After a leadership shake-up last year and a long period of semi-dormancy, it's good to see the Route 66 Alliance show signs of activity. This video of Route 66 Alliance chairman and "Route 66: The Mother Road" author Michael Wallis was posted Monday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mRSE5lgNKY The website for the Alliance is here, and it's not much … Continue reading A hello from the Route 66 Alliance
Students present revitalization plan for Carthage
Students from Drury University in Springfield, Mo., presented a final proposal Monday to revitalize the downtown area of Carthage, Mo., according to the Carthage Press. The plan includes the renovation and reopening of several R0ute 66 landmarks. A map of the proposal reveals a restored Boots Motel and the long-closed Boots Drive-In restaurant, a Route 66 … Continue reading Students present revitalization plan for Carthage
Students help design Mickey Mantle projects
Students from Oklahoma State University helped design what will be called Mickey Mantle Monument Park and other related projects in the Route 66 town of Commerce, Okla., where Mantle grew up, according to a story in the Tulsa World. A 9-foot-tall Mickey Mantle statue dedicated last summer stands at Mickey Mantle Field, next to a … Continue reading Students help design Mickey Mantle projects
Report from the Waldmire Weekend
These photos from the Illinois Route 66 Red Carpet Corridor Festival in Pontiac, Ill., were shot by Cathie Stevanovich, president of the Illinois Route 66 Association. For all practical purposes, the weekend served as a tribute to Route 66 hippie, artist and Illinois native Bob Waldmire, who died of cancer in December 2009. Festival-goers, including Stevanovich … Continue reading Report from the Waldmire Weekend
A pitch for Pontiac
This is a new tourism video produced by McCoy Studios for the Route 66 town of Pontiac, Ill. https://youtu.be/bSlWGLrP178 It's well done. Chambers of commerce, take note.
Where’s Johnny Depp when you really need him?
Most of these fellows in the Titus chapter of "Route 66: A Road Trip through the Bible" are listed as Cretans, but they look and act as if they walked off a "Pirates of the Caribbean" set. The only one missing is Jack Sparrow. https://youtu.be/5ZxRBVai5EM And the video reminds me of this song (I know … Continue reading Where’s Johnny Depp when you really need him?
Tourist season begins at Blue Whale … and more
Today marked the opening of the souvenir shack at the historic Blue Whale, just off Route 66 in Catoosa, Okla. It will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays, or for special occasions or sizable tour groups. The stand sells postcards (many of them decades old), T-shirts, magnets, coozies, Catoosa creme soda, and … Continue reading Tourist season begins at Blue Whale … and more
Rolling out the Red Carpet
Today produced a plethora of news stories about the Illinois Route 66 Red Carpet Corridor Festival. Of course, when you essentially are holding a party in 13 towns along 90 miles of the Mother Road, it will draw media attention. A roundup of the news items: --- WJBC radio filed this report from Pontiac, which … Continue reading Rolling out the Red Carpet
Pearls of news items
Today, I was asked to attend the Route 66 Archives and Research Collaboration at Oklahoma State University-Tulsa. The event was organized by the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program. I made my pitch for the ample online news archives of Route 66 News. But, as is typical of such gatherings, I heard a few pearls of … Continue reading Pearls of news items
Mother Road matchmaker
News broke Friday afternoon that music legend Paul McCartney and girlfriend Nancy Shevell are engaged to be married after a four-year courtship. You can read many of the particulars from the Daily Mail in London here, along with seeing a charming photo of the couple. And it's fairly likely a Route 66 trip that McCartney and … Continue reading Mother Road matchmaker