Along66, April 2022: 'The Largest Route 66 Shield in Missouri'

APRIL 16

The Route 66 Association of Missouri is planning an event to repaint a huge Route 66 road shield at Gary's Gay Parita.   

Plans are for May 28 for "The Largest Route 66 Shield in Missouri."  This shield will measure in at 12 by 15 feet and was first painted in 2018, but has since faded a lot.

Gay Parita is a recreation of a 1930s gas station owned by Fred and Gay Mason that stood until it burned down in 1955.  Gary Turner rebuilt it about 2004 and the site soon became a must-stop for 66ers for the scenery, hospitality and quirky, home-spun humor of Gary.

A "quick stop" there often turned into hours.  (Much like Ernie Edwards at the Pig-Hip in Illinois.)  Sadly, Gary Turner died in 2015.  His daughter Barbara moved there from St. Louis and opened on in 2016 and continues to run it.

We enjoyed more than a few of those extended quick stops over the years and you can still have it with daughter Barbara.

--RoadDog

Along 66, February 2020: Bob Waldmire and Harley and Annabelle Russell

From Route 66 News.

FEBRUARY 25--  A new art space at the Powerhouse Visitors Center in Kingman, Arizona, will feature art by the late, noted Route 66 artist Bob Waldmire.

We had the fortune to meet him on several occasions and each was an adventure.  He was a character and a true hippy if there ever was one.  The people who did the movie "Cars" and based Fillmore the VW bus knew what they were doing.

And, Bob had that incredibly loaded VW bus that was so crammed full of stuff that he drove from place to place.

FEBRUARY 28--  How about Harley and Annabelle Russell for the Oklahoma Route 66 Hall of Fame which has a new class every two years.  They operate the Sandhills Curiosity Shop in Erick, Oklahoma.

Unfortunately, we've never had the pleasure of visiting them, but I have sure heard a lot about them.

Some Real Characters of the Mother Road.  --RoadDog

Bob Cassilly-- Part 3: "Worked With Junk and Hired Misfits"

From the Jan. 25, 2012, St. Louis Magazine "Deconstructing Bob Cassilly" by Jeannette Cooperman.

An excellent article about the man.  I particularly enjoyed the first paragraph:

"Bob Cassilly worked with junk and hired misfits; did everything to guarantee economic failure and made money instead.  he was labeled an overgrown kid without social skills, yet he jump-started two wrecked neighborhoods and turned a rotting warehouse into what's been ranked as one of the greatest public spaces in the world.  He set out only to please himself, and he managed to delight 600,000 people a year."

Sure Wish I Could Have Met Him.  --RoadDog

Bob Cassilly-- Part 2: Renovated a Neighborhood and Created the City Museum in St. Louis

Bob Cassilly was born in Webster Grove, Missouri, near St. Louis.  He built and ran a restaurant after college, then sold it and used the money to move to Hawaii where he carved wooden figures.  He reportedly tired of Hawaii and returned to St. Louis.

In May 1972, he was visiting St. Peter's Basillica at Vatican City when Laslo Toth infamously attacked Michelangelo's The Pieta.  Bob was one of the first to act and subdue Toth.

In the mid-1970s, he renovated a townhouse in a dilapidated St. Louis neighborhood.  This led to the area rebounding.  He then started making sculptures professionally.

He and his wife Gail bought a 250,000 square-foot complex which included the International Shoe Building Offices and a ten-story high warehouse in 1983.This they renovated into the very popular City Museum (which i had never heard of before the article I wrote about last week.

Bob Cassilly is a big part of what has become a major renovation of downtown St. Louis.

I Sure Would Have Liked to Have Met This Man.  --RoadDog