Wally Spiers of the Belleville News-Democrat talks to the owner of the Bel-Air Drive-In sign on old Route 66 near Mitchell, Ill.

The drive-in theater has been closed for 20 years, but the marquee still stands. Owner Larry Manns hasn’t done much to shore it up, but also he seems reluctant to part with it.

“The village of Pontoon Beach has talked about rehabilitating it,” he said. “A couple of people have called, wanting to buy it. I’m not real keen to sell it to anyone. I like it. I grew up with it.”

But if there is an opportunity to make a good profit, he might be tempted to part with the sign.

“I really don’t want to take it down, but if someone happens to want to develop that piece of property it is on, who’s to say what might happen?” he said. “I’m open to suggestions.”

A photo of the Bel-Air sign can be seen here.

This very strange story from the Associated Press tells how the Cadillac Ranch west of Amarillo, Texas, was supposed to be used for a photo shoot by the Texas Department of Transportation to promote the use of seat-belt use.

But a llama on the premises chewed up part of the Styrofoam seat belt that was supposed to be wrapped down the Cadillac Ranch monument. The photographer was able to finish the shoot, however.

The Amarillo Globe-News also has a story, and a photo from the shoot (free registration may be required).

The llama was owned by local helium magnate Stanley Marsh 3 (yes, the “3″ is correct). To anyone who knows about the cheerfully eccentric Marsh, the fact he used a pet llama to disrupt a photo shoot comes as no surprise.

Richard Branaman has a vision. He wants to build a 21-foot-tall pyramid made of 8,400 bowling balls, set atop a 77-foot-tall concrete quasi-tripod. It’s called the World Peace Monument, and he wants it in the middle of a traffic circle at Mingo Road and Admiral Place (aka Route 66) in Tulsa, reports the Tulsa World.

Right now, it’s just an idea, and he needs a lot of cash and another 7,500 bowling balls to pull it off (plus a lot of zoning meetings).

In the meantime, he’s raising money for the project at his World Peace Thrift Shop at the Great American Flea Market in Tulsa, which also is on the Admiral Place Route 66 alignment.

You can see Branaham’s flea-market booth of collected bowling balls here.