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Route 66 Association of Illinois

Where The Road Begins

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The President’s View Winter 2011

It’s Fall and a time of changes – the leaves change color, the wind blows cooler and you just know Winter is on its way. “Black Friday” which used to mean the shopping day AFTER Thanksgiving seemed to happen this year the day after Halloween!

Autumn brought many changes. We’ve added Bob Waldmire iconic VW bus and school bus residence to our museum in Pontiac. Gray’s Towing gave their time and equipment to bring Bob’s school bus “home” to Pontiac from Rochester. Member Marty Lathrop brought the van from the Springfield Festival home to the museum. A huge thank you to these members stepping up and volunteering.

The Museum Committee is working on changes to be make over the Winter at the museum. International tourists as will as Illinois visitors continue to visit our Museum weekly. Come Spring there will be another museum added to Pontiac’s landscape, a “Pontiac” museum – as in cars and car memorabilia.

Plans are underway for the Red Carpet weekend honoring Bob Waldmire and the opportunity for everyone to come to Pontiac that weekend and paint on his last artwork. The Motor Tour committee is hard at work for the 2011 Motor Tour. The State Associations for Illinois, Missouri and Oklahoma are looking at putting together a 4 day tour from Oklahoma to Illinois in late Summer. So much in process but what about today?

The one thing that’s missing from our newsletters is our members’ participation. Each month our editors Kathy Miller and Jim Jones strive to put out a magazine full of stories and articles of interest. With all the changes on the road, we look to you, our members, for stories of your community or family or family history on the road to share. Kathy and Jim have dedicated years to giving your their best. They can’t do it alone!

We live in a time of immediate information. We have not only a website but a Facebook page. This dilutes our article “pool” as information is online immediately, instead of coming out in print for our quarterly publication. Our editors work so hard on their personal time and don’t want to see the quality of The 66 News diminished. So we need your advice and help. We need your stories. We need you to volunteer to keep our magazine a “must read.” Tell us what you’ll do to help keep The 66 News strong.

As the snow starts to fly, I’ll be looking for you on the road. Try breakfast at Snuffy’s, fried bologna sandwiches at the Palms Cafe and “peet-sa” at DeCamp Junction. Bring a cup of coffee and volunteer your time on a Saturday at the Hall of Fame in Pontiac, meeting and greeting Route 66 roadies out looking to find their own story on the Mother Road.

Be safe, stay healthy, enjoy the holidays with your family and friends. Make (and keep) and New Year’s resoultion to be an active part of our Association. Maybe this is your season to shine?

See you on the road!
~Cathie

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Upcoming Events

Jun 13
June 13 - June 15

Motor Tour 2025 – A Bridge to the Giants

Jun 16
5:00 pm - 9:00 pm CDT

Berwyn Cruise Nights 2025

Jun 20
5:30 pm - 8:30 pm CDT

Lincoln Third Fridays Downtown

Jun 20
5:30 pm - 8:30 pm CDT

Route 66 Cruisers Cruises

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Donations Fuel Our Mission!

Your donation to our Association helps support our efforts to preserve, promote, educate and enjoy Route 66 in Illinois. We are a volunteer organization and thank you for your generous donation toward maintaining our nostalgic slice of Americana. The Association is a 501(c)(3) for tax purposes.

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Route 66 Association of Illinois, a 501(c)(3) charitible organization
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