Miles of Possibility: The Edwardsville Route 66 Conference - Press Release #1
“Miles
of Possibility: The Edwardsville Route 66 Conference”
EDWARDSVILLE, ILLINOIS, TO HOST MAJOR ROUTE 66 EVENT IN 2015
EDWARDSVILLE, ILLINOIS, TO HOST MAJOR ROUTE 66 EVENT IN 2015
The City of Edwardsville, through its
consultant/advisor, Edwardsville Preservation Commissioner and author
Cheryl Eichar Jett, has announced that it will host a Route 66
Conference on Halloween weekend 2015 at the city's
beautifully-restored arts venue, the historic Wildey Theatre on N.
Main Street, just off Route 66.
Edwardsville's annual tradition of the
Halloween Parade, established in 1924, will celebrate the legendary
highway with a Route 66-themed parade that weekend.
Planning for the event has already
garnered major endorsement. The conference is being supported by the
Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway organization, led by William Kelly,
and the National Park Service Route 66 Heritage Corridor Program,
coordinated by Kaisa Barthuli.by the City of Edwardsville, the primary venue for the
conference is the beautiy-restorhistoric Wildey Theatre on N.
Main Street, just two blocks off Edwardsville's Rout
Conference
attendees arriving early on Thursday, October 29, will find plenty of
activities. Conference registration begins at noon at the Wildey
Theatre where attendees can also enjoy an afternoon tour of the 1909
Wildey Theatre. Also running during the afternoon will be one-hour
tours of Edwardsville's national historic districts. Thursday
evening’s pub crawl will include historic Route 66 taverns as well
as N. Main Street breweries and wine bars.
On
Friday evening, the Wildey Theatre will host a catered dinner for
conference attendees followed by a concert in the Wildey auditorium.
The concert, tentatively featuring the legendary Bob Kuban Band, will fill the
theatre with music from the Route 66 era, and at the Wildey there's
always room for dancing in the aisles!
On
Saturday, the conference sessions will end in time for attendees to
prepare for Edwardsville’s annual Halloween parade, an institution
in the city since 1924. The two-hour parade draws crowds in the tens
of thousands to downtown Edwardsville to see the floats, marching
bands, cars, and creative costumes. The parade this year is borrowing
the Blue Carpet Corridor’s official theme: “Mobsters, Miners and
the Mother Road.” Feel free to attend in costume!
After
the Saturday evening parade, a party for conference attendees will be
hosted by Dr. Nick Gerlich of Amarillo, Texas, and Roamin' Rich
Dinkela, of St. Louis, Missouri, at a TBA venue. Route 66 author and
collector Joe Sonderman will DJ. Costumes optional!
On
Sunday, there will be a Blue Carpet Corridor tour with attractions dees. The Blue
Carpet Corridor Coalition was formed in November 2013 to promote the
section of Illinois Route 66 from Chatham to Collinsville. Blue
Carpet Corridor Coalition President Cheryl Eichar Jett is serving as
Conference Director.
Conference
information and updates can also be found on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/Route66Edwardsville
and on Twitter at Rt66Edwardsville@Rt66Edw.
Email rt66conference@gmail.com.
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