SOMEWHERE WEST OF LIMBO
It looks as though the season is far from over on Route 66. Cuba Fest in Cuba, Missouri is fast shaping up to be another big event on the double six, and another Route 66 family reunion.
The Road Crew is performing at Belmont Winery on Saturday evening(reservations strongly recommended), Cheryl Jett and Joe Sonderman will be selling books, Mike and Sharon Ward, and other well known faces from all along Route 66 will be in attendance. Will you be attending?
The National Route 66 Motor Tour being developed by Craig Parish is another major event. As it has already garnered international media attention, there is no telling how many participants will cruising the double six in October.
According to Sam Murray of Gilligan’s Wild West Tours, snags have been resolved and the companies fall tour is a go. So, these folks from New Zealand will be on the road about the same time as Craig’s group.
There was a time not so long ago when the season stretched from late April into September. Not anymore!
Next year is shaping up to be even more exciting. Of course the big event will take place in Edwardsville next October.
Updates are slow in coming but the city wants to get this right. Cheryl Jett, liaison and consultant ensuring that the essence of a Route 66 event isn’t overshadowed as it evolves (she is head piñata in 2015), and I discussed approaching Mike Ward about hosting the Route 66 e-group breakfast at the event.
In addition, the most recent correspondence indicates that the historic Wildey Theater has been reserved for the conference and possibly other activities, and that a reception for Thursday evening is being discussed. Meanwhile Scott Piotrowski continues to quietly move forward on plans for Los Angeles to serve as the host city for what may be an actual Route 66 convention and, possibly, the largest Route 66 family reunion ever held.
To foster the developing sense of community made manifest in Kingman, requests for input as well as invitations to participate in the Edwardsville event have been sent to all Route 66 associations including those in the neighboring states of the Netherlands, Germany, and the Czech Republic. Kaisa Barthuli of the National Park Service and representatives from other organizations are being kept apprised of developments, and are being asked to participate as well. Folks, we may have an embryonic convention and a first rate Route 66 family reunion in the making.
Meanwhile, in Kingman, Route 66 continues developing as the crossroads of the past and future, the theme for this years Route 66 International Festival. In a feature posted on Route 66 News, the Historic Electric Vehicle Foundation announced to the world that the exhibit established at the festival will now be the nucleus for the Route 66 Electric Vehicle Museum.
The foundation, a non profit organization, is now soliciting donations of funds, vehicles, and transportation assistance to relocate vehicles. As the only museum of its kind in the world, I am rather confident that as it evolves and grows, it will become a major attraction on Route 66.
While all of these exciting things are developing, somewhere west of limbo, a wide array of other events are unfolding behind the scenes. If you think 2014 was exciting, wait until you see what happens in 2015!
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