According to an e-mail from the director of the National Park Service, Glenrio’s historic district — which comprises most of the Route 66 community straddling the border between Texas and New Mexico — was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jan. 17.

Glenrio’s location in two states (and two counties) at once meant that the laws varied from one side of town to the other. For instance, Deaf Smith County, Texas, is dry, while Quay County, N.M., is wet — so all the bars in town were built on the west end of town, across the New Mexico state line. Differences in property and income tax rates influenced decisions about where to construct homes and businesses. And because the state line is also the dividing line between the Central and Mountain time zones, everything happens an hour earlier on the west end of town.

Glenrio is probably best known to Route 66 travelers as the home of the often-photographed First and Last Motel in Texas (visible in the background of the photo above). The motel’s two-sided sign informed eastbound travelers that it was the “First Motel in Texas,” while westbound travelers were given to understand that it was the “Last Motel in Texas.”

Glenrio, like many Route 66 towns, was a casualty of the interstates. Bypassed by I-40, the little town at Exit 0 faded for want of tourist traffic. Today, its population includes a few humans (most of whom live in large, relatively new homes south of 66); free-roaming horses, cattle, and goats that graze in front of abandoned gas stations and motel rooms on Route 66; and a large, brown dog of uncertain pedigree who watches over the old buildings and can occasionally be persuaded to pose for a photograph.

Tucumcari’s Odeon Theater, an old Art Deco gem located just off the Mother Road at 123 S. Second St., also was added to the National Register on Jan. 17. The theater boasts glass-block windows and a large, pink neon marquee with yellow zia symbols at the top and bottom. We happily forked over $3.50 each to see a movie there a couple of years ago. The film itself — Kangaroo Jack — was quite possibly the worst film we’ve ever seen, but the building’s historic character and reasonably priced concessions more than compensated for the screenwriters’ failings.

An extensive list of recent additions to the National Register can be found here. 

(Photos by the Red Fork Hippie Chick.)

Here’s a video of a new song, “Route 66,” by the Jimmy: Damm Suess Band. It’s self-deprecating and rocking at the same time. The singing’s not great, but the guitar riffs are aces. The song is from the San Diego band’s album, “Summer Time Fun.”

The video was definitely shot on 66, but I’m not sure where. I’m thinking Glenrio at the Texas-New Mexico border in one scene, and central New Mexico in another.

Buena Vista announced in early January the coming releases of a bunch of special Blu-ray Discs specially made for HDTVs. Among the coming Blu-ray releases is “Cars” this summer.

For the uninitiated, Blu-ray discs contain a lot more data than standard DVDs or even HD-DVDs, making them ideal for the burgeoning high-definition television market. The picture and sound are reportedly awesome, but it’ll cost you — it’s hard to find a Blu-ray player for less than $1,000. Here are the FAQs on Blu-ray.

The news release at the Disney Blu-ray site doesn’t have a firm date for “Cars” that I could find, other than Summer ‘07. The Upcoming Pixar blog reports that the release date for Blu-ray “Cars” will be June 5. Either way, we know it’s definitely coming after months of speculation.

That just adds to the speculation, however, of a special two-DVD version of “Cars,” along with a lot more extras, being rolled out about the same time. Stay tuned.

I think it’s time to describe Geoff Ladd as A Guy Who Gets Things Done.

First, the Logan County tourism director fended off a very likely demolition of The Mill along Route 66 in Lincoln, Ill., eventually will rehab it and convert it into a tourism center.

Now, according to today’s Lincoln Courier, Ladd has secured the Giant Abe Lincoln in a Giant Covered Wagon from Divernon, Ill., and moved it to Lincoln.

Getting the wagon was accelerated by a donation from Larry Van Bibber.

“I saw it and I saw they were trying to raise money for it,” Van Bibber said, “and I wanted to do it. I am happy to be in the position to make the donation. I know it will benefit the people of Lincoln and Logan County.”

Van Bibber expects the wagon, which is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records, to draw tourists through Route 66 promotions and events.

“God has blessed me in my finances and I feel like giving back to my community,” said Van Bibber, who has also given more than $43,000 to The Oasis senior center.

The fiberglass Abraham Lincoln is 12 foot in length (seated) and weighs 350 pounds. Abe is seated on the front of a wagon that hand-built of oak. The wagon is 24 feet tall, 12 feet wide, 40 feet long and weighs 5 tons. The front wheels are 10 feet tall and the back wheels are 12 feet tall.

According to the article, the Abe and wagon will be at Woodlawn Road and Route 66. There will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the wagon sometime next week.

UPDATE: The Bloomington Pantagraph also has a story, along with photos.

As a Route 66 aficionado, I don’t need encouragement to patronize mom-and-pop businesses. Visiting independent stores remains a vital part of the Mother Road experience. So a documentary that advocates supporting mom-and-pops is preaching to the choir.

However, I learned from the just-released DVD of “Independent America” (subtitled “The Two Lane Search for Mom & Pop”) that my practice of shopping at local businesses not only helps them, but it also provides a much bigger boost to the local economy than shopping at national chains.

The documentary “Independent America” was created by the husband-and-wife journalist team of Hanson Hosein and Heather Hughes. They saw ripples of a revolt developing across the nation against “big box” national chains, and they drove cross-country to talk to Americans about it.

During their journey of 13,000 miles in 52 days in a cramped SUV, the filmmakers had to abide by two rules:

1. No interstates. They must travel only on secondary highways and country roads.
2. The could do business only with mom-and-pops. That meant no chains. That meant no McDonald’s, no Holiday Inns, no Wal-Marts.

During their trek, Hosein and Hughes managed an excusion down Historic Route 66 in Arizona. They spoke with John Pritchard, owner of the Hackberry General Store. They chatted with John Delgadillo between pranks at the Snow Cap Drive-in in Seligman. And they talked with Angel “Guardian Angel of Route 66″ Delgadillo at his barbershop / souvenir store in Seligman.

Even during the beginnings of Route 66’s rebirth, foreign tourists urged Angel not to change his approach:

“In 1988, tourists say, ‘Angel, when you let a McDonald’s come in here (to Seligman), I don’t want to come in here anymore. I can see that in Germany.’

“We are losing our own identity by going too much with the big conglomerate businesses. America still needs America of yesterday.”

Angel’s daughter Myrna Delgadillo, who helps run the store, agreed:

“Someday there isn’t going to be this. It’s all going to be corporate business. No one’s going to know what mom-and-pop is like … no one is going to know what customer service is like. It’s going to be just one big, square box. There’s going to be no uniqueness to anything anymore, and that’s what we’re trying to preserve.”

It’s been rough for independent businesses. Forty percent of indie bookstores have closed in the past decade. Nearly 11,000 independent pharmacists have shut down. Entire downtown business districts have been decimated. There are plenty of national chains to blame, but the filmmakers concentrate on three — Starbucks, Borders and Wal-Mart.

The chains’ influence is pervasive. In Yelm, Wash., the city council prohibited the use of the words “big box” and “Wal-Mart” during the public comment portion of meetings. When cities show reluctance in allowing another big box, the chain finds a way to put the issue on a ballot initiative and then floods the local media with ads to sway voters.

In one particularly disturbing instance, Wal-Mart ran a full-page newspaper ad that compared Flagstaff, Ariz., government to Nazis. (Wal-Mart later apologized and fired the ad agency.)

But people are fighting back:

• Teenagers in Port Townsend, Wash., try to draft an anti-chain law after an independent video store is threatened by a nearby Hollywood Video.
• Unhappy residents in Durango, Colo., vandalize a downtown Starbucks.
• Independent stores in Austin, Texas, scare off a nearby chain.
• More towns consider zoning restrictions against big boxes.
• 24 states consider legislation against retailers that have a disproportionate number of employees enrolled in government-health programs.

The film makes a compelling case for mom-and-pop shopping by citing the “multiplier effect.” For each $100 spent in local businesses, it benefits the local economy an average of 3 1/2 times more than spending the $100 at chains. That’s because money spent in chains is funneled out of town to corporate headquarters. Money spent in local businesses spreads out among other local businesses.

And the Santa Fe Alliance espouses a “10 percent challenge.” It urges residents to spend at least 10 percent of their income at local shops so that more money cycles through the community. (The filmmakers said in a recent blog entry that their rate is close to 50 percent.)

In Powell, Wyo., the couple found a mom-and-pop success story in the Powell Merchantile Inc., aka The Merc. Powell sat too far from the interstate for national chains to be interested. So residents pooled their money at $500 a share and opened their own clothing retail store. The store has made money “since day one” and attracted national attention.

If the subject matter sounds a bit clinical, it’s not. “Independent America” is a crisply edited, fast-moving film over its 81 minutes. It also helps that Hosein and Hughes are engaging hosts. While searching for an independent motel in Brownfield, Texas, we react with the same shock and dismay as they drive down a deserted, boarded-up downtown.

What’s refreshing about “Independent America” is it’s not all finger-pointing. In the film, Jennifer Rockne of the American Independent Business Alliance says “people (must) realize the solution lies within themselves” to help local shops survive and dilute the influence of corporate behemoths.

Watching “Independent America” could have been a depressing experience. Instead, it inspires viewers to patronize mom-and-pops. It provides ideas and solutions. “Independent America” induces you to take action, not mope.

Highly recommended.

(”Independent America” is available for $19.95 from its Web site. As for my review copy, which the couple generously mailed to me free of charge, it’s going to be donated to my local library to help spread the word.)

Periodically, I get e-mails from the good folks at Roadside America, informing me about updates to the site.

The latest edition has few new reader tips that should be of interest to Route 66 fans:

• The big cross just off Route 66 in Edmond, Okla.  It’s big, but not nearly as huge as the one just off 66 in Groom, Texas.
• The late Larry Baggett’s Trail of Tears memorial near Jerome, Mo.
• The gas station ghost off old 66 at Bristow, Okla.

And here are Route 66-related field reports from Roadside America editors:

• The world’s longest map of Route 66 at Meteor City Trading Post in Arizona.
• The restoration of the Cool Springs Camp between Oatman and Kingman, Ariz. Cool Springs has its own Web site here.
• John Hargrove’s OK County 66 near Arcadia, Okla. As far as I know, this is the only online information about this attraction. He has built replicas of many attractions on Route 66.

It’s always a treat to visit to Henry’s Rabbit Ranch, located on old Route 66 in Staunton, Ill.

Not only is proprieter Rich Henry an affable host, but it’s fun to pet the ever-mellow Montana, one of his 37 pet rabbits, and see the new stuff Henry has acquired or planned.

Henry’s has a well-stocked souvenir store shoehorned into his insurance and tag agency. His building is such a authentic-looking reproduction of an old Standard gas station that it fooled an EPA official, who demanded that Henry remove the nonexistent underground gas tanks.

Henry also has a couple old trucks and trailers from the defunct Campbell’s 66 Express trucking line of Springfield, Mo., complete with the Snortin’ Norton camel mascot. He also has plenty of other Route 66 memorabilia.

Henry has a new 9-foot-tall fiberglass bunny in which kids of all ages can ride in the saddle, similar to the one at the Jackrabbit Trading Post in Arizona.

Henry wrote:

Eventually it will be on a small fabricated trailer made just for it, where I can move it around on the ground here and, also, take it to Route 66 events, like Litchfield, Edwardsville, and maybe even Springfield, Illinois.

The big news is that Henry, taking a page from Cadillac Ranch near Amarillo, is creating his own Rabbit Ranch. It will be made of seven Volkswagen Rabbits planted nose-down into the ground, with one emerging face-up from the ground. He hopes to have that finished by June 1.

Henry also sent a picture of the Tale of Ears, a memorial park for his departed pet bunnies.

If you’re traveling near Staunton during the daytime, I recommend a stop at Henry’s Rabbit Ranch.

Greater Tulsa Reporter Newspapers has a story about the ongoing restoration and re-erection of the historic Meadow Gold neon sign on 11th Street (Route 66) in Tulsa.

Much of the information has already been reported, but the article fleshes out new material about the sign’s restorer, Claude Neon Federal Signs, and its work:

The sign couldn’t have fallen into more capable hands than CNF Sign’s old signs restoration designate, Tony Record, whose real title is fabrication supervisor. Record headed up the sign company’s team of craftsmen who restored the vintage Atlas Life sign and the Circle Cinema marquee, both Tulsa landmarks in their own right.

The goal is to structurally restore the sign to its original state while retaining its vintage look and feel. The sign’s insides had long served as home for pigeons and their associated acidic droppings that eat through the corrosion resistant aluminized steel sheets used to make sign boxes and channels. As much as possible of the old portions of the sign boxes will be saved and patched up with similar metals and riveted together to restore structural integrity. The porcelain sign faces will be carefully buffed back to their original luster and all the neon tubing and fixtures will be replaced.

“This is a beauty and when we get through with it people will enjoy it for years to come. We really love this kind of project,” says Record.

The Meadow Gold sign will be re-erected on a new canopy near 11th and Peoria Avenue in Tulsa.

Today, Randy Newman’s song, “Our Town,” performed by James Taylor, was nominated for an Academy Award for Original Song.

Here is the song and its key scene from the hit Pixar animated movie, “Cars.”

“Our Town” is available on the “Cars” soundtrack. And, yes, the album and song both are available on iTunes.

The Disney/Pixar animated movie “Cars,” which takes place on Route 66, was nominated for two Academy Awards today.

One nomination was for Animated Feature Film. The other nominees were “Happy Feet” and “Monster House.”

The other nod was for “Our Town,” written by Randy Newman and performed by James Taylor, for Original Song. Three of the other nominees in that category were from the musical “Dreamgirls” — “Listen,” “Love You I Do” and “Patience.” The fifth and final nominee was Melissa Etheridge’s “I Need to Wake Up,” for the documentary “An Inconvenient Truth.”

The complete list of Oscar nominees is here. A complete list is also here at the Academy Awards Web site, but it wasn’t up before the wire services got it.

My initial reaction is that “Cars” is nearly a lock to win for Animated Film. As for original song, its chances are good. “Dreamgirls” having three nominees in that category actually dilutes its chances of winning. The Etheridge song is really good, though. I’m a bit shocked that “Song of the Heart,” written and performed by Prince for “Happy Feet,” wasn’t nominated. The exclusion of “Song of the Heart” greatly improves the chances for “Our Town,” which is tied to a memorable scene in the film and is performed by a beloved baby-boomer singer.

I’ll post more “Cars”-relevant stories about the Academy Award nominations later today as they become available.