Route 66 festival a hit
Wet weather doesn't stop fans of the ‘Mother Road'
Route 66 festival a hit

By Steve Lackmeyer

Published: June 23, 2007

CLINTON — Anyone doubting the fanaticism surrounding Route 66 might want to visit the International Route 66 Festival here this weekend.

Even with hours of heavy rain Friday, the Frisco Center in downtown Clinton filled up with vendors, Route 66 fans and the highway's quasi-celebrities.

Those going booth to booth included John Hargrove, an Arcadia retiree whose home along Route 66 mimics highway icons including Arizona's twin arrows, a bottle tree and half of a Volkswagen standing in for Cadillac Ranch.

Young and old gathered to gawk at Ron Jones — better known as "tattoo man.”

"I started this seven years ago — the first one I got was the shield with part of the road running through it,” Jones said. "It's like eating potato chips. You have one, you've got to eat another one and another one. It's escalates from there. I've got 54 tattoos now, and 53 are Route 66 related. And since I'm only 5 foot 7, my canvass is running out of room.”

Jones, a Bartlesville welding supply salesman, admits he's yet to visit Route 66 in Chicago or California, but has otherwise traveled the rest of the highway.

Vendors representing states all along the corridor were present, promoting their stretches of concrete as the prettiest on the "mother road.”

Those promoting books included Akio Takeuchi, a Japan-based author whose photo essays include "The Tropic of Route 66.”

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.

The big mystery is how many are lured to town not just this week, but throughout the year, by Route 66. Anecdotally, almost every Route 66 promoter can recite fresh examples of not just tourists from the United States spending their vacations on the highway, but also international travelers who spend thousands on car rentals, motel rooms, gasoline and food just to see the "real America.”

Tommy Pike, president of the Route 66 of Missouri, was among those at the festival Friday discussing a pending study by Route 66 Advisory Council that is expected to provide figures and economic impact, state by state.

"I would say it has quite a bit of impact,” Pike said. "But to give a dollar figure, I can't. In the past week, I've met with people from the Czech Republic, Norway, New Zealand and England.”

Rich and Marilyn Lugg traveled from their homes in England to tour the entire stretch, Chicago to California. They still recall a Rolling Stones performance of "Route 66” and committed to drive the road when they heard of a friend's tour of Route 66 a couple of years ago.

George and Bonnie Game of Bumaby, British Columbia, Canada, skipped shopping for Route 66 books and trinkets and immediately went to work as part of a crew of Route 66 enthusiasts scraping paint from the old Ray's Motel.

Their goal: to restore the white adobe-style to the private residence and add the property to attractions along the highway.

"History is being lost everyday to progress and development,” George Game said. "We think it's important to do what we can. It's a part of trying to keep a tie to the past.”

Prior to the festival's start, the Games spent their time and money touring the state; their stops included the Thomas P. Stafford Air Museum in Weatherford and the Rock Cafe in Stroud. They were disappointed to learn the Metro Diner in Tulsa was recently razed.

Back in the Frisco Center, Wallis is busy telling tales to anyone who will listen. He boasts of conning movie production crews with the Route 66 tribute movie "Cars” into believing Oklahoma and Texas tourism officials intentionally placed dead Armadillos along the highway to entertain travelers.

And he laughs at recalling how one crew member thought a "ripe” dead Armadillo might have just been unconscious.

Wallis' fans include children no older than 3 years old; the 61-one-year author is amused that it's the pre-schoolers who saw "Cars” and are now dragging their parents off the interstates and onto Route 66.

Some familiar faces are no longer around to share in the laughs. "Doc” Mason, the longtime owner of Clinton's famous Tradewinds Motel — which has preserved the room where Elvis Presley slept — died earlier this month. He certainly would have been present Friday if he were still alive, Wallis said.

But new faces are present as well, including Marty Doepke, manager of the iconic POPS opening next month along Route 66 in Arcadia.

"It's so great we have the totem poles and the blue whale, the cafes and interpretive centers,” Wallis said. "But I think when you get out on the road, you discover the true attractions, the true magic of Route 66 lies in the people of the road. If you remove the human element of the road, all these diners and cafes are meaningless.

"You've got to have the people who are dispensing hospitality ... people who might have lived in that town their entire life, and yet they've traveled the entire world because the entire world has come to them.”