Day 2: October 10, 2025 Let There Be Conference Comment via blog

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Kicking off the conference was Debyjo Ericksen, a member of the hard working trio behind the Miles of Possibility operation, introducing the Mayor of Joliet, Terry D'Arcy. Mayor D'Arcy then greeted us and welcomed us to the city. He was followed by key note speaker, Rhys Martin, President of the Oklahoma Route 66 Association and a very active member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Rhys avoided spending a lot of time on history that most or all attendees already knew, and used his time to describe his view of the road's future.

Terri Ryburn, another member of the MoP trio, handled some of the MC duties that included introducing Kate Gillmann who spoke about recent DCEO (Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity) Route 66 Grant Projects in the First Hundred Miles. Regular MoP participant Jim Hinckley was not able to attend in person this year, but provide a recorded talk that was presented with the help of Jeff Ladd, a key member pf the MoP team.

For lunch, we headed to Jitters Coffee Shop about a block away where the Lincoln Highway and US 66 once met. On the way back, I snapped a picture of the scaffold covering the front of the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum. The museum suffered some serious tornado damage last year and repairs are ongoing behind the scaffolding. Back at the Joliet Area Historical Museum, host of the conference, I snapped a picture before we went back inside.

Greg Peerbolte, who would lead an optional tour of the Joliet Prison later, began the afternoon session with "Joliet History, Prison, and Attractions". He was followed by Peter and Tracy Flucke and "Looking at Historic Route 66 Through Bicycle and Pedestrian Eyes". The Fluckes have crisscrossed the U.S. on a tandem bicycle and talked of their travels well beyond Route 66. Author Amy Steidinger closed out the day's presentations with "Old Joliet Prison: If Those Walls Could Talk".

In the evening, we were treated to a concert from the excellent Eagles tribute band "Flatbed Fords" which includes Illinois Rock & Roll Museum founder Ron Romero. The concert venue was the impressive Roxy Theater in Lockport. The evening included a greeting from Lockport Mayor, Steven Streit.

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