Palms Grill & Atlanta awarded, recognized & promoted at Illinois
Governor's Conference on Tourism
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[March 01, 2013]
ATLANTA -- Lumi Bekteshi, head
waitress at the Palms Grill Café in Atlanta, has won the Best
Supporting Actress award at the Illinois Governor's Conference on
Tourism in Rosemont Feb. 27 to March 1. The award is part of a
series of new Illinois Office of Tourism "Lincoln Awards" given out
this year at the conference. The awards were inspired by the
Oscar-nominated Steven Spielberg blockbuster film "Lincoln."
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"Everyone in Atlanta is very proud of Lumi and all her
accomplishments, especially her pie baking! This has been a big year
for her; first she became a U.S. citizen and now she's a best
supporting actress. She's living the American dream, and we're happy
she calls Atlanta home," said Bill Thomas.
Thomas, a longtime entrepreneur and promoter of tourism in the
community, was instrumental in driving the reopening of the iconic
Route 66 diner and adjacent Atlanta Museum in May 2009. This process
included grant funding from the Illinois Office of Tourism and the
National Park Service Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program. The
diner is located on the original section of Route 66 at 110 SW Arch
St. in Atlanta.
In addition, a promotional video featuring the Atlanta Route 66
tourism success story was featured with the conference's keynote
address by Jen Hoelzle, deputy director of the Illinois Office of
Tourism. Hoelzle emphasized the 43 percent increase in the city's
sales tax revenue since the reopening of the Palms Grill. Atlanta
and the Palms Grill are also featured by the state tourism office in
new television and print media campaigns that were also unveiled at
the conference.
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![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2010/Jan/07/images/ads/current/guzzardo_lda022609.png)
The Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway and Abraham Lincoln Tourism
Bureau of Logan County congratulate Lumi Bekteshi, Bill Thomas,
Atlanta Mayor Fred Finchum, the citizens of the community and
traveling patrons to the Palms Grill and Atlanta.
[Text from file received from
Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of
Logan County]
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2013/Mar/01/images/ads/current/pestcontrol_bch_termites.png) |