An outdoor benefit concert by a local country-music band for the Sprague's Super Service station in Normal, Illinois, will be coupled with free tours of the historic facility Sunday by owner Terri Ryburn, reported WJBC radio. Sprague's Super Service 305 E. Pine St. in Normal is hosting an outdoor concert from 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday. … Continue reading Outdoor concert will benefit Sprague’s station
Category: Gas stations
Front Street Garage in Galena will be renovated
The long-closed Front Street Garage in Galena, Kansas, has a new roadie owner, and his long-term plans are renovating it into a Ford Model A museum, according to KODE-TV. The garage, also known as the Bradshaw Garage, is directly across the street, aka Route 66, from Cars on the Route -- known as the home … Continue reading Front Street Garage in Galena will be renovated
A chat with Melba Rigg
Melba Rigg, one of the original proprietors of 4 Women on the Route, now Cars on the Route, in Galena, Kansas, explains the region's Route 66 tie-ins to the Disney-Pixar "Cars" movie and makes some other observations. This video is part of KC Keefer's Genuine Route 66 Life video series. https://youtu.be/keOmEUPWo4E Rigg didn't always talk … Continue reading A chat with Melba Rigg
Promotion offers free gas tomorrow at Essex station
Snickers candy bar is offering free gasoline on Thursday, July 3, at a station in the middle of the Mojave Desert on Route 66. According to the news release: SNICKERS® Brand is about to see how far people will go for the chance to get free fuel. Literally. [...] To help fuel Independence Day road … Continue reading Promotion offers free gas tomorrow at Essex station
Family of owls holds up relighting of Whiting Bros. sign
The last Whiting Brothers gas station still in operation on Route 66 had hoped to relight the neon for its refurbished signs during a ceremony last weekend. However, a family of owls recently took up residence in one of the signs, delaying the neon installation at the station in Moriarty, New Mexico. Roger Holden at RETRO … Continue reading Family of owls holds up relighting of Whiting Bros. sign
What’s left of Ted’s Bull Pen
The dude who created this video, Adam the Woo, is adamantly irreverent. However, this is his fascinating closer look at an abandoned Route 66 truck stop, Ted's Bull Pen, in Ash Fork, Arizona. https://youtu.be/VCcXrhdTD1A An Internet link indicates Ted's was open as recently as 1998. And I found this document from 2012 that indicated Pilot … Continue reading What’s left of Ted’s Bull Pen
A chat with Laurel Kane at Afton Station
KC Keefer continues his Genuine Route 66 Life video series with an interview with Laurel Kane, co-owner of Afton Station in Afton, Oklahoma. Afton Station, a former gas station on Route 66 in town, was converted into a display area for a Packards collection and as a visitors center for Route 66 travelers. https://youtu.be/B3NpM-BRY9k Kane … Continue reading A chat with Laurel Kane at Afton Station
Artist dedicates Gay Parita painting at its namesake
Artist Jerry McClanahan on Saturday unveiled a newly commissioned painting of Gary Turner's Gay Parita gas station on Route 66 west of Halltown, Missouri, at the station itself. A recent news release explained how the painting came to be: On June 6 of 2013, Curtis Gobeli, celebrating having turned 66 years of age with a dream … Continue reading Artist dedicates Gay Parita painting at its namesake
Wigwam Motel owner: Route 66 needs a younger, more diverse crowd
The Los Angeles Times this week posted an interesting feature about Wigwam Motel operator Kumar Patel, who is trying to attract a younger and more diverse group of customers to ensure Route 66's survival. Route 66's future demographic problems are self-evident: about 97 percent of its travelers are white, with a median age of 55. … Continue reading Wigwam Motel owner: Route 66 needs a younger, more diverse crowd
Shea’s Route 66 Museum faces uncertain future
Shea's Gas Station Museum in Springfield, Illinois, faces a cloudy future since its longtime patriarch, Bill Shea, died in 2012 at age 91, according to a story in the Springfield State Journal-Register. Another Route 66 landmark in Springfield, Joe Rogers' The Chili Den Parlor, also faces an uncertain future since a "closed for repairs" sign was posted … Continue reading Shea’s Route 66 Museum faces uncertain future