ROUTE 66 ASSOCIATION OF MISSOURI 18TH ANNUAL MOTOR TOUR
By Kip Welborn
The Route 66 Association of Missouri will again be cruising the old highway on their 18th Annual Motor Tour, to be held September 7, 8 and 9, 2007. The Tour will commence in Miami, OK and end in Sullivan, MO. This year's theme is "Take Me Out To Our Highway". It will celebrate not only Route 66, but its baseball tradition - from Mickey Mantle, who was born just north of Miami, OK, to Mickey Owen, to "Sunny" Jim Bottomley, who died in Sullivan, Mo. Tour registration commences at 4:00 p.m. on Friday at the Best Western Inn of Miami, in Miami OK, where a block of rooms has been set aside for tour goers. That evening, there will be activities for the participants, information on which will be available at registration. On Saturday, the Tour will go as far as Springfield, MO. There will be several stops along the way, including Mickey Mantle’s boyhood home in Commerce, OK, the old Phillips 66 gas station in Baxter Springs, KA, and the Mickey Owen Baseball Camp outside Miller, MO. The Tour will make its midpoint stop at the Best Western Route 66 Rail Haven in Springfield, where a block of rooms has been set aside for those on the tour. That evening there will be some fine Bar-B-Q served up by Buckingham’s BBQ for participants at Smith Park in Springfield. On Sunday, after the nondenominational worship service, folks will be able to enjoy Route 66 in Missouri enroute to the tour finale at Jim Bottomley Park, Sullivan, MO. At Jim Bottomley Park, tour goers will be able to enjoy a picnic lunch served up by Caterer, Inc., and "chew the fat" with fellow roadies to end the Tour. Jim Bottomley’s grave is a stones throw away from the park, at the IOOF Cemetery in Sullivan.
Additional information on any planned stops or activities along the way will be made available at registration. Here’s hoping you can join us on our trek down the old Highway!
For more information, contact Kip Welborn at 314-776-7385 (rudkip@sbcglobal.net), or Jane Dippel at 314-843-7132 (vestaon66@cs.com), or visit our website at www.missouri66.org.
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