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.