The California Historic Route 66 Association is examining the possibility of a permanent partnership with the Needles Downtown Business Alliance in Needles, California.
Sharon Foster of the California association attended a meeting of the alliance earlier this month, reported the Needles Desert Star.
Part of what she wanted to accomplish was to bring Needles back into the fold with the association. She discussed three ways of doing that. […]
She wants to have a recognized eastern corridor of Route 66 and wants a NDBA member to help her with a quarterly news update on what’s happening in this area, she said. She is also concerned about road signs and making sure there are signs in the Needles area.
Noting the International Route 66 Festival in November will be on Broadway in Los Angeles, she suggested Needles have its own event on its own Broadway street.
The California Route 66 Association may bring its board of directors to the Needles Downtown Business Alliance’s next meeting in March.
I don’t know whether this reaching-out was Foster’s idea or someone else with the association. (The article indicates the association may have experienced a falling-out with the Needles some time ago.) Regardless, it deserves to be praised and imitated with Route 66 associations in the other seven states and nationwide. Many of these Route 66 associations are small, and joining with other regional groups can mutually spread their influence and get more things done.
(Image of the welcome wagon of Needles, California, by Gene via Flickr)