Route 66 Association of Illinois visits the Mill on Route 66 Museum

 

[June 15, 2021] 

After enjoying a wonderful banquet at the Lincoln American Legion and spending the night in Lincoln motels on Saturday, the Route 66 Association of Illinois on Sunday paid a visit to the Mill on Route 66 Museum before leaving town.

Because of the pandemic, the association has not been to the Mill since 2019. In that interim the ownership of the Mill has gone to the Logan County Tourism Bureau, and the Bureau has invested several dollars in preserving the building and redesigning the displays.







LCTB Interim Director Cindy Smith and board member Nila Smith spent the morning with the guests at the Mill talking about the work that has been done, the new design and new focus of the displays and sharing bits of historical knowledge about the Mill.





All the comments from the Association members were positive as they came in and first appreciated the coolness of the building on a very warm day.

The LCTB has added climate control to the building to address the comfort of guests, but also to reduce the humidity in the building, which will go a long way to preserve the displays.

The Association is partially responsible for that environmental improvement. The group donated cash to the Mill specifically earmarked to assist with the heating and cooling in the building.

A fun part of the day came from the efforts of Mill employee Mariah Burns.

Burns was hired by the LCTB to be the primary person at the Mill this summer. She will be at the Mill from noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

In her first week, Burns has had a chance to explore the Mill and as she went along, she created a scavenger hunt for children.

The kids on Sunday had a great time finding the many items on the scavenger hunt list, many of them with help from parents and grandparents.





The gift shop area at the Mill was also a huge success. Guests were gathering up local souvenirs including commemorative coins, post cards, frig magnets, coasters and many, many shirts.

The group arrived at a little before 9 a.m. and lingered until after 10:30 a.m. before heading on “up the road” toward Chicago.

[Nila Smith]