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On Saturday, March 7th, The Mill
Museum on Route 66, aka the Logan County Tourism Bureau, hosted a
group of students from the University of Illinois who were
participating in a day-trip tour along Route 66. The group was
greeted by LCTB Director Wanda Lee Rohlfs and board member Karen
Conn. The tour was arranged with Experience Champaign-Urbana and the
Recreation, Sports, and Tourism department at the University of
Illinois. The group included 10 students with two trip leaders and
their bus driver.
The two tour leaders were Todd and Renata, with Todd being from
Central Illinois and Renata being from Croatia. Most of the students
were from Illinois, though it was noted that there were three
international students as well as students from California, Florida,
and North Carolina.
Todd explained that he had chosen
to do tours of Route 66 as part of the university’s heritage tourism
studies. He said that the historical value of the Mother Road
included how it had impacted families and communities. He also noted
that the alignment of the route overlapped with Abraham Lincoln,
which was another important part of history and heritage tourism in
Illinois.
To emphasize the impact, the tour began at Funks Grove, north of
Logan County on Route 66. He said that it was an example of a family
farm that had capitalized on its proximity to Route 66, developing
an interesting tourist stop.
The tour then proceeded to Lincoln for a quick downtown stop to view
the Logan County Courthouse, and next moved on to The Mill.
The visitors went around, introducing themselves, where they were
from and what their primary course of study was. While the tour was
sponsored by Experience Champaign-Urbana and the Recreation, Sports,
and Tourism department at the University of Illinois it was open to
all U of I students. Several of the young people were studying
Recreation, Sports and Tourism, with a couple placing their emphasis
on Heritage Tourism.
The international students, from China and Japan, were asked
specifically if they knew about Route 66 prior to coming to the
University of Illinois. Both said they did not.
One of the international students said that she had read a paper
written by her college advisor and it had piqued her interest in the
historical value of the highway. The other said that she had seen
the offering in the course catalog, read the synopsis and thought it
would be interesting to learn more about the Mother Road. Renata
said that while the credited course does provide reading and other
resources, the most valuable part of the course is the day trip and
the opportunity to meet people who are living the history.
Casual conversation with the group continued for a few minutes. One
of the topics of interest was that Al Capone played into the history
of Logan County Tourism. All the students had heard of the notorious
gangster and were impressed to think that he had been a frequent
visitor of this area and a good friend to one of the colorful
characters of Logan County Route 66, Coonhound Johnny.
The casual conversations took place in the gift shop area of The
Mill. Rohlfs moved the students forward into the actual museum area.
The students browsed around the room, reading the displays that
included stories about the history of The Mill as well as details
about the other Route 66 eateries that are featured. Rohlfs
explained that those restaurants are now gone but their history
lives on at The Mill.
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Students were taken with the
old mechanical foot plunging through the ceiling of the Dutch
windmill shaped portion of the building. Rohlfs explained that
the story goes that Blossom Huffman’s husband was upstairs
working when he stuck his foot on a weak spot of the floor, and
his foot came plunging through. It became a funny story at The
Mill, and the foot was installed soon after to commemorate the
event. Rohlfs said kids in particular found the foot funny and
entertaining, which was good for the parents who had brought the
family in for a meal. She said that the foot in the ceiling now
is the original that was placed in the ceiling many years ago.
After everyone had spent some time
looking around the displays, Rohlfs gave a brief presentation on
tourism in Logan County as well as the history of the development of
the county. She touched on the impact of European immigration
including a brief history of ancestry in the Emden area, a quick
commentary on the Scully family influence in bringing the community
from one of mostly swamp land to one with rich agricultural soils.
She spoke about The Mill and its original footprint and how a
barracks from Camp Ellis had been added to the building to enlarge
the area making room for the dining area, bar and dance floor.
She spoke about the time and talent that has gone into restoring The
Mill so that it can now be used as not only documented history of
Route 66 in Lincoln, but also the primary office for the LCTB.
She talked about the windmill blades that are illustrated on
information about The Mill and noted that the blades are currently
missing. She said the blades had been on The Mill until recently.
When the blades were first installed, they were lit and turned. In
recent years, the blades have been stationary. However, the LCTB has
partnered with other local entities to author a grant application
for Route 66 Tourism. The grant has been awarded, and the LCTB share
is going to be utilized for a complete restoration of the windmill
blades, including the lights and rotation.
She also shared that the new
pavilion, located behind The Mill, will be the setting for a new
event later this summer. Because The Mill was famous for its
Schnitzel, the LCTB will be hosting a Schnitzel fry on the back lawn
in the not-so-distant future.
With the time slot for the stop
coming close, the students posed for a group photo with Rohlfs in
front of The Mill sign before saying their farewells and heading on
to the next stop.
According to Todd and Renata, the Route 66 tour is an annual event
as part of the class. So additional tours at The Mill may be
forthcoming in years to come.
U of I students visit The Mill photo slideshow
[Nila Smith]
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