Elkhart Schedules Rt. 66/Shirley Temple Wayside Exhibit Opening

[October 23, 2014]  LINCOLN - The Village of Elkhart will officially open their Historic Rt. 66 Statue and Wayside Exhibit at a Ribbon Cutting Celebration on Friday, October 24 at 4:30 p.m. The statue and informational exhibit is located in the lot to the west of Elkhart’s Village Hall and compliments the Village’s ongoing initiative to make Elkhart a special stop for Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway tourists. Following the ribbon cutting, there will be free continuous showings of the movie Little Miss Broadway starring Shirley Temple.

As one of nine Illinois Route 66 communities receiving the new series of interpretive statues and corresponding wayside panels, the exhibit is part of a grant program through the Federal Highway Administration's National Scenic Byway Program and the Illinois Office of Tourism.

Listen to http://peoriapublicradio.org/
post/side-trips-along-mother-road-rt-66-signs
-and-statues-spotlight-towns  for more about the Rt. 66 exhibits. Elkhart’s theme is 1930-1940s restaurants and gas stations in Elkhart on old Rt. 66. The exhibit focuses on Shirley Temple’s stop at The House by the Side of the Road restaurant in 1938 and the Shell Station and roof top garden.

Immediately following the ribbon cutting, there will be free continuous showings of the movie Little Miss Broadway at 5:00, 6:30 and 8:00 p.m. in Elkhart’s Village Hall.

Child star Shirley Temple was on her way to the premiere of this movie in Springfield when she stopped at Elkhart to eat.

Little Miss Broadway is a 1938 musical drama film about a theatrical boarding house and its occupants. See http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Little_Miss_Broadway#Plot  for more about the film.

Concessions will be available during the movie, and opportunities to win Rt. 66 and Shirley Temple prizes. Shirley Temple books and movies will be on display in the Elkhart Public Library during the week of Oct. 20-25.

[Peggy Lee, Trustee, Village of Elkhart]