Although Uncle Sam doesn’t consider it an official highway anymore, Willowbrook and Burr Ridge officials said this week that they will throw a real shindig honoring the once-great Route 66.
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The Willowbrook/Burr Ridge Chamber of Commerce will hold “Cruisin’ 66 in Willowbrook and Burr Ridge” July 9-11 along a half-mile stretch of North Frontage Road near Joliet Road, the former Route 66.
The event will include rides, food, entertainment, car shows, a sock hop, safety displays, Route 66 memorabilia and a parade along the original Route 66 between County Line Square Mall in Burr Ridge to the main festival grounds on Frontage between Quincy and Madison Streets.
Burr Ridge officials have indicated that they would contribute police services and $1,000 in hotel/motel tax funds toward the event, said chamber member John Edmunds. Willowbrook officials this week waived all license fees for the event and have budgeted $5,000 for the fest, said Philip Modaff, Willowbrook public services director.
Chamber members acknowledge that the fest’s theme is unusual. But after 10 years of the Summer Business Expo and a small Village Fair last year, the group concluded the communities were ready for a change, said chamber member Patrick Rhea.
“And let’s face it, there aren’t a lot of noteworthy sightseeing places between Burr Ridge and Willowbrook,” Rhea said. “Route 66 is something that we can claim.”
The highway, immortalized in songs and a television series, officially began in Chicago on Ogden Avenue and ran through Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California, ending in Los Angeles.