On Saturday afternoon, I took a walk at downtown Clinton, Okla., to check on the activity during the National Route 66 Festival.

Inside the Frisco Center, Delbert Trew, who won the Route 66 Lifetime Achievement Award with his wife Ruth on Friday, is displaying one of the letters salvaged from “Rattlesnakes — Exit Now” sign near Lela, Texas, that blew down during a storm this spring. Trew is conducting a fundraiser to re-erect the sign behind a historic Phillips 66 gas station in McLean, Texas, by giving away chances for that salvaged letter.

Emily provides a little bit of graffiti for a miniature version of Amarillo’s Cadillac Ranch that was on display at the Frisco Center.

Downtown Clinton had about 200 vehicles entered into the car show.

A vintage Volkswagen Bug is decorated for the festival.

This sports car resembles Lightning McQueen from last summer’s animated hit movie, “Cars.”

In some of those classic-car pictures, crowds at the festival appeared sparse. Actually hundreds of spectators had gathered down the street to watch motorcycle daredevils from CodyElkins.com. These guys zipped their motorcycles up a ramp, flipped their machines sideways and upside-down, and landed safely on another ramp on the other side. It was an impressive — and frightful — sight.

This retro-looking building holds the youth center for the town’s First Christian Church.

The building includes a replica of a Phillips 66 cottage-style service station and other types of memorabilia.

It also contained an exhibit by Oregon photographer Michael Campanelli, who brought his 166 images from Route 66 to town. He said he liked having his exhibits more in small towns. “People come in here and talk about the images. I like that,” he said. “In galleries, people are more stuffy.”

The high temperatures were in the mid-80s, and the sun shone most of the day. Predictably, this snow-cone stand was among the most popular business downtown.

I also saw something I’ve never seen before — water spigots were located about every half-block downtown. I suppose they are used to help hose down the sidewalks, but in this case, one of them helped cool down a Boston terrier.

This water park at the Kiwanis Bonebrake Park in downtown also was popular with the kids.

After sundown and a brief thunderstorm, we watched the local fireworks show from a great vantage point at White Dog Hill. All in all, it was a great way to spend the day.

This article by Steve Lackmeyer of The Daily Oklahoman has a lot to recommend it, including interviews with a bunch of Route 66’s colorful characters (including a man with 53 Route 66-related tattoos) during the National Route 66 Festival in Clinton, Okla.

But this excerpt justifies the faith I’ve had in Clinton (population 8,300) in hosting such a festival, despite it being the smallest host city ever.

Erin Adams, president of the Clinton Chamber of Commerce, reported the festival has been a bonanza to local businesses, packing restaurants and taking every motel room in town and in nearby Weatherford and Elk City.

Adams said the town has gained an appreciation for its place along the old highway, especially since the opening of the state’s Route 66 Museum in 1995.

“This is the biggest thing for us the last 25 years,” Adams said. “This festival has brought a lot of awareness to our local people on how important Route 66 is to our town. It seems the rest of the world is aware, and sometimes our locals are little more oblivious. But this has brought the two together.”

I completely agree with Adams’ assessment. I’ll have more later.