Moss Motel on June 1, 1971. During their tenure, the Munger Moss became an internationally known destination, its distinctive neon sign pictured in countless Route 66 books and travel magazines. While Bob busied himself with the motel’s upkeep, Ramona became one of the foremost Route 66 ambassadors in the United States as well as Lebanon’s Queen of Route 66. Bob died in 2019, but in her 52nd year of ownership, Ramona still greets guests with wide smiles, warm hugs and generous advice on what to see next on Route 66.

Lehman was one of five recipients of the award last week. Previous Lebanon Community Achievement Award winners who owned Route 66 businesses were Nelson’s Dream Village owner Arthur T. Nelson, local hotelier Marie Williams and longtime Wrinks Market owner Glenn Wrinkle Sr.

(Image of Ramona Lehman at the front desk of her Munger Moss Motel in Lebanon, Missouri, via Facebook)