Table of Contents
Route 66 Bill Wins Approval
Guided Tours on Route 66
Lucy's Corvette Road Tour
Eight States Meet in Kingman, Arizona
LOOKING UP AND DOWN THE ROAD ON CALIFORNIA ROUTE 66
HISTORIC ROUTE 66 BILL WINS APPROVAL FROM LEGISLATURE,
from Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, July 15, 1991
The Mother Road is now well down the road to state designation as a historic highway.
Legislation by Assemblyman Jerry Eaves, R-66th (honest, no kidding) District,
to rename State Route 66 Historic Route 66 cleared both houses of the state
legislature last week.
Eaves’ resolution designates the portion of Route 66 that is still intact in
California as historic and asks Caltrans and local agencies to put up plaques and markers.
Caltrans is also authorized to seek private donations and other funding sources for the
plaques to avoid milking dollars from the cash-strapped state. Route boosters, of course,
cheered the news.
"Everybody’s excited," said Bob Baird of Upland, Vice President Central
of the CHR66A. "This is a nice benefit for California". Baird said state support
means an extra push in promoting the route to tourists and helping some of the ailing
roadside businesses that etched it into Americans. "Some of those people out there
have been suffering for a long time," he said.
Eaves said the motive for his resolution was the need to protect the historic value of
the nation’s first transcontinental highway. It symbolizes the quest of many
Americans for a better quality life," he said. "It’s rapid passage through
the Legislature is a signal to the people of California that we need to remember the goals
to which California is driven," said Eaves.
About 28 miles of the 2,500 mile highway from Chicago to Santa Monica lies between San
Dimas and San Bernardino on present-day Foothill Boulevard. "That whole stretch is
under Caltrans’ control," said agency spokeswoman Deborah Robertson.
Once the resolution is signed, Caltrans will work with local agencies and groups on
what types of signs and markers can be erected on state right-of-way, said Caltrans
spokesman George Hartwell. Ed note: the CHR66A is working with Caltrans in submitting
designs for the new historic sign designation.
WE ARE TOUR GUIDES FOR 12TH ANNUAL MOJAVE ROAD RENDEZVOUS
ON ROUTE 66,
from the Twelfth Mojave Road Rendezvous Registration Form to be mailed soon the
Friends of the Mojave Road
In keeping with expanding interest in old U.S. Highway 66, the Rendezvous is offering a
new kind of tour this year. Assuming that many of you are coming from the direction of the
Los Angeles basin, and that you’ll be traveling I-15 to Barstow and then I-40 to
Needles, we’re offering some guided tours as you first drive into the Rendezvous.
That is, you’ll assemble in Ludlow on the way in, meet a tour guide, and be guided on
into Needles over old Route 66 instead of on I-40.
You’ll travel via Ludlow, Siberia, Bagdad, Amboy, Chambless (Cadiz), Danby, Essex,
Fenner, and Goffs. A CHR66A Tour Guide will meet you at the indicated times in Ludlow and
lecture as you roll over the "Main Street of America." All Route 66 tours will
be on CB channel 6 (since we don’t have a channel 66). Get off I-40 at Ludlow exit,
50 miles east of Barstow and gather at the east side of the old Murphy Brothers Mercantile
building. These tours are all on asphalt roads, 2WD.
LUCY’S CORVETTE ROUTE 66 ROAD TOUR
The caravan of Corvettes, revving their engines in anticipation of their drive on the
Mother Road, left Santa Monica on Saturday, June 15th to arrive in Chicago June
23rd. The CHR66A was their host and tour guide as they drove across our state.
Our Vice President West, Sara Faulds, assisted the Santa Monica community with their
plans. After a week-long series of events heralding their proposed trip, the Corvettes
were on their way.
Our historian and tour guide, Darin Kuna, joined the caravan at a rest stop on Route 66
in Etiwanda. We want to thank McDonalds for providing cold drinks, and one of our members,
Mike Cutillo, supplied the donuts and coffee. The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
covered the event with a reporter and photographer. The refreshments at the tailgate party
shared space with a rack displaying our T-shirts for sale, and a table with our newsletter
and brochures, supplied by Bob Baird.
Anxious to roll, the Corvettes then were guided on the old road all the way to Needles
by Darin Kuna, using a CB radio to explain all the interesting and historical details as
they passed them. Our California desert isn’t as forbidding as it is made out to be:
There is a whole world of interesting things all over the place, if you just had a CHR66A
tour guide to share it with you!
They spent their first night in Needles in a motel on the road, of course. Our Vice
President East, Maggie McShan, arranged for local Association members to join her in a
classic reception for the Corvettes. L.J. Motors, the Needles Chevrolet agency, cleared
out their show room and also their parking lot to receive the travelers.
The inside show room was used for the great sendoff party for the group. Councilman and
Association member, Bill MacDonald, who owns the Hungry Bear Restaurant prepared and
served delicious breakfast rolls. The reporter from the Needles Desert Star covered
the event with the story and several photos.
This is what it’s all about: Hosting and celebrating events on our California
Route 66!
And Lucy’s letter to the Editor:
I’m finally home and enjoying the memories of the Route 66 Corvette Caravan. I am
particularly grateful for the support provided by the California communities along the
road.
Darin Kuna, the historian and tour guide provided by the association was especially
helpful in bringing the road alive. The family with twin sixth graders was particularly
pleased. Besides providing information, he arranged refreshments at our rest stop on
Foothill Blvd [in Etiwanda] and picture-taking opportunities at the Arizona border.
At the Marine Corps. Base just east of Barstow we surprised Darin by talking our way
past the gate guard and drove that portion of the road normally closed to the public. It
probably helped that one of our group was a Marine office from Camp Pendleton!
Our overnight stop in Needles is another pleasant memory. The General Motors dealer
hosted a complimentary breakfast buffet that had everyone going back for seconds. The
community leaders really made us feel welcome.
A big thank-you to the CHR66A and the many individuals like Maggie McShan, Tom Snyder,
Vivian Davies, Sara Faulds and others who helped with the planning. One of the purposes of
our trip was to publicize the need to have the state legislatures designate Route 66 as an
historic highway so signs can be erected. I was pleased to read recently that the
California legislators have passed a resolution, so we’re on our way.
Lucy Badenhoop, North Highlands, CA
"EIGHT STATES" MEET IN KINGMAN, AZ
Taking advantage of the time and place, all the eight states’ Route 66
Associations planned to get together to lay the groundwork for some kind of an umbrella
organization. The time was Monday April 29th the day following Arizona’s
Fun Run and the place was in Jerry Richard’s Quality Inn Conference Room
Although only four states were able to attend it was nevertheless a very productive
meeting. Key people attending from the State Associations were Dave Nidell of New Mexico,
Laura and Jeff Meyer of Illinois, Billie Jo Moore of Arizona, and several from California.
It was agreed that it would be most useful to have some kind of an umbrella
organization to help the states coordinate some common needs that have surfaced among us,
i.e., there are so many inquiries about guides and map information. It would be ideal if
each state were to publish its own history, guide and map of Route 66 and this
coordinating organization could be helpful to see that the maps match up with each other.
Also attending was John Conovoy of the National Park Service who spoke about the recent
public law signed by President Bush last September authorizing the appropriation of
$20,000,000 known as the "Route 66 Study Act of 1990". Mr. Conovoy welcomes and
invites our state associations to guide them in any areas known to be important in each
state.
California notes that now that we are actively planning many events for the 66th
Birthday Anniversary of Route 66 in 1992, the umbrella organization would be most useful
to expedite the states’ coordinating plans.
