PITTSBURG, Kan. —
Decades ago, when I was in fourth grade, our class took a field trip under the direction of our teacher, Babs Tims, and all I remember is that a classmate, who shall remain nameless, threw up.
Last week, I took another field trip with Miss Tims, who was awarded a grant for a semester-long study of Route 66 that included a trip along 38 miles of the road. Again, we traveled on a big yellow school bus, and again, my companions were fourth-graders. No one threw up.
But the trip was memorable for all of us, and I suspect it will be for quite some time. Turns out there’s a lot more to historic Route 66 than just nostalgia. There’s the future, too.
We began in Webb City, Mo., and saw efforts the town has made toward economic stability by playing off the Route 66 theme, including the restored 1940s Route 66 Theater, where kids can take in movies and leave their bikes parked out front.
In Joplin, Mo., we stopped at Carousel Park. Manager Monica Burlingame told us that since the opening in 2000, the goal has been a fun family atmosphere that attracts thousands of visitors a year and adds to the local economy.
In Galena, Melba Rigg at the service station-turned Four Women on the Route shared how she and her cohorts are doing their part toward the rebirth of the town, starting with luring visitors to eat, shop and take pictures of the tow truck and buildings that inspired the Pixar movie “Cars.”
In Baxter Springs, we ate our sack lunches on the route at the 1950s-themed Bill Abernathy Center for Lifelong Learning. Teacher Melissa Oram inspired us with her dreams that one day there will be one such center in every small town along the route. She and her colleagues help provide middle school students a safe, fun and educational spot to hang out, and a warm supper at no cost, every weekday.
Our final stop, the Coleman Theatre in Miami, Okla., just flat-out impressed us. Tour guide Glen Reding told us about the hundreds of volunteers who reclaimed the building’s majesty and grandeur. Upstairs, we peeked in at the just-renovated grand ballroom that already is booked for dozens of graduations, proms and weddings.
Sure, there were dusty relics of Route 66 days gone by along the way — some with hopeful “For Sale” signs, and some that likely never will be brought to their former glory.
But we saw a pattern as we ventured from town to town: Route 66 is about more than what happened way back when. It’s about what’s happening now.
The project helped kids learn that Route 66 isn’t dead. Perhaps more importantly, it introduced them to a lot of enthusiastic and interesting people making valuable contributions to their communities.
I learned a lot, too, and it was great to be along for the ride.
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