LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
For 14 years, Eric and Kass Mencher have devoted their photographic passion to visually documenting the landmarks, landscapes, and people of the Lincoln Highway. They’re in the final stages of self-publishing a book that celebrates the road’s upcoming anniversary. To see a still-evolving 200+ page prototype click here to see “Almost Heaven.” Make it Full Screen to see the images large.
Even after a self-financed cross-country trip in both directions in 2010, they have some photographic gaps to fill and so are raising funds for the final work. More than $2,000 has been raised from 21 supporters. If you’d like to help, visit http://spot.us/pitches/970-along-the-lincoln-highway/. For donations of $275 and above, you’ll receive an archival print of your choice from the Lincoln Highway project. For donations of $150-$275, you’ll receive a copy of their prototype book. You can even make a donation without paying for it by clicking on “free credits.”
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
Long-distance travelers Bill and Karen post wonderful stories and photos about their 2-lane trips. The Ontario couple last drove the Lincoln Highway in 2009 and have used my books to track down every highlight and report back lots of updates. This year they picked up the LH near Downingtown, Pa., on Day 34 of their trip and traveled west to Plainfield, Illinois, by Day 50. Travel along at billstraveljournal.blogspot.com/.
Bill writes: We concluded our Lincoln Highway road trip at the same spot in Plainfield Illinois where we started the journey on July 7, 2009. It also marks the spot where we concluded our Route 66 road trip in 2008. This spot is where the two roads share the same 3 blocks…. All we need to do now is to drive from Times Square NY to Exton PA and we will have completely driven the Lincoln Highway from beginning to end.
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
A new brief video by VintonToday features antique cars that participated in last weekend’s Lincoln Highway tour across Iowa, specifically at the restored Youngville Station between Cedar Rapids and Belle Plaine.
The accompanying music — unfortunately uncredited — is Buddy Nutt singing Goin all the Way On the Lincoln Highway, which he wrote for the PBS Lincoln Highway program produced by Rick Sebak.
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
Also this weekend is the fabulous cross-state Iowa Lincoln Highway Motor Tour sponsored by the Iowa Lincoln Highway Association. Here are pics from last summer: Youngville Cafe by Jeff & Tammy LaFollette, and the lunch stop at Woodbine by Osberg.
This year’s tour began in Council Bluffs and heads east, ending in Clinton County on Sunday, August 28. The historic route travels nearly 330 miles across Iowa through the communities of Council Bluffs, Denison, Carroll, Jefferson, Boone, Ames, Marshalltown, Tama, Cedar Rapids, and Clinton. More information can be found on the Iowa LHA website, or contact tour director Jeff LaFollette at (563) 349-3047.
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
The 28th annual Lincoln Highway Days will be held in Nevada, Iowa, starting today, August 26–28, 2011. Each day will feature carnival rides and games, food, and much more.
Friday, Aug. 26: Celebrate with fun on the Story County 4-H grounds. Lincoln Highway Days Rodeo. Teen and adult dances with live music and refreshments.
Saturday morning Aug. 27: One of the biggest parades in Story County. National Guard honors our Soldiers at War along the route of the Lincoln Highway. Klassy Kruisers antique cars. Antique Tractors. BBQ contest. Lincoln Highway Day’s Baby contest. More teen dancing.
Sunday Aug. 28: A grand day for walking through the Craft building and the Varied Industry building and the Flea Market.
The first Lincoln Highway Day was held October 1983, in conjunction with a celebration of the finished railroad overpass west of Nevada.
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
Join the first annual Lincoln Highway Adventure along Indiana’s historic Lincoln Highway, August 5 and 6, 2011. The fun event will coincide with the Buy-Way Yard Sale stretching across several states. Kick off the Adventure at Downtown South Bend’s First Friday Cruise-In, then the next day pilot your crew through New Carlisle, LaPorte, Valparaiso, Dyer, and back to Plymouth for the Adventure’s Closing Picnic.
Each registered vehicle will receive an Adventure Bag with a dash plaque, discount coupons, an Adventure Passport and a booklet containing turn-by-turn directions and information about sites, great stops and communities along the way. Compete in the Lincoln Highway Scavenger Hunt, a geo-cache hunt and check in via FourSquare, or stay connected through your other favorite social media. Families, Car Clubs and Caravans welcome! Find reservation and pricing at: www.lincolnhighwayadventure11.eventbrite.com For more information or questions contact: Indiana Landmarks’ Northern Regional Office at north@indianalandmarks.org or (574) 232-4534.
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
The Grand Island Independentreports that Shady Bend, an old roadside business along the Lincoln Highway in central Nebraska, has been restored and is again serving customers on the east end of Grand Island. I reported on the plans two years ago on this blog. The images below are from the site’s Facebook page.
From the news report:
Shady Bend, once the site of an old-time tourist court, restaurant and store at Highway 30 and Shady Bend Road, has been reopened as a restaurant…. H.O. “Doc” Woodward built the original Shady Bend in the late 1920s after returning from a family trip to Arizona. Doc also donated the land for the first airport in Grand Island. Shady Bend has been passed down in the family to Craig Woodward, the third generation at Shady Bend….
He said Shady Bend was once a meeting place for farmers and everyone passing through. Since there were hardly any phones, people knew who was going to be there and could leave messages for when they arrived. It was a general store that had a lot of different people coming in and out.
“Not only is it historical, it was a fun place to go,” said Craig’s wife, Karen Woodward. “We want to be able to share the history with the people around here.”… The Woodwards started their restoration in 2008 but were delayed by family illness. Things picked back up in January 2010.
“Obviously, the plumbing, heating and electrical is all new and up to code,” Craig said. “We have a new full kitchen, but other than that, there haven’t been any changes. It’s true to what the State Historical Society has for requirements.”
Shady Bend opened its doors to the public on Tuesday serving pop, candy bars, beer, burgers and Italian food….
“I remember when I was 5 years old, my mom used to clean the cabins [now gone] and Fritz, Craig’s father, would pick me up from school and bring me back here,” [one patron said]. “I played on the merry-go-round and fished in the sand pit across the highway.”
Hours are 11 am to 10 pm Tues through Sat, and noon to 10 pm Sundays.
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
It’s once again time for the annual Lincoln Highway Buy-Way Yard Sale running August 4, 5 and 6, 2011. The miles-long event began in Ohio seven years ago and has since expanded to all of Iowa and parts of Illinois and Indiana.
Ohio publishes an official Traveler’s Guide that includes a map of the state’s Lincoln Highway alignments plus listings of many yard sales and community events along the way. This free guide is available at convention and visitor bureaus and chambers along the route.
BUY-WAY Yard Sale participants in any state may list their yard sale information on the byway website www.historicbyway.com that shoppers can print out and use to navigate their shopping.
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
Roadside and Route 66 enthusiasts Emily Priddy and Ron Warnick recently took a 10-day road trip that Emily chronicled on her Red Fork State of Mind blog. She sent me news updates including that volunteers were stripping the World’s Largest Teapot in Chester, WV, with scrapers, heat guns, and blowtorches as part of an Eagle Scout project.
Above you’ll see they also visited two excellent roadside attractions in east-central PA: the Lincoln Motor Court east of Bedford, and the giant Coffee Pot on the edge of downtown. Then they filled up at Dunkle’s Gulf, a rare art deco gem still in the same family—and still pumping gas!
Emily said their goal was to see Ryne Sandberg managing the Lehigh Valley IronPigs in Allentown, so she and Ron (who pens the Route 66 News blog, which inspired this one!) headed east on the Lincoln Highway:
I fell in love with the farmland of Iowa; the vibrant energy of Chicago; the charming downtowns of Goshen, Ind., and Van Wert, Ohio; the giant teapot in Chester, W. Va.; the winding mountain roads of rural Pennsylvania; and the ethnic neighborhoods and skinny townhouses with old men killing time on their front stoops in the narrow side streets of Allentown.
LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
Make sure you keep following Denny Gibson’s blog after the first day he hits the Lincoln Highway (his Day 9). Click HERE to continue with Day 10. Highlights include encountering snow at Donner Summit (note the LH “Subway” beneath the railroad overpass just left of center) and an adventurous ride along the sometimes perilous Kings Canyon Road (on a tour led by Nevada LHA director Jim Bonar).
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Click the map above for a full-size view of the Lincoln Highway.
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Lincoln Highway News 