Rick Shalander of Whites Creek, Tenn., who’s been building his own version of one of the cabins from the Cozy Cone Motel in the movie “Cars,” sent me this photo:

Incidentally, the title of Shalander’s e-mail was “Snow cone.”

It’s a nice likeness of a Cozy Cone cabin. Here’s another photo for reference:

The Golden West Saloon, which was built on Albuquerque’s Central Avenue in 1929, was destroyed by fire Thursday, reports the Albuquerque Journal.

The fire also damaged the historic El Rey Theater next door, but the owner is optimistic it will reopen next weekend.

The owner made a appeal to the community to revive the saloon, according to KOB-TV:

Kathy Zimmer, who owns the building with her mother, says she learned of the fire through a television news report. Zimmer called the damage to the building, which was built by her grandfather, devastating.

“We’re not going to be able to do anything with this building by ourselves,” said Zimmer.  “We’re gonna need the community’s help.”

“If anybody cares, we’re gonna have to pitch in like a community, an old fashioned community, or it’s gone,” she added.

Boyd Coddington, star of the “American Hot Rod” TV show and hot-rod ambassador, died at age 63 on Tuesday morning.

The cause of death wasn’t disclosed. However, Edmunds.com revealed that Coddington had been hospitalized since January after a fall at his home.

Obituaries by the New York Times and Popular Hot Rodding provide a good overall glimpse of the man.

Coddington had at least one link to Route 66 and arguably more.

First, he was inducted into the Route 66 Wall of Fame, which is associated with the Historic Arizona Route 66 Association Cruising Hall of Fame and the Route 66 Rendezvous in San Bernardino, Calif. He also was inducted into the National Rod and Custom Car Hall of Fame and Museum, an hour from Tulsa.

Second, Coddington was in Tulsa less than a year ago to oversee the attempted salvaging of a 1957 Plymouth Belvedere that was buried in a concrete vault for 50 years. Alas, the car was inundated by water because of flaws in the vault and essentially ruined. The Belvedere was taken to a New Jersey rust-removal firm in November; there have been no updates about the car since.

Condolences can be expressed here at Coddington’s Web site.

UPDATE: Correction made regarding the Route 66 Wall of Fame.

UPDATE2: Mike Callens of Teepee Curios in Tucumcari, N.M., sent me this photo of Coddington, in the white shirt, next to the unearthed Belvedere last year in Tulsa.

A few days ago, architecture students helped the Route 66 town of Webb City, Mo., with ideas for revitalizing its downtown.

Now it looks like University of Oklahoma landscaping architecture students also will provide ideas on March 7 for another Mother Road city, Miami, Okla., reports the Joplin (Mo.) Globe.

“They will be looking at new ideas for landscaping, lighting and possibly banners” for the parking areas, as well as a plan for possibly developing a park area outside the Coleman Theatre, he said.

“They want to look at ideas that had worked in other communities” and adapt them to possible use for Miami, Eller said.

“Once they get input from the public, they will go back and work on more concrete plans, and come back with those plans for a second public meeting.”

The Globe also reports that city engineer Jerry Ruse will make a presentation on a $2 million Main Street project that involves landscaping and antique-style street lights. Markers on Route 66 will be included.

Shirley Trueman greeted customers for a decade at the Bagdad Cafe on Route 66 in Newberry Springs, Calif., while her husband Bud was a chef there. The restaurant became internationally famous because of a 1988 German film by the same name.

Now, the Desert Dispatch in nearby Barstow is reporting that Trueman is dying of cancer, and that restaurant owner Andrea Pruett and other Newberry Springs locals are trying to raise money so Trueman can fly out to visit her kids and grandchildren in Missouri for a final time.

Bud quit his job two months ago to care for her. Pruett spends as much time with her as possible and keeps phone calls short at the restaurant in case Bud calls and needs help. Last weekend, the Bagdad Cafe held a car wash and raised $149 for Shirley. Pruett said the community has helped but raising money in Newberry Springs is difficult.

“It’s a poor community,” she said. “We haven’t really gotten anywhere near what we need.”

I sent an e-mail to the reporter to see whether there’s an address to send donations. I’ll update this story if I get that information.

UPDATE: The Dispatch reporter has passed along a mailing address where donations can be sent:

The Bagdad Cafe
P.O. 37
Newberry Springs, CA 92365

YourHub.com, a weekly publication for the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain news, has published an article about the fledgling Smalltown America chain in Centennial, Colo., that seeks to restore vintage motels along Route 66.

The article rehashes a lot of what was already reported in Route 66 News, but adds a number of photos plus comments by New Mexico Route 66 supporter Johnnie Meier and yours truly.

And if more publicity means more revenue for the first property, Motel Safari in Tucumcari, N.M., under the Smalltown America umbrella, the faster that other vintage motels will be acquired and refurbished.

Rich Henry of Henry’s Rabbit Ranch on Route 66 in Staunton, Ill., has entered a photo of him and his favorite pet rabbit, Montana, to the United States Humane Society’s Spay Day USA online photo contest.

I just voted myself. You go here, and have to click on the voting button twice for a window to come up (must’ve been designed by Diebold). You then have to register your e-mail address, apparently to keep the Chicago-style voting down.

Voting ends March 7. Montana is way behind in the voting, but I figured a plug on this site would help a bit with a comeback bid. A list of prizes is here.

Montana has been the welcome ambassador at Henry’s for years. Montana’s getting a little old and recently underwent abdominal surgery, but seems to be doing fine in recent weeks.

Montana does tricks, too. You can see her in action at about the 3:17 mark of this video:

It’s a slow news day, so here’s a video from one of Billy Ocean’s biggest hits, “Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car.”

A recent report in the Joliet Herald News indicates that members of the Wilmington (Ill.) City Council are growing weary about the lack of progress in the rehabilitation of the 171-year-old Eagle Hotel on Route 66 in Wilmington.

Owner Bill Scales wants to convert the historic hotel into an upscale restaurant and hotel. He says he’s used $500,000 in labor and materials on the project, and needs another $1 million to finish.

The problem is that Scales has been counting grants to fund the rest of the project — grants that have not materialized. Meanwhile, it’s been seven years since the city has turned over the building to Scales, and he’s wanting another 18-month extension. City officials want the Eagle Hotel rehabbed, but are balking over Scales’ lack of progress.

“The problem is realistically, it has been seven years and if we add another 18 months, it will be nine if Mr. Scales cannot finish it,” said Mayor Roy Strong. “We need to keep the pressure on him to finish the building.”

Strong said the people he has talked to are tired of waiting and feel that the project is never going to happen.

Some officials said they would like Scales to simply pay back the $45,000 he owes so he can own the building outright and do whatever he wants with it.

“This has been going on way too long,” said Alderman Helen Hoppe.

Others are worried that the building, with outside walls that are visibly being propped up by boards, is unsafe and an accident waiting to happen. Strong said there also have been other parties voicing interests in restoring the building that feel the finances would not be such a problem.

I’m as preservation-minded as they come. But I admit I’m on that city’s side with this. Seven years is beyond patient. Heck, the ongoing fight with El Vado Motel in Albuquerque has been going on for nearly 2 1/2 years, and I’m growing tired of it myself. With the Eagle Motel, take that situation times three.

Scales’ mistake was he counted on grants to finish his project. When considering funding sources for a preservation project, grants should be almost gravy. Competition for grants is fierce, even with a relatively small program like the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program, and there’s no guarantee you’ll get one. And, of course, shortfalls in federal and state budgets can adversely affect such programs.

I’ve been told that Scales is now seeking private investors for Eagle Hotel, something he should have done in the first place. He’d also be well-advised to use more volunteer help, including the energetic members of the Illinois Route 66 Association.

(Photo courtesy of Guy Randall.) 

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation and the University of Oklahoma have been scheduling meetings around the state to get public input on how to promote Route 66, which is applying for national recognition as a Scenic Byway.

Many of these stories run the usual gamut of opinions. But this story by the Edmond Sun contained a few interesting tidbits from an OU survey of thousands of households:

“The survey indicated we need to educate people about the value of Route 66,” said Pam Lewis, University of Oklahoma Outreach contract manager for the state Scenic Byways program. [...]

“We have to begin to think about the next generation traveler,” Lewis said. “How do we get in the technology where people are talking in an electronic mode.”

When asked which activities attract out-of-state travelers, only 1.1 percent of survey respondents mentioned Route 66 and 80.6 percent did not mention it at all. [My emphasis.] When asked if they thought out-of-state travelers would be interested in Route 66, 61.3 of respondents believed they would be very to somewhat interested while 38.7 said not at all interested or they didn’t know.

Lewis said the State Byways Program came up with some ideas to promote Route 66 and encourage economic development, which included forming a Leadership Development Council that would meet six to seven times and releasing a podcast series, “Audio 66,” that captures the history of Oklahoma and Route 66.

“About 75 percent of our downtown visitors are not Edmondites,” O’Neil said. “They’re looking for that Route 66 experience.”

It’s interesting to see how many Oklahomans are unaware of the potential right in their back yards.

Using the recent release of Marshall Trimble’s “Images of America: Ash Fork” by Arcadia Publishing as a jumping-off point, the Prescott (Ariz.) Daily Courier also does a pretty good job of laying out the Route 66 town’s history.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a burg with as much bad luck as Ash Fork:

But within three decades, the series of economic blows hit town.

The railroad company moved its main route north of town in the late 1950s to avoid a steep climb to Williams. [...]

Ironically, even though it was one of the few historic structures to survive numerous fires, the railroad tore down the Escalante (Harvey House, built in 1907) in 1968.

Hume begged then-Gov. Jack Williams, whose father worked at the Escalante, to save it.

“He said, ‘It’s their property and they can do whatever they want,’” Hume recalled. “I just wanted him to at least talk to them.”

Ash Fork lost nearly all that was left of its original Route 66 business district in 1977 to the “Big Fire” and then to another multi-structure blaze in 1987.

The final major blow to Ash Fork’s existing economy came in 1979 when the Interstate 40 bypass south of town was complete.

The Arizona Department of Transportation closed its major Ash Fork maintenance facility that same year.

But Ash Fork is still there, and it’s now known as the Flagstone Capital of the World.

Route 66 is still there, too.

On Friday, architecture students from Drury University provided their ideas on how to revamp the downtown area of Webb City, Mo.

The Joplin Globe reported:

The Drury students have envisioned turning the Main Street and Highway 171 junction into a key welcoming entrance to draw cars into downtown. Further on, the group is toying with the idea of a roundabout and green space/park area near City Hall to provide a transitional section into the downtown shop area. A similar transitional space would buffer the commercial/industrial part of downtown from the residential part of North Main Street.

In between the transitional spaces, the group envisions an “urban village” feel that has the intensity of a city with the intimacy of a village. To accomplish that, they recommend the city widen its sidewalks, connect the different parts of downtown and add landscaping and benches.

In the middle of the “urban village,” the students want to play up the junction of Route 66 and Main Street with a decorative Route 66 medallion inset in the road and a concentration of Route 66-related services. The four- to five-block area around that intersection could become an entertainment destination point for festivals, car shows and theatrical presentations.

Garrott said emphasizing Webb City’s Route 66 heritage could bring in tourists as well as identify some sources of funding to renovate buildings along the historic road.

A lot of interesting ideas. We’ll see what the city does with it when the final plan is finished in May.

Some folks in the Czech Republic held its first Czech Route 66 Association Convention last weekend.

Yes, you read that right — the Czech Republic. And tickets to the event were sold out weeks in advance.

Here’s a news release about the event (lightly edited for clarity).

More than 150 Route 66 fans from the Czech Republic and Slovakia (bikers, U.S. cars lovers and other Mother Road-loving people) applauded to Mr. Frantisek Sestak, who obtained the first Czech Route 66 Association (CAR66) Award.

The annual CAR66 Award has been established to appreciate the best achievement in Route 66 publicity in the Czech Republic.

To celebrate his 66th birthday in 2007 Frantisek Sestak traveled the entire Route 66 on a bicycle. After his return to the Czech Republic most of the Czech media informed about this heroic trip. [...]

Zdenek Jurasek, a president of CAR66, introduced activities and targets of the Association, such as the broadcast of a dedicated internet RADIO 66 (you can listen to it if you click on a “Radio 66 button” at www.r66.cz), release of the first Czech Route 66 calendar for 2009 (this calendar was introduced at the convention - see samples HERE), reconstruction of a Route 66-styled weekend house in Slovakia, etc.

We also discussed the first CAR66 Route 66 trip which starts on April 26 in Chicago (another trips will follow in June and September).

I am sure that the first Czech Route 66 Association Convention was very successful and I hope that this success will improve (the) popularity of Route 66 in our country.

And here’s a videotaped message to the convention-goers from David Knudson of the National Historic Route 66 Federation, Tommy Pike of the Route 66 Association of Missouri, Rich Henry of Henry’s Rabbit Ranch in Staunton, Ill., Paul Taylor of Route 66 Magazine and Joe Sonderman of 66Postcards.com. (Sonderman’s voice is overdubbed for some reason.)

This is a video by Oklahoma native Vince Gill of his 1990 hit song, “Never Knew Lonely.”

Much of it was shot in a room at the Vega Motel on Route 66 in Vega, Texas. If you ever get the notion to stay there, ask Harry or Tresa for the “Vince Gill Room.”

(Apologies for the sound being out of sync, but this is only YouTube clip available of the song.)

Five years ago, the City of Albuquerque purchased the historic De Anza Motel on Route 66 after proposal surfaced to replace it with a drug and liquor store.

The city hoped to have it reopened as a boutique motel by now. But progress has been slow, reports the Albuquerque Tribune.

It took the city until last September — almost five years after buying the property — to reach a purchase agreement with De Anza LLC, a development group headed by Matthew Terry, an Albuquerque accountant, and his financial backer, Gerald Landgraf.

That agreement is in its first phase, with the developer allowed on site to perform feasibility and financial studies.

The actual sale of the property — for $1 but with strict, contractual stipulations about how it could be developed — would not occur until the next phase. Work on the property, which begins with city removal of hazardous substances like asbestos, also is part of Phase Two.

Moreover, the developer can back out anytime before reaching Phase Two.

Though De Anza LLC recently was granted an extension until June, Dineen says he remains optimistic.

“They’ve got the wherewithal to do this, and I think they really want to do it,” he said.

Terry, reached by phone Monday, declined to comment other than to say: “We’re moving forward with the process, but we don’t have anything to add at this time.”

In case you’re wondering whether the city’s bid to purchase or condemn and renovate El Vado Motel would then subsequently face the same sluggish progress, officials don’t think so.

But he said several factors would make the resurrection of El Vado easier and quicker to accomplish.

Those factors include a more favorable location (El Vado is near tourist draws like the Rio Grande Zoo), and the fact there are no additional complications, such as the murals depicting sacred Zuni Pueblo scenes at the De Anza that must be protected.

The city objects to El Vado owner Richard Gonzales’ plans to demolish the building, which it has designated as a historic landmark. It is proceeding with condemnation of the property and plans to make its redevelopment a “high priority,” Dineen said.

A consultant has evaluated possibilities for making El Vado a “destination motel” — the city’s first choice for its reuse, much as it was for the De Anza.

Incidentally, this is probably the last time the Tribune will issue reports such as this because. The afternoon newspaper is ceasing publication on Saturday, after years of declining circulation.

Michael Campanelli’s traveling exhibit of photographs from Route 66 will be making a stop at the Illinois Route 66 Association Hall of Fame and Museum in Pontiac starting March 7.

However, that’s not the big news. On to the press release:

“There was a call put out to all the Route 66 states that photographer Michael Campanelli was looking for a permanent home for his largest Route 66 exhibit, and we answered the call,” said Patty Ambrose, executive director of the Historic Illinois Route 66 America’s Byway. “This exhibit has been featured in several of the western states … Our organization now has stewardship of this display, and we want to share it with Route 66 visitors starting their journey here in Illinois — where the road begins.”

I briefly met Campanelli during the Route 66 Festival in Clinton, Okla., last year. Here’s a photo of him with several of his works:

It’s great that the Illinois museum, which is still in relative infancy, keeps improving. This exhibit is a terrific addition, and will help draw tourists into Pontiac and spark more interest in the Mother Road.

According to the Joplin (Mo.) Globe, a bunch of Drury University architecture students hired by the nearby Route 66 town of Webb City is about to provide conceptual drawings of what Main Street should look like.

Chuck Surface, Webb City director of economic development, said anyone who is interested in Webb City, its downtown or Route 66 history might want to attend the meeting at 2 p.m. Friday in the council chambers at City Hall, 200 S. Main St.

“We don’t just want downtown folks, and merchants and property owners, but also the general public to come,” Surface said. “There are a lot of people interested in the downtown area.”

The presentation will feature a room full of renderings for the city’s potential face-lift, Surface said.

“I’ve seen a little bit of what they’re proposing for the Route 66 theme, and everybody I’ve shown it to has loved it,” he said.

It’s gratifying to learn that these youngsters latched on to Webb City’s Route 66 history in the designs.

Apparently Drury isn’t a newcomer in this field. In the past two decades, its architecture students have performed 75 such downtown projects.

A final report on the revitalization proposal is expected in May.

“Time of Triumph” helps answer one question — what happened to Ron Chavez when his famed Club Cafe in Santa Rosa, N.M., closed?

Club Cafe was best-known for its smiling “Fat Man” logo on Route 66 billboards in New Mexico. Chavez’s storytelling was nearly as praised as his down-home New Mexican cooking, and his restaurant was cited in numerous Route 66 books.

But the Club Cafe closed in 1991. By Chavez’s own words in his new book: “The Golden Arches came into town and busted me and I landed back on the streets of my youth.”

Chavez eventually moved to the northern New Mexico town of Taos and became a well-regarded poet with his bilingual readings. “Time of Triumph” (246 pages, BookSurge Publishing, $15.99) is his first collection of poems and short stories at the age of 71.

Chavez is known as the “Route 66 Storyteller,” but “Time of Triumph” doesn’t contain much Route 66 content. The Mother Road and Club Cafe are mentioned in “Back Side of Glory” — the story about a former POW who became a drunkard — but it’s peripheral.

And Chavez’s stories are uneven. The tale of a local jailer in “Life at the Hilton,” which provides a likely look at Chavez’s life after the Club Cafe shut down, proves to be a gritty, profane and compelling. But “Man of Honor,” a yarn about the first Santa Rosa soldier killed in Vietnam, is less involving and believable.

More successful is Chavez’s poetry. He writes that these pieces are “born out of the anguish of defeat and depths of personal pain.” His poems also are imbued with wistfulness, gratitude, romance and hard-won wisdom. His writings also are shot through his native culture; many poems are printed in Spanish as well as English.

Those looking for a bunch of Route 66 stories may be disappointed with “Time of Triumph.” But those who like soul-bearing writing may be taken with Chavez’s work.

I’m a fairly big music nut, but confess to never hearing about the British pop band Christie and its 1970 single, “San Bernadino,” which was a worldwide hit but barely scraped the bottom of the U.S. Billboard 100. Incidentally, the spelling of the song’s title is correct, if not accurate.

And after much lobbying to the City Council, the Route 66 town of San Bernardino, Calif., adopted “San Bernadino” as the city’s official song in 2005.

Incidentally, Christie front man Jeff Christie is not related to Tony Christie, another British musician who also had a sizable hit about another prominent Route 66 town with “(Is This the Way to) Amarillo.”

Here’s a clip of Christie and “San Bernadino” during the band’s prime, on German television:

(Hat tip to reader Ray Chan.)

The Route 66 ghost town of Two Guns, Ariz., has a rather ominous name. But its former moniker was Canyon Diablo, essentially meaning Devil’s Canyon in Spanish.

Clay Thompson, who answers history questions to the Arizona Republic, recounts the town’s rather colorful history.