Route 66 Association of Illinois
Where The Road Begins
The Route 66 Association of Illinois Hall of Fame and Museum in Pontiac, Illinois will be closed on Sunday, April 1 in observance of Easter Day.
The facility will re-open on Monday, April 2 operating on our Summer hours, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM.
We hope to welcome you to our FREE museum and take you back in Route 66 time!
We’ve had a very nice fall, almost “too” nice so we’re spoiled. Tonight the wind is howling, the temperatures are dropping and winter is getting ready to come and stay for a while. I hate the early dark at 4 p.m. and everyday I tell anyone who’ll listen that we’re one day closer to Spring.
To every thing there is a season. For the Mother Road – our tourism season does get quiet in December but we’ve always had a lot of International visitors at the museum during the New Year holiday. “Season” starts again in late March, April for sure. We just have to deal with a few months of cold and snow and we’ll be back on the Road again.
This has been a fast year – winter, then Spring cleaning at the museum and at Odell Station, the Red Carpet corridor in May, and Motor Tour in June. Fourth of July, our August Association picnic, September was the Threshermen’s Reunion in Pontiac, the Basset Waddle in Dwight, and Springfield’s Mother Road Festival. October our annual elections and pumpkin chunkin’ in Girard. One day I am gonna build a monster catapult or cannon and be amazing in Girard! November starts the holidays and planning for next year.
We had the unveiling for the Riviera Restaurant and it was a beautiful day and a great turnout! If you never had the chance to eat at the Riviera, the Kraft’s daughter Laurie is selling their cookbook! It’s wonderful! Buy one of theirs (and one of ours too!).
The National Trail initiative is advancing, the Road Ahead is meeting regularly, and we are extremely lucky that our Illinois legislators acknowledge how important our Illinois Route 66 miles are.
In life there are events that happen that you always remember. Your first car, your first paycheck, the first time you hear a special song that speaks to your heart. I think Route 66 is one of those special “events” – as I talk with other Route 66 enthusiasts (fellow Roadies or Road Huggers) there is always a special place, or person, that brought the road alive for them. The heart of 66 lies in the people who appreciate what the road stands for. It was a road built on respect, progress, hard work, service, and ingenuity. Whether the locations along the road were real (museums), or an imaginative destination (private collections, drive-ins, or “world’s greatest (fill in the blank)” every one I meet on the road has a story of how they became involved with 66.
We all have a story to tell, and one thing about Route 66 people, they listen. They share. They laugh, They cry and/or commiserate. People come and go along the road but there is always the memory of moments that will never fade. What I love most about Route 66 people is that its like a family of choice. When we gather as a group and remember to put our phones down, it’s a great time to be with people who don’t care if you’re rich or poor. It doesn’t matter that you only have a few bucks for gas and so you didn’t go too far down the road. You still have places to stop and visit and meet people who are doing the same.
I encourage those who are interested in 66 to stop and walk around our 91 Route 66 communities. These communities need our support as they struggle to survive. You don’t know what’s there till you turn down the road and go into that town. I appreciate driving through some of the towns and reflecting how far they’ve come. When I first started visiting Pontiac (2003), the downtown area was quiet – and there were a lot of store fronts vacant. Now the entire downtown area stores are full – with new businesses and services. I was in Wilmington a few weeks ago and was amazed at all the businesses that are flourishing on Water Street.
Time changes everything even within our organization. We’ve had several Board members make life changes and retire from the Board – John Lucchesi, Neil Gale, Dorothy Seratt McMullen, and Kathy Goodman. We wish them well and know they’ll still make time for the Association when they can. We are biding our editor, Gina Blitstein, farewell as well. Gina will continue to work on our website, Facebook page, and Twitter account. We appreciate her hard work and efforts that made us more presentable to the world in the written word format.
Thanks to all of you, our members, for an amazing year on the road. We’ve laughed, we cried, we’ve said goodbye. We just lost Dawn Patterson, of DK’s Garage in Towanda. Dawn loved 66 people, and for over 16 years her garage played host to people from all over the world.
New people have come to the road – the Gemini Giant has been saved! DeCamp Junction was sold but was bought by people who knew its importance in the Staunton community and plan on keeping it the same – a great place for a beer, pizza, and softball fields. The Greenways has control of the Chain of Rocks bridge and will host our Saturday morning start of the 2018 Motor Tour.
Remember the Mother Road loves you, and you can always visit without calling first.
The Board of the Route 66 Association of Illinois wishes all of you a healthy, happy, and fabulous holiday season and an especially safe and healthy New Year.
Mother Road love is a great thing – it doesn’t run out, it stretches out and encompasses all of us equally. God bless us all!
Looking forward to a dynamic 2018 with you!
Cathie Stevanovich, President
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE MOTOR TOUR MEETING HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS:
The Motor Tour meeting scheduled for Sunday, February 11th, at the Silver Dollar Restaurant in Elwood at 10 a.m. has been cancelled. Due to the large amount of snow we have from Friday’s storm, and the additional snow we’re supposed to get today and tomorrow, it’s in our best interests to stay home and safe.
There are quite a few standing committees that function within the Association. Two of them are always in need of your participation and open to the general membership. They are the Motor Tour Committee and the Preservation Committee.
I know many of you are familiar with the Preservation Committee and the wonderful work they do. However, that may not be true of the Motor Tour Committee.
The Motor Tour Committee organizes and works hard to bring you the best Annual Motor Tour possible. They are always in search of fresh ideas, looking for new, different and exciting places along Route 66 to feature each year.
Future motor tour meeting dates are being scheduled. The Motor Tour Committee wants to experience Route 66 through your eyes. We need your participation as an active member of the committee. Bring us your ideas, share with us the places you would like to see on the Mother Road. In 2018 the motor tour is scheduled to start south and end north. Help to make this tour the best it can be.
The next Motor Tour Meeting will be on Sunday, February 11, 2018 at 10:00 AM at the Silver Dollar Restaurant located at 422 E. Mississippi Ave. in Elwood, IL. If you would like to join the committee contact Association President, Cathie Stevanovich at cathiesb@earthlink.net or by phone at (708) 444-1312.
Remember, you do not need to be a board member to join. We urge the general membership to participate and become an active member of this committee.
Registration is now open! Pre-register (before June 8) for this year’s tour and save $10.00 on registration.
You need not be a member of our Association to participate in our Motor Tour.
This year’s Tour progresses South to North along Illinois Route 66.
Registration forms will also be included in the Spring issue of our members’ only newsletter, The 66 News.
TOUR HIGHLIGHT ANNOUNCED!
Saturday, June 9, morning DOUBLE CROSSING OF THE CHAIN OF ROCKS BRIDGE!
Yes, you heard that right – we’ll cross from East to West, then turn around and go from West to East along this iconic bridge! Association President, Cathie Stevanovich will call the start of this event. Not in the memory of anyone we can find has this been done before! There will be a nominal crossing fee and a time limit that the bridge will be open for this special double crossing. From this crossing, the Saturday leg of our Motor Tour will commence.
Each car registered for the tour receives this collectable aluminum license plate plus a passport, decal and dash plate!
We’re back up and running with heat! Thank you for your patience with our recent, unexpected closure. Come in out of the cold and experience a truly unique Route 66 collection at our Route 66 Association of Illinois Hall of Fame and Museum in Pontiac, Illinois!
These quality jackets, emblazoned with Bob Waldmire’s 1989 design feature:
Sizes available:
Medium | Large | X-Large
$45 +$5 shipping (Continental U.S. only)
2-X | 3-X
$50 +$5 shipping (Continental U.S. only)
Limited supply – order soon to ensure the sizes and quantities you want are still available!
To order, mail:
To:
Route 66 Association of Illinois
110 W Howard
Pontiac, IL 61764
We are sad to report the passing of a true Route 66 enthusiast.
Dawn Patterson, of Towanda, who turned her 2 car garage next to her home in Towana into a “66” tourist destination, passed away on Tuesday, November 14 after a brief illness.
If Dawn’s garage overhead door was open – you were welcome to stop and visit!! Her garage was a wonderful 66 inspired place where she displayed gifts she had received from friends and travelers, and also sold Route 66 trinkets and even had her own “DK’s Garage” t-shirt! Dawn would sit at an old retro kitchen set as people wandered in and out, signed the guestbook, and posed with her shapely mannequin “greeter.” She knew a lot about the road and often helped people with their lists of what to see and where to go in other states.