Work Day at Henry’s Rabbit Ranch

Work Day at Henry's Rabbit Ranch

On October 16, 2010, Kip Welborn, Carolyn Hasenfratz, and Robert Schulz came to Henry’s Rabbit Ranch in Staunton, IL to perform some stabilization work on the rescued signs from the Stanley Cour-Tel and Lin-Air motels. The two motels were torn down for St. Louis airport expansion, and were rescued by Friends of the Mother Road and moved to Henry’s Rabbit Ranch in 2004 were they are on display.

Welborn, Hasenfratz and Schulz are members of both the Route 66 Association of Missouri and Friends of the Mother Road. Friends of the Mother Road is working on raising funds to fully restore the signs. In the meantime, since the signs are stored outdoors it was thought that the signs needed some rust protection, so a work day was scheduled to remove what rust was there and apply rust-inhibiting paint to sides of the signs. Car wax was also applied to the porcelain-veneered fronts for additional protection. The weather cooperated and the work day was a great success! See more photos here: Work Day at Henry’s Rabbit Ranch

New Book About Route 66 in St. Louis Now Available on Friends of the Mother Road Web Site

by Kip Welborn

Things to Look for On Route 66 in St. Louis Our organization is offering for sale a book I penned called “Things to Look for On Route 66 in St. Louis.” It is a book that I hope will guide you down the many alignments that Route 66 takes through the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County-from the Illinois suburbs on the “Eastside” to the Franklin County Line (and will hopefully compliment the new signs that you will find cruising Route 66 in St. Louis courtesy of the Route 66 Association of Missouri). It also points out various “places to look out for” while you are cruising the different alignments, as well as other tidbits about Route 66 in St. Louis. The Book is divided up into the “Salisbury” alignment (which crossed the McKinley Bridge), the “Chouteau” alignment (which crossed the Municipal/MacArthur Bridge); the “Official/Bypass Route” (which crossed the Chain of Rocks Bridge and went around St. Louis); the “City” Route (which crossed the Chain of Rocks and Municipal/MacArthur Bridges and went through the City of St. Louis.); and the later Routes which crossed the Veterans and Poplar St. Bridges. While not every twist and turn in these alignments is covered, you will hopefully see not only most of Route 66 in St. Louis but also a lot of what this great City has to offer. The book sells for $10.00. Mailing costs are an additional $2.25. A couple of bucks will go towards putting the book together, and the rest will go to Friends of the Mother Road, Inc. for preservation efforts (including its efforts to preserve the Luna Motel Sign in Mitchell, IL). It is in black and white and bound so that it is easy to flip the pages while you are cruising. Here’s a chance to figure out Route 66 in St. Louis and how to help icons on our Beloved Mother Road all at once. Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery. Friends of the Mother Road, Inc., thanks you for your patronage and your contribution to its preservation work….Kip Welborn, Friends of the Mother Road, Inc. Visit web site to buy