The City of Lebanon, Missouri, held a relighting ceremony on June 1 for its restored neon sign once owned by the Munger Moss Motel.
June 1 was the anniversary that longtime owners Bob and Ramona Lehman, both now deceased, purchased the Route 66 property in 1971. About 100 people attended the ceremony 55 years later.
The City of Lebanon acquired the sign and its easement three years ago after The Dels Corp. purchased the motel and converted it into apartments.
The sign will be lighted nightly from 8 p.m. to midnight.
The Dels stated earlier this year it would set aside 15 rooms at the motel for overnight travelers, but no timetable was given of when that would happen.
More from the Lebanon-Leclede County Route 66 Society:
City Tourism Director Rebecca Rupard, who was in charge of the sign rehabilitation; Lebanon businessman Rod Reid, chairman of the federal Route 66 Centennial Commission; and Mayor Jared Carr spoke at the ceremony.
Carr flipped the switch following a countdown that fittingly started at the number six.
Reid talked about the prestige of the U.S. Postal Service commemorating the Route 66 Centennial by featuring the Munger Moss sign as one of eight stamps, one from each Route 66 state. Reid spoke May 6 at the National Postal Forum in Phoenix, when the stamps officially were unveiled.
He said the stamp photographer wants to do more work in Lebanon because of the energy behind Route 66 in Missouri, focused in Lebanon. “Keep up the good work,” he said.
He presented a lapel pin featuring the Munger Moss stamp to Carr, Rupard and Lebanon-Laclede County Route 66 Society President Bruce Owen.
Mayor Carr mentioned how fortunate Lebanon is to have Route 66 in its city. “We’re so happy that it is here and that we get to celebrate Route 66 every day in Lebanon,” he said.
“Lebanon is the heart of Route 66 — it really is — and this sign really exemplifies that.”
The motel was built in 1946 on Lebanon’s east side along with a restaurant and gas station, both of which are long gone.
The Munger Moss name came from a sandwich shop of the same name in nearby Devil’s Elbow, Missouri, built in the mid-1930s by Nellie Munger and her husband, Emmitt Moss.
(Image of the relighted Munger Moss Motel sign by the City of Lebanon)