Route 66 Association Of Missouri Neon Heritage Preservation Committee Honored

[rudkipon66]

Quinn was perusing the Riverfront Times, a popular and widely read weekly St. Louis magazine, which this week published its equally popular “Best Of St. Louis” issue.

To her pleasant surprise she found that one of the honorees was the Neon Heritage Preservation Committee of the Route 66 Association of Missouri! (the Committee was designated as the Best Kept Secret in the People and Places Section—p.29. I would have sent a link but could not find one—if anyone can please post!)

The Committee, comprised, in the words of the RFT, of “four windbreaker-wearing guys (Jim Thole, Esley Hamilton, Bob Gehl and David Hudson) who look as sporty and ready to drive off into the sunset as Martin Milner did in that old 1960’s TV show Route 66” were honored for their help in restoring several neon signs in the St. Louis area:

Quoting From the article: “This unbeatable “Team Neon” has obtained cost share grants to relight the night from the US National Park Service’s Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program each year they have applied, beginning in 2008 with the Donut Drive-In in South St. Louis. Two other old neons in the metro area now shine again thanks to their efforts: The Luna Café in Mitchell IL and the Crestwood Bowl in Crestwood MO. (they also were instrumental in the restoration of the neon on the Munger Moss sign in Lebanon.”)

A BIG SAL-UTE TO THE EFFORTS OF THE COMMITTEE AND CONGRATULATIONS TO THE COMMITTEE FOR BEING PART OF THE BEST OF ST. LOUIS!

SGF, Kip