The Route 66 Chick

The Miles of Possibility Route 66 Conference is back this year with its sixth annual event, to be held virtually Thursday – Sunday, October 21 – 24, 2021. This year's theme is “A Worldwide Celebration of Route 66,” emphasizing the love of Route 66 and its collegiality that is truly an international phenomenon. To that end, this year's slate of speakers and presenters comes to you from across all eight Route 66 states and from locations around the world. Embracing the virtual format, the organizers have created a truly “worldwide” event!  The by-now familiar conference format plus social activities will be followed again this year with a few new twists. The event kicks off with a Thursday evening virtual Happy Hour to meet and greet old and new friends and colleagues from around the globe. Friday and Saturday feature daytime conference sessions, with no need this year to choose from multiple breakout sessions. ROUTE Magazine editor Brennen Matthews will present the keynote speec...

MOP Con III--that's the third annual Miles of Possibility Route 66 Conference for the uninitiated--is now one for the history books. A memorable weekend in Joliet, Illinois, drew attendees from numerous states plus Canada. I salute Debyjo Ericksen, conference organizer, for a fun and informative weekend! As in the first two MOP Cons (Edwardsville 2015 and Bloomington-Normal 2016), the weekend featured historical tours, a variety of presentations, entertainment, and social/dinner get-togethers. On Thursday, October 19, well-known preservationist/author John Weiss led a bus tour from Joliet to Dwight and back. And on Thursday evening, our group met up for hard-hitting rock 'n roll at The Forge in downtown Joliet. The opening band got extra stage time due to the tardiness of the featured band. The Blooze Brothers finally arrived. Although some of the Boomers left to seek out a quieter venue, most stayed for perennial favorites like "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love"...

Looking back at my blog posts from last year, I realized the most popular ones were not all of one category - event press releases, my travels, my fiction, or my own personal stories. The top ten were a mixture of all those. So in case you missed any of these, here they are in reverse order: #10  Looking back, looking forward (December 31)   http://route66chick.blogspot.com/2015/12/looking-back-looking-forward.html #9    Day #1 of another road trip - few signs (September 9)   http://route66chick.blogspot.com/2015/09/day-1-of-another-road-trip-few-signs.html #8    A fairy tale genealogical story? (August 24)  http://route66chick.blogspot.com/2015/08/a-fairy-tale-genealogical-story.html #7    Tentative schedule for Miles of Possibility:  the Edwardsville Conference (March 11) http://route66chick.blogspot.com/2015/03/tentative-schedule-for-miles-of.html #6    Three trips in 12 days, or, how does this happen.....

Well, 2015 is about to make its exit. And this transition, this marking, this passage, of one year into the next urges us to reflect on what we've accomplished, how much love we've shared with family and dear friends, what storms we've weathered, who we may have lost from our lives, and what we hope to look forward to in the coming year. Following are some of my 2015 highlights, and then some of the things that I hope will happen in 2016. Looking back on 2015: Good travels! At least six trips to SE Kansas for the Route 66 in Kansas book. One trip to ABQ to visit daughter and son-in-law, and oh darn, had to take Route 66 part of the way. Currently, on my second trip of the year to Florida to visit son and daughter-in-law, and oh darn, it's warm and sunny down here. Back in June, Steve got a nice vacation from the newspaper and his piano tuning business and we escaped to Michigan and Wisconsin for close to two weeks. We attended his family reunion and mine, visited t...

12 Reasons to Attend #MilesofPossibility Route 66 Conference in Edwardsville Oct. 29-31 !! #1 Venue – historic 1909 Wildey Theatre  www.wildeytheatre.com #2 Tours – Wildey Theatre and historic Edwardsville, leave from Wildey Lobby, Thurs. noon – 5 pm #3 Pub Crawl – Recess Brewing, Stagger Inn, The Hi-Way, Springers Creek, Thurs. 5 – 10 pm #4 Stand-up Comedy – Route 66 preservationist Terri Ryburn, Stagger Inn, Thurs. evening #5 Keynote Speaker – Prof. David K. Dunaway, Wildey Auditorium, Fri. morning #6 Amazing Group of Presenters – Photos and Bios here www.bluecarpetcorridor.org/presenters.html , Fri. and Sat. during the day #7 Live on the Wildey Stage – the Road Crew Band, Wildey Auditorium, Fri. 7:30 pm #8 E-group Breakfast – Route 66 Yahoo e-group breakfast, Wildey 2 nd floor, Sat. 8 am #9 Halloween Parade - “Miners, Mobsters, and the Mother Road,” Route 66 & N. Main St., Sat. 6 pm #10 Roadie Party – Hosts Nick G...

Today I managed to shrug off my time-management-deficiency guilt from yesterday and just be productive. Of course, not having to drive 335 miles today, most of it in the rain, helped both my time management AND my mood. It was a lovely day. This morning I did a media interview by phone about the upcoming conference. Wow, the interest and momentum are really growing. The new format of this event coupled with the amazing lineup of Route 66 experts all descending upon Illinois, much less Edwardsville (a charming Route 66 city with a less than stellar past of promoting it) is creating some local buzz. (Seriously, dear readers, if you are not signed up for this event, go to the website, check it out, and then ask yourself why not.) Back to my morning. Conference (and book) details, communications, and posts plus a nice walk finished up the morning hours.  This afternoon I spent at the delightful Baxter Springs Heritage Center, happy as a clam down in the basement archive room...

Here it is - our tentative conference schedule! MILES OF POSSIBILITY : THE EDWARDSVILLE ROUTE 66 CONFERENCE Thursday-Saturday, October 29-31, 2015 Wildey Theatre, Edwardsville, IL Sponsored by the Illinois Route 66 Blue Carpet Corridor Coalition Hosted by the City of Edwardsville TENTATIVE SCHEDULE Thursday, October 29 12:00 noon – 6:00 pm Registration, packets/goody bags/info available – Wildey lobby Afternoon -  Edwardsville Historic Districts tours – by City of Edwardsville  Historic Preservation Commission Wildey Theatre tours – by Joan Evers , Wildey Theatre historian Evening -  Route 66 Pub Crawl – Stagger Inn, Springer's Creek Winery, Hi-Way Tavern, a couple newer Main Street establishments Friday, October 30 8:00 – 10:00 am Registration, pick up packets/goody bags/info – Wildey lobby 9:00 – 9:15 am Welcome – Wildey auditorium – Mayor Hal Patton 9:00 am Author Book Store/Artist & Col...

“ Miles of Possibility: The Edwardsville Route 66 Conference” EDWARDSVILLE, ILLINOIS, TO HOST MAJOR ROUTE 66 EVENT IN 2015 The City of Edwardsville, through its consultant/advisor, Edwardsville Preservation Commissioner and author Cheryl Eichar Jett, has announced that it will host a Route 66 Conference on Halloween weekend 2015 at the city's beautifully-restored arts venue, the historic Wildey Theatre on N. Main Street, just off Route 66. Edwardsville's annual tradition of the Halloween Parade, established in 1924, will celebrate the legendary highway with a Route 66-themed parade that weekend. Planning for the event has already garnered major endorsement. The conference is being supported by the Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway organization, led by William Kelly, and the National Park Service Route 66 Heritage Corridor Program, coordinated by Kaisa Barthuli. by the City of Edwardsville, the primary venue for the conference is the beautiy-restorhistoric Wilde...