The 3rd Annual Lincoln Highway Arts Festival in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, is set for September 27. Some 40 artists will diplay their work, while docents lead tours of the Lincoln Highway and three National Historic Districts. The Lincoln Highway Arts Festival is sponsored by the Mount Vernon Area Arts Council. Visit http://www.visitmvl.com for more information. And tell them what a great logo they have!
Lincoln Hwy Arts Festival in Mt Vernon, Iowa
June 11, 2008RAGBRAI dry run a fun reading adventure
June 10, 2008In anticipation of the 36th annual RAGBRAI®, the “Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa,” Des Moines Register Editorial Cartoonist (and race host) Brian Duffy has been checking out the route the past week. The yearly week-long bicycle ride through Iowa is sponsored by The Des Moines Register; the 2008 route will follow much of the Lincoln Highway from July 20-26. RAGBRAI® is the longest, largest, and oldest touring bicycle ride in the world. Click HERE to see a list of Duffy’s daily posts. For a map you can zoom in on, plus photos and videos, visit Duffy’s blog (screen shot below):
Although Iowa seems flat to outsiders, this year’s day 2 alone has more than 5,000 feet of climb in its 80-mile length. The end of that day will bring riders their first views of Lincoln Highway and Burma Shave signs just west of Jefferson.
RAGBRAI was started in 1973 as a 6-day ride (not a race) across Iowa by two Register columnists; it’s still planned and coordinated by the newspaper. This year will launch from Missouri Valley but not pick up the LH till Jefferson, hit it from Ogden through Boone, again some of it in Ames, Nevada, Colo, and State Center, cross it at points in Le Grand and Tama, then pick it up in Chelsea through Belle Plaine, meet it through Lisbon/Mt. Vernon, and finally cross it at Mechanicsville. The bike route will be nearby or parallel the LH for much of the time, though not always along it.
Sebak on the road again for summer LH video
June 9, 2008I met Rick Sebak about 1990 as he was preparing to produce a show about roadside attractions in Pennsylvania. We traveled the Lincoln Highway together, and now almost two decades later (seems like two years!) he’s traveling the Lincoln Highway coast-to-coast for an hour-long show to debut later this summer. We’ve also worked together on programs about diners, Isaly’s, and one called Stuff That’s Gone, but we still talk most about the Lincoln Highway and the places we saw back then that are now gone, most notably the Ship Hotel.
Above: Jarrett, Rick, and Bob at the Western Terminus of the LH.
Last fall Rick and cameraman Bob Lubomski made it to the Pacific and back with Jarrett Buba. This time Rick and Bob are joined in the QED van by sound-and-video man Glenn Syska, who is also helping post their daily blog. They’re leaving early today with a plan of getting as far west ASAP. Of course, that was the plan last time! There’s never enough time or daylight to fit in all the cool places along the way….
The blog for his last long LH trip ended September 1 at San Francisco. Rick just updated it to include the days heading back east — scroll down and you’ll find another entry for that day called No Reservations. Start there and remember the days get more recent as you go up (so the top is the most recent, when they had reached Nebraska). Posts from the trip starting today should start arriving tonight or tomorrow — they have some great stops planned.
Also check out his Video Postcards link, which offer a great daily look at sites along the way.
BTW, note that the web address has changed — it can now be found at http://www.wqed.org/tv/sebak/lincoln_hwy/blog/. So has the name — no longer just Lincoln Highway Postcards, it now carries the name of the show, A Ride Along The Lincoln Highway. You can see when the blog updates by watching the RSS feed on the page in the column to the right.
Ozoners' 75th anniversary is today
June 6, 2008
It was 75 years ago today that the first drive-in theater opened. Celebrate these icons of car culture and the open road with a visit this week. What’s playing? Indiana Jones, Kung Fu Panda, The Strangers, Iron Man, Narnia–Prince Caspian, Baby Mama, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Made of Honor, and What Happens in Vegas are just some of the flicks on local outdoor screens. Clck the drive-in page to the right to see a list of operating “ozoners” along the Lincoln Highway.
Now it’s time to start the show.
Cross-country motorcycling the Lincoln Highway
June 5, 2008The Lewisboro [Connecticut] Ledger reports that Buddy Rosenbaum will leave San Francisco next Friday and follow the Lincoln Highway to Times Square. It’s been done before, but not by a 71-year-old. Rosenbaum approached Piaggio, maker of the popular Vespa, in the hope of altering stereotypes about aging and activity levels. The company responded by offering their new innovative all-terrain bike, the MD3-500, with two wheels in front and one in back. Rosenbaum has biked around the world with his wife, but he will be accompanied on this trip by his friend, Bob Chase of California. They leave June 13 and hope to arrive in NYC on July 14. He had planned to camp along the Lincoln Highway, but has decided to use hotels, in part so they can produce a daily blog with photos. Click the screen shot below for the full story:
Plan that drive-in visit before it's too late
June 4, 2008So much else to do, but you’ll be glad you took time to visit a drive-in, especially in honor of the 75th anniversary of the first one this Friday, June 6. Glad because of the fun you’ll have, the heritage you’re helping to preserve, and because the drive-in you visit might not be there next year — or even next month.
The Sacramento 6 Drive-In is located along the Lincoln Highway in California on what has become a big piece of valuable land just east of where US 50 crosses Folsom Blvd. The Sac 6, a latecomer that opened June 1973, was set to close after 2004; an August 5 article in the Sacramento Bee said owner Syufy Enterprises “hopes to raze the eucalyptus-lined lot to build a 20-screen multiplex and shopping mall.”
Was the problem low attendance? Janis Batesole, then vice president of operations and training for Syufy, which owns six other drive-ins and 75 multiplexes, said no: “It totally makes money because we own the land, so we don’t have occupancy fees. It’s just that the new project will be a better leverage of the corporate investment.”
A young patron was quoted as seeing the situation differently: “There’s no commercialism or any of that stuff like they have at the walk-in theaters. I’m going to be so sad if this place closes.” [Find that article, and commentary, HERE.]
The drive-in hung on but the future is again bleak. The May 11 Sacramento Bee reported that declining attendance has doomed the region’s last drive-in (from a peak of 13), despite pleas from the community to keep one of the last inexpensive family venues:
The plan calls for a $116.5 million reinvention of the 37.5-acre site, replacing the drive-in’s crackled concrete with a 439,700-square-foot shopping center, including a 20-screen indoor theater…. [and] major tenants lined up: Marshalls department store, Michaels crafts store, Bed Bath & Beyond and Best Buy.
And some residents welcome the change:
Rancho Cordova resident David Bingenheimer, who runs an electrical contracting firm, said the project would be good for him personally and professionally.
The area needs more retail stores, he said.
“… I’m looking forward to it,” Bingenheimer said. “We have to leave Rancho Cordova to do our shopping.”
But others think the drive-in just needs cleaned and advertised to draw more customers to the family-friendly site:
Once we lose this drive in, we will never have another one in the Sacramento area. What do we get in return, another half vacant strip mall with the same stores you can drive 10 minutes in either direction to patronize…. There is nothing else that would take the drive in’s place for late night family entertainment. Once we bulldoze them, there is no way to get a drive in back. Please reconsider. Maybe they could draw more business if they invested a little bit into the facilities and spent some money on advertising.
More comments follow these articles ONE and TWO, the most recent of which states that the project is set to proceed.
Sacramento 6 Drive-In
9616 Oates Drive
Sacramento, CA 95827
(916) 363-6572
Click HERE for movie times – while they’re still being shown.
MVPA to recreate 1919 motor convoy in 2009
June 3, 2008Next summer, the Military Vehicle Preservation Association will recreate the 1919 Transcontinental Motor Convoy, a grueling trip perhaps best known for including young Dwight Eisenhower. The Lincoln Highway Association is working with the group, and one of the stops will be the 2009 LHA conference in South Bend, Indiana—arriving on Thursday, June 18, and joining an LHA parade on Friday.
More than 60 participants hope to drive some of the route, many of them all the way coast-to-coast Departure from Washington DC is Saturday, June 13, with arrival in San Francisco on Saturday, July 4. Here’s a description from the site:
In 1919, the US Army’s Military Transportation Corps (MTC) undertook a transcontinental Convoy to demonstrate the need for a mechanized Army. This “hooves to wheels” plan to modernize America’s fighting force needed an attention-getting event to energize Congress and the citizenry, and parading the Army’s military might from coast-to-coast along the new Lincoln Highway was a great way to get demonstrate new vehicles. As part of its mission to honor our country’s military vehicle history, the MVPA has decided to recreate the famous 1919 convoy in 2009 as a 90th Anniversary celebration of the achievement and in conjunction with the nation’s President Lincoln Bicentennial celebration.
Click HERE for a PDF of the MVPA’s log of the route and overnight stops.
Diamond anniversary of the drive-in theater
June 2, 2008TO-DO THIS WEEKEND: Celebrate the 75th anniversary of the drive-in theater with a visit to a drive-in. Take a chair and sit under the stars, buy some popcorn at the snack bar, stay for both features, and try to figure out why you stopped (or never started) going. Don’t complain that no drive-ins are nearby, they can still be found in 47 states.
ABOVE: At the drive-in, 4th of July, 2007 . Photo © by Brian Butko
It was June 6, 1933, when Richard Hollingshead Jr opened the first drive-in theater, lighting the night sky in Camden, New Jersey. By the late 1950s, thousands of “ozoners” sat at the suburban fringe of most every town, but then they began closing. Blame TV, VCRs, smaller cars, fewer family movies, less need for a private getaway, Daylight Savings Time, rising insurance on the playgrounds, aging equipment, retiring owners, skyrocketing land values – or all of them – but only 397 theaters remain (with 650 screens). About half of those are members of the United Drive-In Theatre Owners Association, a group that celebrates the industry and its accomplishments. In fact, Hollingshead’s son, Richard III, was guest of honor this past winter at UDITOA annual convention. Here are some drive-ins still operating on or very close to the Lincoln Highway, pulled from the UDITOA list site plus my own recollection – please send additions:
CA
Sacramento: SACRAMENTO 6 DRIVE-IN
CO
Fort Collins: HOLIDAY TWIN DRIVE-IN – www.holidaytwindrive-in.com
Fort Morgan: VALLEY DRIVE-IN
IN
Plymouth: TRI-WAY DRIVE-IN – www.triwaydrivein.com
Valparaiso: 49’er DRIVE-IN – www.49erdrivein.com
NV
Sparks: EL RANCHO DRIVE-IN – www.westwinddriveins.com
OH
Kenton: HI-ROAD DRIVE-IN – www.metheatres.com
between Van Wert and Delphos: Van-Del Drive-In
Mansfield: SPRINGMILL DRIVE-IN – www.springmilldrive-in.com
PA
Latrobe: HI-WAY DRIVE-IN
UT
Riverdale: MOTOR VU DRIVE-IN (4 screens)
Tooele: MOTOR VU DRIVE-IN
WV
Chester: HILLTOP DRIVE-IN
This list will now be available as one of the easy-reference pages listed to the right. Check there for updates.
Nebraska governor views Kearney damage
May 31, 2008The Kearney Hub has produced a video showing the governor’s visit to view damage from the recent tornadoes. Click the screen shot below to go to the Hub‘s page:
Twisters hit hard around Kearney, Nebraska
May 30, 2008As many as six tornadoes touched down near Kearney, Nebraska, Thursday evening, including some in the city limits, according to the Kearney Hub. The city will host the LHA’s Centennial Conference, July 1-5, 2013.
The tornadoes first touched down near the Lincoln Highway communities of Elm Creek (with hail as large as baseballs) and Overton before moving east to Kearney, uprooting trees, tearing away roofs, and derailing 90 train cars on the Union Pacific Railroad. The Buffalo County Fairgrounds’ large Exposition Center, home to rodeos and large farm shows, collapsed, and damage was reported at the University of Nebraska at Kearney campus. This photo is a screen capture from the Hub’s photo section – click it to browse photos, video, and stories on the storm from the Hub:
Last night, 12,000 customers were without power in Kearney (pop 30,000). The storm continued eastward along the LH/US 30 to Shelton, doing similar damage. A tornado was also spotted 3 miles west of Grand Island. The number of US tornadoes so far in 2008 – 1,191 – is nearly double what it was for the same period last year.
The governor declared a state of emergency Thursday night, and Interstate 80 was closed from Aurora to York due to downed power lines. The National Weather Service issued several advisories for Nebraska and Kansas into Friday morning, including flood warnings for areas already struggling from heavy rains earlier in the week. A weather alert in the Kearney Hub included this advice for anyone ever caught in such a storm:
DO NOT USE HIGHWAY OVERPASSES FOR SHELTER. OVERPASSES DO NOT PROVIDE PROTECTION FROM TORNADIC WINDS. VEHICLES STOPPED UNDER BRIDGES BLOCK TRAFFIC AND PREVENT PEOPLE FROM GETTING OUT OF THE STORM’S PATH AND TO SHELTER. IF YOU CANNOT DRIVE AWAY FROM THE TORNADO, GET OUT OF YOUR VEHICLE AND LIE FLAT IN A DITCH.
Lincoln Highway News 