A reader pointed this out a few days ago: Overstock.com is taking orders for a Pixar "Cars" bookmark that contains a film strip of what appears to be a scene from the original teaser trailer. It's scheduled to be shipped in April.

I find it a bit curious it's being sold on Overstock.com — especially for an item that's not even out. Maybe they're assuming it will be overstocked. Maybe presales were slow.

The same bookmark also is listed at Amazon.com under two prices: one for $18.71, the other for $4.95.

So you "Cars" collectors now can claim that Route 66 News helped save you money.

The J.H. Hawes Grain Elevator Museum in the wonderful Route 66 town of Atlanta, Ill., is making improvements so that visitors can tour the museum without a volunteer needing to be present, reports the Bloomington Pantagraph.

The $25,000 cost for the improvements already has been raised by Hawes' descendants, said Bill Thomas, a volunteer.

To help continue to update the site, the museum will hold its annual spaghetti dinner from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday at the Atlanta Firehouse.

"The dinner is a fund-raiser to assist with the continuing restoration of Illinois' only wooden grain elevator listed on the National Register of Historic buildings," said Thomas. "The elevator was built in 1904 and is one Atlanta's leading tourist attractions."

Last year, part of the Stater Bros. Route 66 Rendezvous in San Bernardino, Calif., was in the National Orange Show Events Center.

This year, the Rendezvous will be held in downtown only, reports the San Bernardino County Sun.

Popular demand was cited as the reason.

Last September, a car show and other attractions were held at the events center, which was included in the Rendezvous' cruise route.

Steve Henthorn, president of the visitors bureau, said the overwhelming feedback from those who participated in and attended the Rendezvous was that it should be held in one location: downtown.

"When it's all said and done, people love to be downtown," he said. "It's hot and it's slow-moving, and that's where the action is. That's where the tradition is, and that's where the nostalgia is."

What's more, he said, is the fact that people like a free ride.

"We heard a lot of complaints about having to pay $5," Henthorn said of the fee the events center charged for its portion of the Rendezvous.

Jack Brown, chairman of the board and CEO of Stater Bros. Markets, agreed.

"The success has been that it's free, it's for the family, and it's home is downtown San Bernardino," he said.

The Rendezvous is by far the biggest tourist draw to San Bernardino. It roped in more than 500,000 participants over a four-day period in 2005.

The inductees are the Willie Anderson Trucking Co. of Lexington, the now-closed Berghoff restaurant in Chicago, Scottie's roadhouse restaurant in Hamel, and former state trooper Leland Storm, reports the Bloomington Pantagraph. 

Marilyn and Durell Pritchard also were given the special ambassodor's award.

Anderson’s company, which once operated 26 trucks, started in the late 1930s as a family-owned trucking company. Anderson closed the business in 1988, but still drives his own truck.

Over the years, Anderson hauled pumpkins for Libby’s in Morton and often took Route 66 to Chicago while hauling cattle.

"There were only a few places to stop," he said. "You stopped when you were really hungry, unlike now when you can stop almost everywhere. It’s a lot different now."

Anderson and his wife, Edna Marie, own a shop in Lexington along the now-decommissioned highway. The renovated gas station has memorabilia from the highway and other items.

The Berghoff Restaurant, located on Adams Street in downtown Chicago, was among the first of thousands of restaurants along the road that became Route 66. The German restaurant was the first place to get a liquor license after Chicago did away with Prohibition.

The restaurant closed earlier this year.

Leland Storm, a retired state trooper, often patrolled Route 66 in the Litchfield area in southern Illinois. He often helped motorists and treated people like they were family.

Scottie's in Hamel, formerly the Tourist Haven, was a dining and eating stop for motorists. It opened in 1937 and is still operated as a restaurant today.

The Pritchards, who could not be reached for comment, are charter members of the association and have been influential in the development of the association’s museum and hall of fame in Pontiac. Marilyn Pritchard is the curator of the museum.

The induction ceremony will be in June during the association's annual motor tour.