The Pontiac (Ill.) Daily Leader was there Wednesday when Betty Estes was inducted into the Illinois Seniors Hall of Fame. She’s been a major Route 66 booster in the Pontiac region.

Asked what she was most proud of in her work with the city of Pontiac, Estes said it would have to be the Route 66 museum and the Livingston County War Museum, which her late husband, Dal, helped found almost nine years ago.

“The hall of fame has opened up our town to visitors that ordinarily wouldn’t have stopped here, and we’re talking thousands,” Estes said. The Route 66 museum draws about 1,000 visitors a month, and has been visited by people from all 50 states and from at least 30 countries. […]

“I knew that visitors were stopping at the Dixie (truck) stop,” she said about the original location for the Route 66 Hall of Fame, and she believed that if tourists and others had better space and there was more space to keep artifacts, a museum in Pontiac would be a success. Estes was tourism director and worked with then-Mayor Mike Ingles, City Administrator Robert Karls, the City Council and other city staff to convince the Illinois Route 66 Association to relocate the hall, with the city remodeling the old fire station’s first floor. The second floor has since been remodeled as well to expand the museum.

“I had no conception that it would bubble up like it did,” Estes said of the museum’s success in Pontiac. “I’m amazed, I’m pleased and it also says something about the people that come here.” She said visitors, especially those from overseas, come for the nostalgia of what Route 66 once was.

A little background: One of the reasons the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum moved to Pontiac was because the Dixie Truckers Home in McLean had changed hands a few years ago after decades of family ownership. It threw the future of the museum into uncertainty, so the Illinois Route 66 Association found a new home for much of its Route 66 collection.

The Funks Grove rest area on Interstate 55 in Illinois, near Bloomington, has a nice little Route 66 display area. Here’s a video of what it looks like:

The rest area was named the best in Illinois a year ago.

The Bloomington Pantagraph gave what amounts to a progress report on the restoration of The Mill in Lincoln, Ill.

The circa-1929 bar and restaurant on Route 66 is getting a face-lift after years of neglect.

Tidbits from the story:

• Local organizers seek to have it reopened as a museum in 2009.
• Contributions of time and money for The Mill’s rehabilitation are about one-quarter to the goal.
• Hopper’s All Around Hardwood Floors and More is donating the flooring for the project.

OK, I get it now.

For years, I had heard many older roadies wax enthusiastic about the “Route 66″ series that aired on CBS-TV from 1960 to 1964. I’d missed the reruns of Buz and Tod’s cross-country adventures in a Corvette convertible. Save for haphazardly made bootlegs, the TV show hadn’t made its way to DVD.

But now that I’ve watched the first 15 episodes of “Route 66″ on DVD, courtesy of Roxbury Entertainment and Infinity Entertainment, it’s easy to see what all the fuss was about. The four-disc set of “Route 66, Season One, Volume One” proved to be entertaining and provided a snapshot of post-1950s America. “Route 66, Season One, Volume One,” which hits the streets today, encompasses episodes that aired from October 1960 to January 1961.

Many of you know the premise — Tod Stiles (played by Martin Milner) is left with a Corvette but little else after his father dies. Tod and the street-tough Buz Murdock (by George Maharis) hit the road to look for adventure and themselves.

Milner’s sideways grin and easy-going nature proved quietly effective on “Route 66.” But even 47 years later, it’s easy to see why Maharis was considered to be the true star of the show. His smoldering intensity made him compelling, and the camera loved him. It’s no surprise that his departure in 1962 because of hepatitis crippled the show.

The scenery became a third star of “Route 66.” It was the only television show of its time to shoot on location, and it gave an air of authenticity to where Buz and Tod landed. In those first 15 episodes, you see the two working on an offshore oil rig, hanging out on the beaches of Malibu, chasing bad guys on a boat in New Orleans, cruising through Zion National Park in Utah, driving logging trucks through Oregon timberlands, piloting a shrimp boat in the Gulf of Mexico, punching cattle in Texas, and harvesting dates in the California high desert.

The episodes also serve as a sort of a time capsule of America — where neon signs in front of businesses were more common, where guys wore suits on a night out, and where standard vehicles now look so cool.

The 15 episodes in the DVD set include guests who would become bigger stars — Jack Warden, E.G. Marshall, Suzanne Pleshette, Leslie Nielsen, Jack Lord, Joey Heatherton and Lee Marvin. Noted director Arthur Hiller also guided two of the episodes in this set.

One of the keys to “Route 66’s” excellence was Stirling Silliphant, who wrote scripts for 13 of the 15 episodes here. He produced snappy dialogue, and his storylines often unfolded gradually. The first episode, “Black November,” is a good example of Silliphant’s skills. Its tale about a small Southern town holding a terrible secret had me sitting upright, wondering what would happen.

Roxbury Entertainment reportedly used duplicates of “Route 66’s” original film stock during the remastering process. The result is a sharp picture — certainly miles sharper than what you would have seen when the show first aired. And you’ll hear Nelson Riddle’s memorable “Route 66″ musical theme and its variations with more clarity.

Of course, the DVD also exposes limitations of the original medium. Film degradation is seen in a few spots, and a low hum lurks on the soundtrack on portions of two episodes. Still, “Route 66″ aficionadoes will be thrilled with how good these programs look.

On the fourth disc is 10 minutes of original commercials that aired during “Route 66.” That included Bayer (”Instant Flaking Action”) Aspirin, Phillips’ Milk of Magnesia tablets, and spots about the new Corvair, Biscayne and Impala by Chevrolet, which touted itself “The Greatest Show on Worth.” Those ads are a hoot, and provide another snapshot in time.

That disc also contains an overview of still photos and text about the Corvette from model years 1953 to 1962. Two interesting factoids: Chevy nearly discontinued the Corvette in 1955, and it once offered a six-cylinder model.

About halfway through the set, you got the sense that the “Route 66″ was starting to hit its stride, which makes future DVD releases a promising prospect.

Also, “Route 66″ slyly conveyed the growing restlessness in young people at the time. World War II veterans, grateful to be home and alive, hunkered down to raise families and didn’t make waves. “Route 66″ touched on themes such as bigotry and domestic violence, and the next generation was ready to address those issues that had been long ignored.

The Fifties were over. And “Route 66″ knew it.

Recommended.

Robby Love, aka the Roller Rapper, has posted another excerpt from his as-yet-unreleased documentary from his Route 66 tour last year.

He didn’t actually roller-skate the entire length of Route 66, but he did roll by some picturesque places. The footage of the Glenrio ghost town is particularly choice.

Dwayne of New Zealand has posted a couple of more videos from his Route 66 trip.

This one takes place in Texas, with prominent visits to the U-Drop Inn in Shamrock and the Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo.

The next one takes place mostly at the ghost town of Glenrio and eastern New Mexico, including Tucumcari’s Blue Swallow Motel.

Both are worth watching; he filmed a lot of interesting things.

Texolot has posted a video tribute to Cadillac Ranch, located just west of Amarillo, Texas.

Lara Hartley of the Victorville (Calif.) Daily Press takes a look at several good, vintage motels on Route 66 in the area, including the Wigwam Motel in Rialto, the Route 66 Motel in Barstow, and the Downtown Motel in Barstow.

And for those of you who are looking for such properties to buy, the Route 66 Motel is up for sale after 25 years of ownership by Red and Mridu Shandil.

The “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” show on the Food Network visited several Route 66 restaurants in its latest installment.

The show included Cafe on the Route in Baxter Springs, Kan.; the Rock Cafe in Stroud, Okla.; and Emma Jean’s Holland Burger Cafe in Victorville, Calif.

If you missed it, you can see the “Route 66″ episode at these times: 5:30 p.m. Oct. 21, 11:30 p.m. Oct. 21, 2:30 a.m. Oct. 22, 8:30 p.m. Nov. 23, 3:30 a.m. Nov. 24, 10 p.m. Dec. 10, 1 a.m. Dec. 11, 11:30 p.m. Dec. 23, and 2:30 a.m. Dec. 24. All times are Eastern.

Wong Kar Wai’s film, “My Blueberry Nights,” is set to be released in Canada on Feb. 13, according to the Empire Movies site.

Most movies are released wide in North America on the same date, so I’m assuming the film will open in the United States the same week. I’m unable to verify this, however.

A few Route 66ers in Canada I know will be happy to get the news. For our other foreign readers, he’s a list of “My Blueberry Nights” release dates in other countries.

Here’s the film’s tie-in to the Mother Road, which appears to be quite extensive:

Norah Jones plays a sensual, alluring young woman who sets out on an unforgettable journey of discovery in pursuit of true love. In heartbreakingly beautiful locations and classic Route 66 atmospheric diners, Wong Kar Wai’s captivating heroine encounters a series of enigmatic characters that help her on her quest.

Set against New York’s magical cityscape and the stunning vistas of America’s legendary Route 66, the celebrated director’s first English language picture embraces his signature elegance and originality that made “Happy Together,” “In the Mood for Love” and “2046″ must-see movies all around the world.

The film also stars Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, Natalie Portman and David Strathairn. That’s a lot of total Oscar nominations in one film.