 All are welcome
to attend or to register their car in the show.
Registration is $5, which will go directly to restoration of The
Mill.Visitors will be able to participate in rare treats, such as
tours of the building restoration in progress and great food. There
will also be a 50-50 drawing and a display of antique cars.
All members of the Railsplitter Antique Auto Club along with the
general public are invited to this fun-filled event.
Geoff Ladd, chairman of the Route 66 Heritage Foundation of Logan
County, said: "It's great to have them coming in to help us. I'm
looking forward to seeing all the cars and having a lot of great
food to save The Mill. The Railsplitter Antique Auto Club has been
fantastic and makes this event possible."
Music will be provided by local favorites Vintage Daze kicking
things off at 11 a.m. Concessions will be provided by Susan Shaw of
Central Illinois Catering.
For more information on the car show portion of this event, call
217-732-3245.
The Route 66 Heritage Foundation of Logan County was created to
promote and preserve Route 66 sites in Logan County, after the
historic Mill restaurant was slated for demolition. Working with the
owner and city council members, the organization managed to save the
building from the wrecking ball. The Mill is now a construction site
as volunteers work to restore the building to its former condition.
The Railsplitter Antique Auto Club has been an active
organization in downtown Lincoln and hosts cruise-ins throughout the
spring, summer and fall. They're always looking for new members, so
come out to the Mill and join up. This club brings a fantastic array
of antique autos for display.
On Oct. 8, a week after the car show, the Route 66 Heritage
Foundation of Logan County will once again offer a Bloomington-based
Spirit of Tours ghost investigation at The Mill. Having such a great
history, the building is sure to hold some "spooky" inhabitants.
This ghost hunt will be led by spiritual medium Deborah Carr Senger.
For more information and tickets for this intriguing event, go to
www.spiritsofbloomington.com or call 309-846-4306.
The Route 66 Association of Illinois will be on hand Oct. 15 for
the annual workday at The Mill. This group, as in the past, has
teamed up with the Route 66 Heritage Foundation of Logan County to
do some sprucing up at the site. Items on the to-do list include
scraping and painting the exterior of the structure. Volunteers are
asked to just show up and dress accordingly for a productive day.
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To wrap up the month, Spirit of Tours will return on Oct. 22 to
host a "Ghost Bridge Ghost Walk" down abandoned old Route 66 in
Lincoln to the "Ghost Bridge" and visit the grave of Coonhound
Johnny, who smuggled hooch up and down the storied highway. Hear
infamous and rare stories of spirits and unexplained events up and
down the Mother Road. It's a perfect way to kick off the Halloween
season and get your ghostly kicks on Route 66. Reserve early as
space is limited.
The Mill opened in 1929 under the name of the Blue Mill. Its
proprietor was Paul Coddington, who would serve patrons grilled
sandwiches at any hour of the day or night. A Dutch-themed building
with blue trim, it featured at revolving windmill and waitresses
dressed in blue with white aprons. In 1945, Albert and Blossom
Huffman purchased the building, added a barroom and dance hall, and
then painted the building barn red. Over the years, the restaurant
became famous for its fried schnitzel, originally made of veal, and
later of pork. By the mid-1980s the building had lost most of the
Dutch-themed interior and was becoming a museum of rather strange
objects, including a mechanical leg protruding from a hole in the
ceiling. The Mill closed in 1996; however, the building is still
standing in its original location.
The Route 66 Heritage Foundation of Logan County has just wrapped
up extensive work on the interior of the building through funding
from a National Park Service grant that helped with repair to the
foundation, floors, windows and electricity. The opening of the site
as a museum is coming very soon.
If you have questions or would like more information regarding
The Mill or the Route 66 Heritage Foundation of Logan County, please
call 217-732-8687.
[Text from Route 66 Heritage Foundation of Logan
County]
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