The Tulsa Preservation Commission says the National Park Service will present a Historic Register plaque to the Vickery Phillips 66 service station at Sixth and Elgin streets in Tulsa at 10 a.m. Thursday.

The restoration of this historic landmark has taken place over the last year by Michael Sager with the assistance of a Route 66 Corridor Program Grant. The Vickery Station is now the home of Avis and serves downtown/midtown Tulsa with a new rental car location.

The cottage-style station was built about 1932. Here’s more history about it:

The Vickery Phillips station in Tulsa was originally located within a residential area and its cottage appearance was designed to blend into such areas. Tulsa’s Central High School was located two blocks west. In 1926, Second Street was designated part of U.S. Route 66, and businesses that catered to the traveling public prospered. Phillips purchased the property and operated the station with 5 to 6 employees.

The station was later leased to a variety of individuals who had to agree to use only Phillips 66 products. In 1946, it became Vickery Phillips 66. Virgil Vickery lived in a small apartment less than a block away; an indication of the mom and pop status of the station. This was in spite of the fact that it was actually owned by a large corporation.

The plaque presenter will be Mike Taylor, under the auspices of the NPS’ Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program. The Vickery station also was awarded a cost-share grant from the program last year.

Mark Rahner of the Seattle Times spent phone time with “Route 66″ television series co-star George Maharis, who is plugging the DVD re-releases of the show.

It’s a good, wide-ranging interview, including a few details about Maharis’ Playgirl shoot and his other non-”Route 66″ work. If you want to check out the phone interview I did with Maharis a few months ago, go here.

The Bloomington (Ill.) Pantagraph has a brief item about an intriguing, if odd, new business coming downtown:

Chris and Rose Hotz already own the Davis Rose Inn Bed & Breakfast on Jefferson Street. Now the couple wants to open a book and gift store that emphasizes all things Bloomington, Chris Hotz said.

For example, Abe on 66 will carry Route 66, Abraham Lincoln and “Wizard of Oz” memorabilia, all of which are connected to Bloomington. Route 66 used to run through downtown. Outside of Springfield, Lincoln likely spent most of his time in Bloomington, Hotz said. Plus, “Wizard of Oz” author Frank Baum’s niece Dorothy Gage — the namesake for Dorothy in the book and movie — is buried in Bloomington’s Evergreen Cemetery.

“Our interest is sharing all of the history of Bloomington with people,” Hotz said. “There are so many wonderful, exciting things about Bloomington that many people aren’t aware of.”

Nevermind that Abraham Lincoln predates Route 66 by more than 60 years. At least the “Wizard of Oz” took place in Kansas, a Route 66 state.

Abe on 66 will be at 402 1/2 N. Main St. It will be open in a week or two.

Shirley Trueman, who greeted customers with songs and dance at the world-famous Bagdad Cafe on Route 66 in Newberry, Calif., for a decade, died Friday of cancer, reports the Desert Dispatch of nearby Barstow.

She died just a few days after the Dispatch reported that the restaurant and townsfolk were trying to raise money to fly the dying woman to see her children in Missouri for a final time.

Trueman was too ill to fly to the Show-Me State. But there a somewhat happy ending occurred anyway. About $2,500 was raised, and the family used the money to drive through the night to California and be with Trueman before she died.

“It was freaking awesome. That little-itty town,” Totten said. “Newberry Springs and Barstow, and all those people around there, they know who they are. We couldn’t have done it without them.”

Pruett said donations, large and small came from all over. One resident in Newberry Springs sent her children to a local truck stop with buckets plastered with the newspaper article about Trueman and asked for donations. Totten said it meant a lot to her and her children to see Trueman one more time. She hardly left Trueman’s side during the whole visit.

Money left over from the donations will be used to cover Trueman’s funeral and cremation.