Helping History

By John & Lenore Weiss

We sent out word that help was needed to spruce up our number one preservation project. That, of course, is the Odell, Illinois gas station. Painting, scraping and polishing was on the agenda.

What a fantastic turn out we had. Twenty-one people came to volunteer, from small children, one infant to mature adults. What a great, great sight it was!

We had the couple who were married at the station last summer, Tom & Jennifer Kowaczek with new baby, Dilana. We had Gretchen Wendt, one of our very original preservation committee members. Assisting Gretchen were her future preservationists Zachary and Teagan. (Gretchen is teaching them well!) Tami and Paul Panczuk of Indiana are also very original Odell station volunteers. They also brought their two young preservationists, Alyssa and Andrew. They are learning the importance of volunteering. This family can always be counted on to help. Matt Alban was also there with his two girls, Emerson and Vivienne. Emerson was celebrating her 10th birthday by working hard. She was proud that we gave her and Vivienne paint brushes ”With actual real paint on them!”

Folks, these families are an inspiration. Adults and children working together not because they had to, but because they want to.

We also had some new volunteers come to help. These three pitched in and fit in. We are proud to include them in our list of friends. Along with those already mentioned, we also had a nice batch of our regular volunteers. We must point out that many people called to give regrets for not being able to help out. The reason was because the next morning there was a Route 66 Association meeting over 200 miles south. Many were driving down on Saturday, our workday, to be at the Sunday meeting.

Lunch was furnished by Poor Richard’s restaurant and the Odell Tourism Board. The birthday cake for Emerson Alban was a nice surprise.

We are very proud to list here our friends and additional volunteers who joined us: Mike Cummings, Dan Butler, Kent Heiland, Larry Scinto, Lou Vargo, Brian Burke, and Eileen from the station.