CHRONICLE
September 18, 2014 I The Lovell Chronicle I 15
BY TERESSA ENNIS
The Mother Road, Main
Street of America, a 2,400-mile
road from Chicago to Los Ange-
les that forms the heart of histo-
ry of America - Route 66 was the
route of an 11-day journey recent-
ly completed by Ron and Marsha
Ferguson of Lovell.
"There was no destination to
our journey. We went for the jour-
ney," explained Ron.
Marsha, while visiting Illinois
with a friend a few years ago, no-
ticed the Route 66 sign. She de-
cided then that traveling the en-
tire route was a trip she wanted
to make. She began to make plans
to go. The time would be when she
turned 66.
Joy Howe, a friend from
Lovell, gave her a Route 66 guide-
book for her birthday, saying,
"Only Marsha could turn a num-
ber into an event."
"We enjoy history," Marsha
remarked. "And traveling," Ron
added. And so it was settled.
In the mid 20s the automobile
industry, took off and everyone
could own a car, but there were
no roads that connected the coun-
try. Cyrus Avery, of Tulsa, was
the original promoter of Route
66. The Fergusons visited Avery
Park, which is home to a sculp-
ture titled "East Meets West."
Marsha described it as "a little
bigger than life, bronze sculpture
of a family in a Model A car en-
countering a horse and wagon.
The horse is rearing up at the ap-
proach of the automobile."
The Great Depression, the
crash of Wall Street and the Dust
Bowl stopped the heart of Ameri-
ca in the 1930s. Unable to make a
living, many people of the agricul-
tural Midwest headed to Califor-
nia in crippled cars wired togeth-
er to work the orange groves by
way of The Mother Road as it was
called in "The Grapes of Wrath."
The great heyday, after World
War II ended in 1945, resulted in
many buying cars again and trav-
eling. It was gas stations, motels
and diners with neon lights and
advertisements painted on barns
all the way. The Fergusons en-
joyed their stays in the older clas-
sic motels. The guidebooks gave
information on the motels that
had been well maintained or nice-
ly restored from the 50s. Mar-
sha described the elaborate blue
y mal
SANTA MONIGA
COURTESY PHOTO
Ron and Marsha Ferguson pose with the sign in Santa Monica,
Calif., commemorating the west end of Route 66 following their
journey that included rich history and friendly people.
neon signs of The Blue Swallow
Motel in Tucumcari, N.M. She
said there were neon signs and
murals everywhere. Ron mused,
"When we got up in the mornings,
we would have no idea where we
would spend the night, only the
direction we would go."
The demise of Route 66 came
when four-lane interstates were
developed. Business after busi-
ness failed; town after town be-
came deserted as they were by-
passed by the great freeways. It
took five interstates to take the
place of Route 66. The Fergusons
tried to stay on the original route.
Sometimes they would come to ei-
ther a barricade or a bridge out
and would have to return maybe
five miles to find a way around to
keep going on.
Even though they closed the
highway, they couldn't stop own-
ers from turning on their neon
signs and the highway didn't die.
The people of each of the eight
states that boasted Route 66
formed a Route 66 Association to
rebuild and revive Route 66 and
promote the people and lifestyle
that had made it the experience it
was and is today.
"I was amazed at how much
the associations have worked to
build this back up and how many
buildings have been restored,"
Marsha said.
The route originated on Jack-
son Street near the Buckingham
Fountain in Grant Park on the
lakeshore in Chicago. Before they
began their l 1-day journey, Ron
and Marsha ate breakfast at Lou
Mitchell's Restaurant.
"Lou Mitchell's is an icon-
ic eatery on Jackson Street in
downtown Chicago. It has been in
its current location since 1923 -
three years before U.S. 66 was es-
tablished in 1926," Ron described.
"They meet you at the door with
a box of donut holes." Mitchell's
serves 1,200 meals daily.
Approximately 85 percent of
the old highway is still there. A
two-mile section of the roadbed
in Illinois that Ron and Marsha
drove on was hand-lain bricks.
One of the highlights of their
trip was the Pontiac Museum in
Pontiac, Ill. It houses memorabil-
ia from each state on Route 66.
Abraham Lincoln had a law prac-
tice in the courthouse in the cen-
ter of the town square.
"I just loved the whole town,"
Ron said. He described the minia-
ture cars from the 30 and 40s that
were sitting all over town.
Missouri is the next state
along the westward trek. Ron
told about the Munger Moss Mo-
tel where they stayed in Leba-
non. The owner was "a sweet little
lady who has run the motel for 47
years. She kept patting Marsha's
hand and telling her she looked
tired," Ron related. All the walls
were filled with photos of Route
66.
South of Hooker, Mo., they
stopped at one of the original gas
stations. The owner asked if they
were thirsty. "Grab you a drink
out of the refrigerator over there,"
he said. When Marsha inquired
as to how much she owed him he
replied, "No, no, it doesn't cost
anything."
Route 66 crosses the corner of
Kansas covering only 13.2 miles.
Oklahoma is considered the
heart of Route 66. There, the Fer-
gusons found a unique section of
road south of Miami, Okla. They
said the folks didn't think cars
would take hold so they didn't
want to spend money on paving,
so they only paved a 9-foot wide
swath down the middle of the
road, leaving dirt ,and gravel on
either side. It was called the "side-
walk" road.
Marsha enjoyed Robert's Grill
in E1 Reno, Okla. Robert, an older
gentleman, has been working the
grill as waiter, cook and cashier.
"He does it all," she said. "He's
been doing the job since he was
in high school. There are 20 stools
around the counter. No one gets
impatient. They just wait and vis-
it until Robert brings their meal."
Ron found it interesting that
the tire shop that is in the mov-
ie "Cars" was modeled after the
U-Drop-In in Shamrock, Texas.
He also found the model for the
VW bus in the movie in the muse-
um back in Pontiac, Ill.
Adrian, Texas, is the halfway
point of Route 66. Laughing, Mar-
sha told of the Midpoint Cafe that
claims to be "the home of the ugly
pie crust."
New Mexico carries the most
miles of Route 66. Its scenic coun-
tryside was full of color.
Arizona's U.S. 66 crosses the
Painted Desert and the area of
the Grand Canyon. In Oatman,
the road narrows to one lane, just
wide enough for one car, down
Main Street. Ron explained, "This
was an old prospectors town.
When they left, they just let
their burrows loose. They expect-
ed them to die, but instead they
multiplied." There are more than
2,000 wild burrows roaming the
streets of Oatman.
"I loved the town of Winslow,
Ariz. It was the last town to be
bypassed by the interstate. All
the buildings have 66 emphasis,"
Marsha shared.
And then on to California.
Said Marsha, "We take for grant-
ed our freedom going from state to
state. Back then (the Dust Bowl
days) they had to show that they
had at least $100 before they were
allowed to enter California."
Sunset Boulevard was orig-
inally part of Route 66. Nearing
the end of the way a neon arch
on Santa Monica Boulevard leads
the path to a plaque that marks
the end of Route 66, also called
here the Will Rogers Highway.
There were surprises along
the way. Ron said, "One of the
more surprising things we found
was the number of international
travelers on the road. In Illinois,
at one place we stopped, we were
told that there was a group of 18
Italians right in front of us who
had flown over and rented Har-
ley-Davidson motorcycles in Chi-
cago and were doing the same
thing, following old Route 66.
"We stopped at a spot in Mis-
souri, and a Swiss camera crew
over here filming Route 66 was
interviewing a couple from Swe-
den. We met a family from Italy
in Stroud, Okla., in a museum.
We saw them several times down
the road, the last time in Oatman,
Ariz.
"At one of our stops in Illinois,
they had put up a world map with
a bowl of pins to indicate where
travelers were from. Europe was
covered with pins. Much of Aus-
tralia, New Zealand, Japan and
China were also covered."
Of the trip Marsha said, "Ev-
ery region has its own beauty. It
was well worth the trip. There
was a U.S. friendliness all the
way. Everyone was super friend-
ly. It was an epic journey for me."
"The history of our country
was great," Ron added. "The scen-
ery was good. But the best thing
was the people we met. what a
wonderful bunch of people we live
here with. Altogether it was a
very memorable trip."
Cowley news
As the younl
BY DRUE TEBBS-MEEK
307-548-6901
Now that the sun is
shining we all can smile a
bit more and not tell each
other that we've heard
we're going to have the
worst winter ever!
when the gray skies
were pouring rain it turned
pretty bleak, but after a few
days, we heard about Chey-
enne, Casper, Laramie and
Cody and felt thankful that
we only had rain and not
inches of snow.
It's pretty amazing
what sunshine does for a
person. I drove to Powell
with my daughter Thurs-
day afternoon and the sun
was beating down, it was
above 45 degrees, the fields
were being harvested and
the hay was being baled.
Heart Mountain was cov-
ered with some snow, the
clouds were luminous and
rosy -- sprinkled with gray
-- and it was just gorgeous,
a bit chilly, but not ugly.
Every year I worry
about the beets because
my dad and granddad were
beet farmers and hay farm-
ers and, of course, had
the sheep, and every day
during September and Oc-
tober until November even,
they worked long hours
harvesting and praying for
decent weather.
When I was young I
recall mother feeding us
supper about 6 p.m., then
putting the tablecloth over
Dad's place and waiting
for him to walk in about
dark; then she would eat
with him and it was be-
fore microwaves so she had
to warm everything up on
the stove. I didn't think
anything about it until I
I got a break
grew up and realized that
my mother worked as a
home economics teacher
and later as a librarian all
day, then had to fix a big
meal at night and sit and
wait for Dad to come home
during the fall months.
I had the luck to be the
youngest girl in my fam-
ily with three older sis-
ters who had to help with
dishes and cleaning up
the dining room, so I was
put to bed early and read
and slept during these ac-
tivities. Later, when I was
married and had kids, I
learned a great deal more
understanding about my
mother's work day and eve-
ning days. The respect and
admiration came, but as a
young child I took every-
thing for granted. Some-
one had to be the youngest
and I was picked for that
spot and enjoyed my life
of leisure a great deal, but
I didn't know much about
cooking and cleaning until
I married.
My son-in-law, Ray Pe-
terson, wrote this article
about an event in town Fri-
day, Sept. 12:
"A group from the
Main Street Program at-
tended an annual confer-
ence in Powell and visit-
ed Cowley to take a tour of
the community. The tour
began with breakfast at
the Log Gym. Cowley May-
or Joel Peterson welcomed
the group and introduced
some of our citizens to
them. Roland Simmons of-
fered a brief history of the
community and then pre-
sented what the Historical
Society was doing for the
community. Monica Miller
from chores
then followed with a report
of the beautification com-
mittee and the project they
have been involved with
over the years. Next, Mac
Crosby shared with the
group what the town cele-
bration meant to the town
and a quick report of the
Planning and Zoning board
and a few of the items they
have been working up. Rob
Johnson then gave a re-
port of the Recreation Dis-
trict and the many differ-
ent programs they support
and sponsor. The visitors
had a few questions for the
panel.
"The visitors were then
given a tour of the Log
Gym, school administra-
tion office, town hall and
the museum, the Main
Street project andthe new
baseball field and the site
of the new splash park
and picnic area. At 11:30
they boarded the bus to re-
turn to Powell and the re-
mainder of their confer-
ence. Thanks to the people
that participated on the
panel and the Cowtown
Restaurant for catering a
wonderful breakfast.
"The visitors were im-
pressed with the renova-
tion of the Log Gym and
the Main Street project,
the new homes and how the
community looked. They
seemed to understand that
the people of the commu-
nity make the difference
of how a community looks
and feels."
Thanks, Ray, for your
interesting write-up. This
only makes the members of
our small town more proud
as we watch the growth
and renovations to the new
homes and the beauty of
our town.
Byron news
BY PAMELA COZZENS
HOPKINSON
307-548-24 71
pamhopkinson@gmail.com
The expression "Free
for All" usually connotes
an unorganized and some-
what unruly event. But
on Saturday began a Free
for All food fest hosted by
Gary Petrich and friend
George Johnson.
The free food began
cooking Saturday around
noon, offering 'dogs and
burgers with Gary's spe-
cial cole slaw and fries.
The burgers were not just
any burgers; these were
1/3 pound, cooked over a
flame -- juicy hamburgers
with all the trimmings. By
evening there were bar-
becues pork ribs, chicken
and beans. If by the next
day you had any room
at all to fit another bite,
there was thick cut bacon,
grilled and served with
fresh garden tomatoes on
toasted bread for BLTs
deluxe.
About 10 years ago
Gary and Michelle and
George and Beth were
sitting around enjoy-
ing some adult beverages
when the idea of throw-
ing an end-of-summer par-
ty just started sounding
more and more like ex-
actly what they needed
to do. Just a few friends
would be invited and lots
of cooking and merriment
would take place. So the
first year there were about
200 friends (and Gary
and George), and over the
years they have served as
many as 600.
Now it is a tradition
that no one is about to let
them forget. When asked,
"Why do you do this?" the
answer is a simple, be-
cause "I'm a good guy."
They hold this food extrav-
aganza in front of the By-
ron Bar and Grill on Main
Street and advertise with
a sign on the median de-
claring•"FREE BBQ."
Saturday, a big Doug-
las school bus pulled up
for a quick restroom stop
at the bar. Gary stepped
onto the bus to invite the
team to have some food
and found that it was actu-
ally the soccer team from
Trinidad College, who had
been stranded in Douglas
on the way to Powell for a
game and were borrowing
the bus from Douglas to
get to their game and back
home. They got the coach's
permission and all enjoyed
the hospitality.
Keep this in mind for
next year: it is two days
of no cooking for you and
it is fun hanging around
a couple of "good guys."
They have some pretty
good stories from over the
years, but those are better
told over the grill at the
yearly "Free Food for All."
Thanks, Gary, Michelle,
George and Beth, for host-
ing a fun party.
The town council is
holding their regular
meeting Thursday, Sept.
18, at 7 p.m. There will be
a work meeting at 6, and
the public has been invit-
ed to come and give input
on the utility rates and
tap charges or any oth-
er concerns. This will be
an information gathering
opportunity for the coun-
cil and an input opportu-
nity for the community
members.
The Byron Memori-
al Park committee met
last week and is planning
a thank you party for all
who have been involved in
the project over the past
many years. There are
still many plans unfolding
for the park, and we ap-
preciate all of the enthu-
siasm and time that has
been spent bringing this
park to this point.
I doubt it will ever re-
ally be finished as there
are many tributes that
still need to be made to
the pioneers who have
gone before and the veter-
ans both past and present
including those who still
wear the uniform of the
good old USA.
