{"id":1278,"date":"2015-01-05T19:34:04","date_gmt":"2015-01-06T01:34:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.route66alliance.org\/?p=1278"},"modified":"2015-01-08T00:13:29","modified_gmt":"2015-01-08T06:13:29","slug":"historic-u-s-66-highway-association-reborn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.route66alliance.org\/?p=1278","title":{"rendered":"Historic U.S. 66 Highway Association REBORN"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oklahoma\u2019s \u201cFather of Route 66\u201d Cyrus Avery\u2019s 1927 Organization Reestablished<\/span><\/p>\n

Tulsa, OK, January 5, 2015 \u2013 Dormant since the 1970\u2019s, the original and most influential Route 66 organization, the U.S. 66 Highway Association, is being re-established following the consolidation of the Route 66 Alliance and the National Historic Route 66 Federation. Originally, created in 1927 by enterprising Tulsan, Cyrus Avery, known today as the \u201cFather of Route 66,\u201d the U.S. 66 Highway Association dominated as Route 66\u2019s singular national umbrella organization for nearly 50 years.<\/span><\/p>\n

Avery\u2019s grandson, Cyrus Stevens Avery II confirmed today that Michael Wallis\u2019s Tulsa-based Route 66 Alliance and the National Historic Route 66 Federation run by Executive Director David Knudson in California have consolidated their organizations under the U.S. 66 Highway Association\u2019s re-established banner. The historic announcement will combine both groups\u2019 resources under the Avery association\u2019s auspices.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the decades since the U.S. 66 Highway Association was dormant, no entity had definitively established itself as the sole national clearinghouse of information for Route 66 enthusiasts. As a combination 501c3 and 501c4, the Alliance and Federation under the re-energized U.S. 66 Highway Association banner will accomplish that goal, creating a collected entity with international reach and influence.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re delighted that Michael and David will continue the family legacy,\u201d Avery II stated this morning. \u201cMy Grandfather created 66 in Tulsa, Michael is a fellow-Tulsan, and both he and David have done well to carry my Grandfather\u2019s vision forward these past many years.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

David Knudson\u2019s California-based National Historic Route 66 Federation is responsible for the 1990\u2019s legislation that established the $10 Million funding bill aimed at preserving Route 66. Through it, the Route 66 Corridor Program overseen by the National Park Service was established.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been discussing partnering since late 2013,\u201d said Knudson. \u201cThere\u2019s a perception of division between our organizations, but we\u2019ve always shared a mission statement of Route 66 preservation, promotion, and education. Creating unity to quiet the dividers while also reaching our global fan-base made sense.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As the voice of the sheriff in Disney\/Pixar\u2019s 2006 film Cars, Wallis has a fan base of his own. A three-time Pulitzer-prize nominee, he wrote Route 66: the Mother Road in 1990, the book commonly seen as a catalyst to Route 66\u2019s nostalgic rebirth. He established the Route 66 Alliance in 2008 with co-founder Rick Freeland to ensure the road\u2019s survival for future generations and he travels extensively each year promoting it. Says Wallis, \u201cU.S. 66 is another piece of the puzzle for Tulsa to reclaim pride of ownership over Route 66\u2019s heritage. Tulsa, my friends, has always been the \u2018Washington D.C.\u2019 of Route 66.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The U.S. 66 Highway Association also re-registered the names Route 66 Association and the Highway 66 Association, which it was sometimes referred to. \u201cWe\u2019ll use those again too,\u201d laughs Avery II. \u201cAnything we were then, we\u2019ll be again.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oklahoma\u2019s \u201cFather of Route 66\u201d Cyrus Avery\u2019s 1927 Organization Reestablished Tulsa, OK, January 5, 2015 \u2013 Dormant since the 1970\u2019s, the original and most influential Route 66 organization, the U.S. 66 Highway Association, is being re-established following the consolidation of the Route 66 Alliance and the National Historic Route 66 Federation. Originally, created in 1927…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.route66alliance.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1278"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.route66alliance.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.route66alliance.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.route66alliance.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.route66alliance.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1278"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.route66alliance.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1278\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1329,"href":"http:\/\/www.route66alliance.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1278\/revisions\/1329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.route66alliance.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.route66alliance.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.route66alliance.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}