Announcing the 2024 Keynote speaker!

JOEL'S BIO:  Joel Baker is the founder and owner/operator of American Giants. For over a decade Joel has dedicated himself to researching and finding the 1960s giant advertising figures called Muffler Men. With the popularity of these giants resurging, Baker continues to research the giant and the company that made them, International Fiberglass. Finding lost giants, restoring them and setting them back up has also turned into services he offers others as demand grows for the vintage giants. Joel also works closely with the American Giants Museum in Atlanta, IL where much of his personal collection is on display.  

JOEL'S PRESENTATION DESCRIPTION COMING SOON!

CASEY'S BIO:  Casey Claypool has been the Executive Director of the Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway since March of 2020. Currently, she sits on the Board of Directors, is the Treasurer, and chairs the Economic Development Working Group for the Road Ahead Partnership. She launched the Route 66 Monarch Flyway Initiative in 2020 and heads the Extraordinary Women Task Force in Illinois. Additionally, Casey sits on the Illinois Route 66 Centennial Commission and is on the Board of Directors for the Old State Capitol Foundation and the International Mother Road Festival.

In late 2021, Casey and her husband, Steve, purchased Doc’s Soda Fountain in Girard, Illinois, renamed the historic business to Docs Just off 66, restored the old soda fountain, and added a restaurant and bar.

SUSAN'S BIO:  Former newspaper reporter Susan Croce Kelly may be best known as the award-winning author of Route 66, The Highway And Its People, a book that helped launch the world's renewed interest in the old highway. And her newest book, Newspaperwoman of The Ozarks, The Life and Times of Lucile Morris Upton, delves into the world of an early twentieth-century newspaperwoman and the excitement of being on the front lines of news-gathering in the days when the whole world turned to newspapers to find out what was happening. But Father of Route 66 is the first in-depth exploration of Cy Avery’s life and his impact on the movement that transformed twentieth-century America. Kelly grew up along Route 66 in St. Louis and has worked as a newspaper and magazine journalist, columnist, travel writer, and editor. She founded and edited Ozarks Magazine, a regional magazine that celebrated the unique land and people of the Missouri and Arkansas Ozarks. Today, she is managing editor of OzarksWatch Magazine, which focuses on the history and culture of the remarkable, and often misunderstood, region.

SUSAN'S PRESENTATION:  Susan Croce Kelly's presentation will be “Father of Route 66: The Story of Cy Avery,” based on her 2014 book of the same name. If it weren’t for Cy Avery’s dreams of better roads through his beloved Tulsa, the United States would never have gotten Route 66. Susan's presentation, like her book, is the story of Avery, his times, and the legendary highway he helped build. The story begins with the urgency for “good roads” that gripped the nation in the early twentieth century as cars multiplied and mud deepened. Avery was one of a small cadre of men and women whose passion carried the Good Roads movement from boosterism to political influence to concrete-on-the-ground. While most stopped there, Avery went on to assure that one road—U.S. Highway 66—became a fixture in the imagination of America and the world.

In the years when the United States was moving from steam to internal combustion engines, Avery came west in a covered wagon, grew up in Indian Territory, and spent his adult years in oil-rich Tulsa, where fifty millionaires sat on the Chamber of Commerce board and the builder of the Panama Canal dropped in to size up a local water project. Cy Avery was a farmer, teacher, real estate professional, oil man, and politician, but throughout his long life he remained a champion for better roads across America. He stood up to the Oklahoma Ku Klux Klan, hatched plans for a municipal airport, and helped build a 55-mile water pipeline for Tulsa. The centerpiece of his story, however, is Avery’s role in designing the national highway system, his monumental fight with the governor of Kentucky over a road number, and his promotional efforts that turned his U.S. 66 into an American icon. 

JUDY'S BIO:  Judy's experience includes: Certified National Main Street Manager, a National Trust for Historic Preservation Program; created Downtown Collinsville, Inc. 501(c3) and served for over ten years as the Director of revitalization efforts; Volunteer project manager for the non profit World’s Largest Catsup Bottle Preservation Group; completed a $100,000.00 fund raising effort to restore the 170’ water tower in 2 years. 

Judy's awards include:  Received the Mid-West Living Magazine’s “Hometown Pride Award” for the World’s Largest Catsup Bottle project; Catsup Bottle selected as one of 40 Illinois preservation successes in 40 years by Landmarks Illinois, Chicago; 2012 recipient of the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation “Advocacy” award for the World’s Largest Catsup Bottle, given by Landmarks Illinois, leading preservation for the State of Illinois.

Education:  BFA in Interior Design, Graduate Historic Preservation Program, University of Hawaii, and Miami University, Ohio.

MIKE'S BIO:  Mike's experience includes:  Senior graphic designer/department head for Engraphix Signage Co, St Louis. MO; Volunteer marketing and media director for World’s Largest Catsup Bottle; Volunteer for Downtown Collinsville, Inc. as graphic designer for corporate imaging and creator of monthly newsletter for the organization; served on the board of directors for DCI.

Education:  BFA from SIU Carbondale in graphic design.

JUDY & MIKE'S PRESENTATION DESCRIPTION COMING SOON!

JIM'S BIO:  Hinckley is the author of 22 books including The Route 66 Encyclopedia, Murder and Mayhem on The Main Street of America: Tales From Bloody 66, and Ghost Towns of Route 66. He has shared the Route 66 story at conferences and festivals in the United States and in Europe. 

JIM'S PRESENTATION:  Author, humorist, and historian Jim Hinckley of Jim Hinckley’s America will make a presentation about the marketing and promotion that transformed Route 66 from a highway into an American icon. In this program Hinckley will trace the evolution of the highways marketing from establishment of the U.S. Highway 66 Association in 1927 to the recent European Route 66 festivals. It is a story of innovative marketing strategies, cultural shifts, and visionaries that made the Main Street of America into the most famous highway in the world. 

BILL'S BIO:  Bill Iseminger was born in Bloomington, Illinois and grew up in Arlington, Virginia. He earned his B.A. in Anthropology at the University of Oklahoma and his M.A. at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. His archaeological experience includes projects in South Dakota and several regions in Illinois, including excavations and surveys at Dickson Mounds, Kincaid Creek, and the lower Kaskaskia River Valley. He worked at Cahokia Mounds for five decades (1971-2019) as assistant manager in charge of exhibits, interpretation, public relations, and the intern program, and for several years he led public field schools in excavations on the Stockade, Woodhenge, and Mound 50. He has written extensively about Cahokia Mounds and archaeology, including his books Cahokia Mounds: America’s First City and Identifying and Understanding Artifacts of Illinois and Neighboring States, and more recently From McLean to Mobile: A History of the 94th Illinois Infantry Regiment Volunteers, 1862-1865: The Mclean Regiment. Bill and his wife Gloria live in Columbia, Illinois.

BILL'S PRESENTATION:  This presentation will cover the sequence of cultural traditions near the confluence of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Illinois Rivers, that culminated in the development of America's first city – Cahokia Mounds. The site's major features will be discussed, including Monks Mound, the Woodhenge, the Stockade, and Grand Plaza, as well as the rise and demise of Cahokia and what archaeologists have learned about this dynamic urban complex and its influence throughout the Mississippian world.

CORY'S BIO:  Cory is President and CEO of Great Rivers & Routes Tourism Bureau where he works to promote domestic and international visitor travel. The region is where two of the nation’s great roadways come together (Route 66 and the Great River Road) along the confluence of America’s three great rivers (Mississippi, Missouri, and Illinois). Cory has a wealth of experience in the tourism and hospitality industry, spanning more than twenty years in various roles in Illinois state government, including as the former Director of the Illinois Office of Tourism.

GEOFF'S BIO:  Geoff Ladd is the co-chair of the Route 66 Monarch Flyway, which is now a committee of the Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway. 

GEOFF'S PRESENTATION: The "Flyway," which the Illinois Monarch Project debuted on November 18th, 2020, is a 66-mile-wide corridor that stretches from Chicago to St. Louis across the State of Illinois. The project is seeking to bring the unique aspect of Route 66 to Illinois’ efforts to help the monarch butterfly by planting native wildflowers and restoring habitat projects within the corridor. Geoff will give an overview and have information on how to participate in the program.

BENJAMIN'S BIO:  Benjamin Lowder is an artist who transforms fragments of vintage metal signs and reclaimed wood found along Route 66 into geometric assemblages that take on new life as art objects. The geometry guiding Benjamin’s artwork is inspired in part by the triangulated patterns of Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic domes. Benjamin works as the Center Director of the Fuller Dome, Center for Spirituality and Sustainability, on the Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville campus. Benjamin also serves on the Board of Directors for Buckminster Fuller’s historic Dome Home in Carbondale, Illinois. Buckminster Fuller was a world-renowned inventor, author and futurist who lived and worked in Southern Illinois during one of the most important decades of his life. Fuller is most famous for his iconic geodesic dome patent. The region crossing route 66 from St. Louis to Carbondale is the most important region in the world for domes designed and built by Buckminster Fuller and companies he founded. To introduce more visitors to Fuller’s legacy, Benjamin hosts an architectural tour of this region featuring stops at the Climatron dome in St. Louis, the 400-foot-diameter Wood River dome, the miniature-earth dome on the SIUE campus, the Mary Brown Center dome in East St. Louis, and Fuller’s dome home in Carbondale. Mid-century modern architecture and architectural tourism hold world-wide fascination and Buckminster Fuller’s domes across the region are poised to be global attractors as the world discovers these architectural treasures. 

BENJAMIN'S PRESENTATION:  Benjamin will share the fascinating history of the miniature-earth dome that Buckminster Fuller designed just off Route 66 for the SIUE campus. He will also take us on a virtual architectural tour across Southern Illinois and St. Louis sharing the rich architectural history through which Route 66 passes. The triangle-faceted geometry of Fuller’s geodesic domes, that are scattered across this region like precious gems, has inspired Benjamin to create a series of artwork that is on exhibition as part of the 2024 Miles of Possibility Route 66 Conference.

RHYS'S BIO:  Rhys lives in Tulsa and fell in love with Route 66 as a photographer first. He became an advocate for the road after attending a bridge preservation event in 2015. Since then he has become passionate about the road, its past, and its future.

Rhys also represents the Association as a member of the Route 66 Road Ahead Partnership, the Route 66 Alliance, the Tulsa Route 66 Commission, and the Oklahoma Route 66 Centennial Commission. He is generally available to speak to groups and has helped others plan travel itineraries.

RHYS'S PRESENTATION DESCRIPTION COMING SOON!

MARK'S BIO:  Mark Pierce has been a journalist and corporate communications leader in the St. Louis area for more than 30 years. A graduate of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Mark’s love of music and connections with many who played pivotal roles in the Mississippi River

Festival story served as inspiration to write the first book that truly tells the MRF’s story.

MARK'S PRESENTATION:  For 12 summers, the Mississippi River Festival (MRF) brought musical diversity to the region, committed to featuring multiple genres of music like rock, classical, jazz, dance, barbershop, theater, and bluegrass. The outdoor concert series attracted more than a million fans and showcased legendary artists like The Who, Bob Dylan, the Grateful Dead, Heart, the Eagles, and Janis Joplin. The MRF was held on the campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, which borders Route 66 south of Edwardsville.

With rare, vintage photos, When the Stars Came Out is a presentation, based on Mark's book of the same name, that offers a unique perspective into the efforts of those who created the festival, those who worked during its 12-year run, the performers who created history, and the audience who keep the memories still alive today.

CINDY'S BIO:  Local historian Cindy Reinhardt has been researching and writing about Madison County for over thirty years. During that time, she has uncovered dozens of stories about Madison County residents who were nationally known during their lifetimes but are no longer remembered. The list of those forgotten includes inventors, politicians, authors, entertainers, and more. Reinhardt’s publications include two books, “150 Years of Hometown News,” a book that celebrates the sesquicentennial of the Edwardsville Intelligencer, and “Leclaire,” a pictorial history of the Leclaire National Historic District from Arcadia Publishing. She has written hundreds of articles highlighting Madison County history for local, regional and state publications. In addition, she is the author and editor of the award-winning MCHS News, published by the Madison County Historical Society.

JOE'S BIO:  Joe Sonderman is a St. Louis area radio personality and traffic reporter who has been writing books on Route 66 for 15 years. Since that first work, he has been collecting Route 66 postcards and photographs, some never published before, along with new research on the paths Route 66 took through the area to come up with an entirely new look at Route 66 St. Louis Style .

JOE'S PRESENTATION:  Joe's presentation will be based on his new book for Arcadia Publishing, Route 66 St. Louis Style, including discussing St. Louis' multiple alignments. For Route 66 to become the most famous highway in history, it had to pass through the "Gateway to the West." St. Louis is the largest city between Chicago and Los Angeles, and "St. Louee" comes first on the list of those that Nat King Cole and many other artists sang out on "(Get Your Kicks) on Route 66." The highway took a maze of different routes, including crossing the greatest of rivers on a bridge with a bend right in the middle. The roadside was lined with flashing neon, classic diners and gas stations where attendants provided speedy service. Also, there were classic amusement parks, drive-in theaters, a man selling frozen custard from a building adorned with wooden icicles, and a motel with a racy but beloved reputation. 

BILL'S BIO:  In 1964, Bill piled into the back of a Chevy BelAir station wagon and joined his family on a cross-country Rt. 66 road trip from Illinois to Disneyland. There was no air conditioning and no seat belts. It left an impression. Some 50 years later, Bill is actively involved in efforts to preserve, promote, and economically develop Rt. 66. He serves as Chairman of the Rt. 66 Road Ahead Partnership, sits on the Illinois Rt. 66 Scenic Byway Board, and is economic development director for Logan County. He's ready for another road trip any time, but with air conditioning and seat belts, please.

DAVE'S BIO:  David Tucker worked 60 years in the private sector in the hospitality and food service industry – from truck stop to fine dining, from a campground to a Holiday Inn.
The past 10 years, after Route 66 Enlightenment, have been focused upon promoting local tourism and the building of a museum as the cornerstone of a downtown redevelopment project in Gillespie.

DAVE'S PRESENTATION DESCRIPTION COMING SOON!