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QUARTERLY PUBLICATION OF THE ROUTE 66 ASSOCIATION OF MISSOURI MAGAZINE / VOL. 34 NO. 1 / 2024 Route 66 Route 66 Show Me Neglect and New Beginnings: The Journey of the Gasconade Bridge PAGE 10 Happy 100th Birthday to Springfield’s Shrine Mosque PAGE 23 Remembering the Grape Growers of Knobview/Rosati PAGE 26 PAGE 18 THE ROCKWOOD Oldest on the Route features 2 OFFICERS, BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND COMMITTEES 3 PRESIDENT’S DASHBOARD Rich Dinkela 4 NEWS FROM THE ROAD 9 2023 MISSOURI MOTOR TOUR Elizabeth Olwig 10 NEGLECT AND NEW BEGINNINGS: THE JOURNEY OF THE GASCONADE BRIDGE Rich Dinkela 18 THE ROCKWOOD – OLDEST ON THE ROUTE Joe Sonderman 23 HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY TO SPRINGFIELD’S SHRINE MOSQUE David J. Eslick 26 REMEMBERING THE GRAPE GROWERS OF KNOBVIEW/ROSATI Kip Welborn 32 THE PAUSE THAT REFRESHES: BODILY ELIMINATION ALONGSIDE THE MOTHER ROAD T. Lindsay Baker 39 GET YOUR FLICKS ON 66 Joe Sonderman 46 BUSINESS MEMBER DIRECTORY Lindsay Lomax Bagnall 52 THEN AND NOW Joe Sonderman contents Show Me RICH DINKELA, PRESIDENT AND JIM POWELL, FOUNDER ALEX’S PIZZA Rolla, MO / page 40 BOOTS COURT Carthage, MO / page 34 CHOICE HOTELS St. Robert, MO / page 22 CUBA TOURISM Cuba, MO / page 31 DIRECTION TOURS Fenton, MO / page 44 DOWNTOWN SERVICE STATION Waynesville, MO / page 15 FORT WOOD HOTELS St. Robert, MO / page 19 GEARHEAD CURIOS Galena, KS / page 38 LEBANON TOURISM Lebanon, MO / Front Inside Cover LITCHFIELD MUSEUM Litchfield, IL / page 12 MISSOURI STATE PARKS Leasburg, MO / page 43 MOTHERROAD MOTORCYCLES Springfield, MO / page 27 NEUMANN FINE ARTS Taos, NM / page 43 PARAMOUNT JEWELERS Maplewood, MO / page 6 PULASKI COUNTY TOURISM St. Robert, MO / page 34 R & S MEMORIAL DECORATIONS Springfield, MO / page 37 SHEPHERD HILLS FACTORY OUTLETS Lebanon, MO / Back Cover SPRINGFIELD TOURISM BUREAU Springfield, MO / page 6 ST. LOUIS CAR MUSEUM & SALES St. Louis, MO / page 40 STATE FARM Wildwood, MO / page 15 STEAK ’N SHAKE Springfield, MO / Back Inside Cover TRAIN WRECK SALOON St. Louis, MO / page 38 WEIR ON 66 Cuba, MO / page 27 Show Me Route 66 Magazine is the official publication of The Route 66 Association of Missouri. Show Me Route 66 Magazine is published quarterly and is distributed free of charge to all paid members in good standing of The Route 66 Association of Missouri. Additional copies may be purchased for the cost in advance of $10 USD each including postage. Request for additional copies may be made direct to The Route 66 Association of Missouri, P.O. Box 8117, St. Louis, Missouri 63156. Manuscripts and photographs submitted for publication are welcome and should be sent electronically to Joe Sonderman, Magazine Coordinator, Route 66 Associa- tion of Missouri, at stlrt66@aol.com. Reproduction of this magazine in part or in whole, is prohibited without written permission from the President and/or Board of Directors of The Route 66 Association of Missouri. The Route 66 Association of Missouri and the production staff are not responsible for errors or omissions contained herein. The Route 66 Association of Missouri and the production staff retain the right to edit any submit- ted materials and to not publish an article of questionable content or that goes against the purpose of The Route 66 Association of Missouri. The Route 66 Association of Missouri is a non-profit corporation established to preserve, promote and develop Old Route 66 in Missouri. PUBLICATION SCHEDULE ADVERTISING RATES PER ISSUE Inside Cover Full Page Color - $196 Back Cover Full Page Color - $207 1/2 Page Color - $95 1/4 Page Color - $67 Other rates are available upon request, call (314) 521-4255 or email: fjbenner@mindspring.com. FOLLOW THE ASSOCIATION ON FACEBOOK Please become a fan to stay up to date on meetings, activities, news from the road and magazine previews. You are welcome to post your favorite Route 66 pictures at www.facebook.com/missouri66. ON THE COVER ROCKWOOD COURT, SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI (PHOTO BY TIM LEIMKUHLER) Spring Issue, April 2024 Submission deadline 2.19.24 Summer Issue, July 2024 Submission deadline 5.19.24 Fall Issue, October 2024 Submission deadline 8.19.24 Winter Issue, January 2025 Submission deadline 11.19.24 ADVERTISERS Route 66 QUARTERLY PUBLICATION OF THE ROUTE 66 ASSOCIATION OF MISSOURI MAGAZINE / VOL. 34 NO. 1 / 2024 RICH DINKELA, PRESIDENT AND JIM POWELL, FOUNDER CONTRIBUTING WRITERS T. Lindsay Baker Rich Dinkela David J. Eslick Cheryl Eichar Jett Bobbie Roberts Kip Welborn ASSOCIATE EDITOR Cheryl Eichar Jett GRAPHIC DESIGN Tracy Gramm2 Show Me Route 66 – Winter 2024 Back issues are available for $10.00 per issue US addresses only (includes S&H) Some issues may require additional costs. Please give Volume number and issue number when ordering.* Send requests to: Route 66 Association of Missouri PO Box 8117, St. Louis, MO 63156. *Please allow six weeks for delivery. BACK ISSUES AVAILABLE PRESIDENT Rich Dinkela rich@hookedonroute66.com (314) 369-4366 FOUNDER Jim Powell jimpowell66 @ earthlink.net (941) 922-3295 OFFICERS SHOW ME ROUTE 66 MAGAZINE Joe Sonderman Editor stlrt66 @ aol.com INTERNET SERVICES Mark Norman membership @ missouri66.org VICE PRESIDENT Philip Denton pcd66@att.net (314) 520-7407 SECRETARY Terry Burns Terry.burns.289@gmail.com (417) 693-9977 TREASURER Lindsay Lomax Bagnall lindsay.bagnall@gmail.com (573) 578-9830 in helping the Association by volunteering to serve on the board, please submit a statement of interest/what skills you could bring to the Association and a resume. Send these to: info@missouri66.org All submissions will be reviewed and carefully considered. HISTORIAN / ORAL HISTORY Jerry Benner Chairperson fjbenner @ mindspring.com EVENTS COMMITTEE Elizabeth Olwig Chairperson eolwig.66 @ gmail.com COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP SERVICES George Hartman Henry Cowart mo-memberships66 @ outlook.com ALL AMERICAN ROAD Tommy Pike Tjp_666 @ yahoo.com NEON HERITAGE PRESERVATION James J. Thole Chairperson 66thole @ sbcglobal.net PRESERVATION Kip Welborn Chairperson rudkip @ sbcglobal.net officers/directors/committees JERRY BENNER fjbenner @ mindspring.com MICHAEL BOGGS michaelboggs @ rocketmail.com CHRISTOPHER R. BRILEY Briley_c@msn.com BOARD OF DIRECTORS DAVID J. ESLICK djeslick@undata.com PHYLLIS FERGUSON info @ rockwoodcourt.com LUGE HARDMAN waynesville.luge@gmail.com MARK NORMAN membership@missouri66.org ELIZABETH OLWIG eolwig.66@gmail.com TOMMY PIKE Tjp_666@yahoo.com JOE SONDERMAN stlrt66 @ aol.com JAMES J. THOLE 66thole@sbcglobal.net JACKIE WELBORN picsbyjax @ gmail.com missouri66.org 3 FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK OF ROAMIN RICH DINKELA Presiden t ’ s Dashboard ey there, fellow road enthusiasts! It’s Roamin Rich here, ready to cruise down memory lane and rev up for some exciting times ahead. I’m coming at you with our latest quarterly update, filled with the nostalgia of Route 66 and the thrills of our journey together. Thanksgiving Day Parade – A Classic Affair Let’s kick off with a flashback to the Thanksgiving Day Parade. What a spectacle it was! A few of our members showcased their collector cars, adding a vintage charm to the festivities. As we paraded through the streets, it wasn’t just about showing off those gleaming beauties; it was about sharing our passion for Route 66 and its rich history. Thanks to everyone who joined and waved along. Big thanks to Dennis Hogenmiller for organizing the event. Your enthusiasm fuels our journey! ALSO – Dennis says we will probably participate in the Fourth of July Parade this year as well. Please reach out to us right away if you want to take part! Christmas in Cuba – A Route 66 Celebration Next stop, our Christmas event in Cuba, Missouri. If you missed it, boy, did you miss a treat! The camaraderie was heartwarming, and the festive spirit was as infectious as ever. The Sidewinders put on a good show for the group. We also got to watch a Christmas parade put on by the Cuba locals that decorated their trucks and ATVs with lots of Christmas lights and décor. It’s events like these that remind us of the tight-knit community we’ve built around our beloved Mother Road. A huge shout-out to everyone who made it a success; especially Mike Boggs and Elizabeth Olwig – you folks are the real stars of Route 66. 2024 Motor Tour – Joplin to Rolla Looking ahead, gear up for our 2024 annual motor tour, stretching from Joplin to Rolla. This isn’t just a tour; it’s a rolling celebration of our shared heritage. If you haven’t signed up yet, what are you waiting for? Grab your spot and join us for an unforgettable journey through the heartland of America. Let’s make new friends and new memories that’ll last a lifetime on the road! For more information about the motor tour or if you would like to help, please contact Phil Denton. Black License Plate – Show Your Support! Now, here’s something close to my heart. Our black license plate is out, and it’s more than just a plate; it’s a badge of honor for Route 66 enthusiasts. By getting this plate, you’re not just personalizing your ride; you’re helping preserve the legacy of the Mother Road. I urge you to sign up and spread the word. Let’s keep the spirit of Route 66 alive and roaring! All proceeds go to our association to help us make a difference out there on the road! Register your ride today! As always, it’s your passion and support that keep the wheels turning on our endeavors. Whether it’s parades, meetups, tours, or preserving the history, every bit of your involvement makes a difference. Let’s keep cruising together on this incredible journey. Until next time, keep the spirit of Route 66 alive and kicking! Roamin Rich, President of The Route 66 Association of Missouri Rich meets Santa at the 2023 Christmas Party, Cuba, Missouri4 Show Me Route 66 – Winter 2024 News from the Road THE RESTORATION OF WEBB CITY FLORIST For the first time in many years, a block of historic Route 66 in Webb City is aglow with neon. On October 21, 2023, a crowd watched and music played as the switch was flipped and the restored sign at the Webb City Florist came back to life. The florist is on the Jefferson Street alignment of Route 66. Rich Dinkela, president of the Route 66 Association of Missouri, said that the Route 66 community helped make the restoration possible, with the association helping to raise three-fourths of the $6,000 cost needed to make Jefferson Street glow again. Dinkela said he first noticed the sign a decade ago, “When I was just a lowly little road geek driving up and down Route 66 painting little shields on the ground and doing a lot of research to find Route 66.” Dinkela continued, “I got to know the previous owner Marcia Musgrove and we developed this nice relationship and at the time I was really trying to get some momentum and some people together to raise some money and relight this sign. It just took a long time.” After Dinkela became President of the Route 66 Association of Missouri in 2019, he made raising funds for restoring the sign a priority. “I’m really happy that it is getting done. I’m happy for Courtney, I’m happy for Marcia and I am happy for the Webb City community.” The shop was originally called Ferree’s Florist until the mid 1950s, when Oscar and Bertha Ferree changed the name to Webb City Florist and Greenhouses. Ralph and Ora Macrae were the owners from 1962 to 1969. Loretta Parker and her husband operated it from 1969 to 1992 when it was sold to their son and his wife, Mark and Ann Parker. Kelly and Christy Cleveland took over in 2002 and Marcia Musgrave became the owner in 2008. Courtney Smith bought the business in 2021. Smith spoke before the sign flickered on again and talked about the legacy. “If there is anything that I have learned through this process, it is that my opportunity to carry this torch is one of the greatest honors of my life. When I bought Webb City Florist, I knew that she was old and I knew that she sat on an original stretch of Route 66. What I truly didn’t grasp was the beautiful history of the most important part of this building, the people who have always been inside of it. Because of their Webb City Florist restored sign (Photo: Rich Dinkela)TWO MISSOURIANS ANNOUNCED AS SPEAKERS AT 2024 MILES OF POSSIBILITY ROUTE 66 CONFERENCE by Cheryl Eichar Jett The Ninth Annual Miles of Possibility Route 66 Conference will be held October 31-November 3, 2024, in Edwardsville, Illinois, where the first Miles of Possibility was held in October 2015. The primary venue in 2024 will again be the historic Wildey Theatre on N. Main Street, and, as in 2015, the conference coincides with Edwardsville’s Halloween festivities. With Edwardsville just a couple dozen miles and a bridge away from Missouri, the Miles of Possibility organization is proud to announce two internationally-known Route 66 authors and experts from the Show Me State as part of the slate of speakers. Presenting conference sessions will be Susan Croce Kelly from the Lake of the Ozarks area and Joe Sonderman from St. Louis. Susan Croce Kelly’s presentation will be “Father of Route 66: The Story of Cy Avery,” based on her 2014 book of the same name. If it weren’t for Cy Avery’s dreams of better roads through his beloved Tulsa, the United States would never have gotten Route 66. Susan’s presentation, like her book, is the story of Avery, his times, and the legendary highway he helped build. The story begins with the urgency for “good roads” that gripped the nation in the early twentieth century as cars multiplied and mud deepened. Avery was one of a small cadre of men and women whose passion carried the missouri66.org 5 news from the road leadership, we have this amazing place and this amazing sign. It became very real to me that every single person that has owned this shop before me poured every ounce of themselves into it because they desperately needed and wanted it to thrive and grow and continue on just like I do. They worked until 2:00 a.m. on Valentine’s Eve to make sure they were ready. They wondered what they were going to do when their cooler froze, the delivery car broke or the flowers they ordered for a wedding didn’t arrive. They cried too when designing a spray for someone they knew and loved and felt such pride in delivering the perfect flowers for their friend’s wedding, baby shower or birthday party. They hoped more than anything that they did everything to serve their customers and earn their business. I share so many unique feelings and experiences with them and only them. I felt so incredibly connected to them while researching and learning about the people that came before me here. It is so important to me to make them proud and to maintain the true bottom line that has always existed at Webb City Florist. Our customers and those that support what we do here are family. As florists, we’ve always had the incredibly beautiful job of sending flowers on behalf of our customers to celebrate a new life, to say ‘I’m sorry,’ congratulate a friend, send a ‘get well’ say ‘I love you’ or honor a life lived to the fullest. For close to a century, the leadership at Webb City Florist have made it known that they prioritize love and appreciate their customers, not taking the responsibility of creating this art for them lightly. This is the epitome of my small business. She added, “I have a fire in my belly to keep this place the true time capsule that it is while continuing to maintain the standard of excellence that has always been strived for at Webb City Florist. I will never be able to adequately thank everyone for giving me this opportunity. She is ours and we are so so proud.” Mural at Webb City Florist Susan Croce Kelly 6 Show Me Route 66 – Winter 2024 Celebrating 75 Years With a Complete Neon Sign Restoration A MUST SEE!missouri66.org 7 news from the road Good Roads movement from boosterism to political influence to concrete-on-the-ground. While most stopped there, Avery went on to assure that one road — U.S. Highway 66 — became a fixture in the imagination of America and the world. In the years when the United States was moving from steam to internal combustion engines, Avery came west in a covered wagon, grew up in Indian Territory, and spent his adult years in oil-rich Tulsa, where fifty millionaires sat on the Chamber of Commerce board and the builder of the Panama Canal dropped in to size up a local water project. Cy Avery was a farmer, teacher, real estate professional, oil man, and politician, but throughout his long life he remained a champion for better roads across America. He stood up to the Oklahoma Ku Klux Klan, hatched plans for a municipal airport, and helped build a 55-mile water pipeline for Tulsa. The centerpiece of his story, however, is Avery’s role in designing the national highway system, his monumental fight with the governor of Kentucky over a road number, and his promotional efforts that turned his U.S. 66 into an American icon. Former newspaper reporter Susan Croce Kelly may be best known as the award-winning author of Route 66, The Highway And Its People, a book that helped launch the world’s renewed interest in the old highway. And her newest book, Newspaperwoman of The Ozarks, The Life and Times of Lucile Morris Upton, delves into the world of an early twentieth-century newspaperwoman and the excitement of being on the front lines of news-gathering in the days when the whole world turned to newspapers to find out what was happening. But Father of Route 66 is the first in-depth exploration of Cy Avery’s life and his impact on the movement that transformed twentieth-century America. Kelly grew up along Route 66 in St. Louis and has worked as a newspaper and magazine journalist, columnist, travel writer, and editor. She founded and edited Ozarks Magazine, a regional magazine that celebrated the unique land and people of the Missouri and Arkansas Ozarks. Today, she is managing editor of OzarksWatch Magazine, which focuses on the history and culture of the remarkable, and often misunderstood, region. Joe Sonderman’s presentation will be “Route 66 St. Louis Style,” based on his recent book of the same name. For Route 66 to become the most famous highway in history, it had to pass through the “Gateway to the West.” St. Louis is the largest city between Chicago and Los Angeles, and “St. Louee” comes first on the list of those that Nat King Cole and many other artists sang out on “(Get Your Kicks) on Route 66.” The highway took a maze of different routes, including crossing the greatest of rivers on a bridge with a bend right in the middle. The roadside was lined with flashing neon, classic diners and gas stations where attendants provided speedy service. Also, there were classic amusement parks, drive-in theaters, a man selling frozen custard from a building adorned with wooden icicles, and a motel with a racy but beloved reputation. In his presentation, Joe will remind us of all our favorite St. Louis memories – and some that never became a personal memory – as well as help us to keep straight the multiple alignments of Route 66 through St. Louis. Joe Sonderman is a St. Louis-area radio personality and traffic reporter who always wanted to discover the places the family station wagon sped past when he was a child. Now, Joe has been writing books on Route 66 for 15 years. Since that first work, he has been collecting Route 66 postcards and photographs, some never published before, along with new research on the paths Route 66 took through the area, to come up with an entirely new look at Route 66 St. Louis Style. Joe is a prolific Route 66 author and has one of the most extensive collections of Route 66 postcards in the U.S. A quick look on Goodreads shows that Joe has written 24 distinct books, with many just on the Mother Road, including Route 66 in Illinois, Missouri, St. Louis, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, and California just for Arcadia Publishing. Many Missourians know him as the editor of Show Me Route 66, the quarterly publication of the Route 66 Association of Missouri. Joe Sonderman Watch this space plus https://route66milesofpossibility.com for more speaker announcements. ROUTE 66 ‘ECLECTIC’ GEM By Bobbie Roberts Ec-lec-tic: deriving ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources. This definition perfectly describes the unique shopping experience you’ll find at this gem along Route 66 in Pacific, Missouri. Eclectic Trading Company (ETC) is an independent retail store with a vision for customers to literally “Shop the World” without traveling, searching an amazing eclectic blend of new, contemporary and 1940’s to present vintage merchandise right on the original Route 66. Owner, Bobbie Meyer-Kassman, has created a one-of-a-kind shop drawing visitors from all over the world, including European Route 66 Clubs. Her “Travelers/Visitors Log” shows her customers come from far and wide with a recent entry from Transylvania. Attractions to ETC include over 20,000 rare finds of local and global goods and “Fair Trade” merchandise which gives back to Next >