This is interesting. Not only is the Illinois Route 66 Association recruiting cities that are on the Mother Road, but it is now wooing towns that aren’t.
Marty Bilecki of the association is trying to persuade the City of Morris, which is at least 25 miles west of Route 66, according to the Morris Daily Herald.
… Bilecki said that while Morris is not on Route 66, people go through Morris on Interstate 80 and Illinois 47 to reach the famous highway.
He said Route 66 is becoming more and more popular as a tourist attraction, and it brings in people not only from other states, but also foreign countries.
Bilecki said the Route 66 Museum opened in the historic fire station in Pontiac in June of 2004. Since then, 6,000 people have gone through the museum and of those, about 4,500 were from foreign countries.
He noted a recent article in the Chicago Tribune about a couple from England that drove from California to Chicago on Route 66.
Interesting approach by the association. The City of Morris took no action on Bilecki’s proposal. We’ll keep an eye on this. If successful, this many be a way for other Route 66 associations to boost their membership rolls.
This sounds like a grassroots variation on the whole “corridor” concept that the Scenic Byways people talk about, by which communities that are not technically on 66 still benefit from their proximity to the road.
“Reach Out and Touch someone new” or however that old Diana Ross and Supremes song went
I believe that there is a place there off the interstate that has 2 or 3 pound cheeseburgers.