Route 66 was born 100 years ago. Communities across the nation are celebrating the anniversary this year. The City of Springfield will host the Route 66 Centennial Kickoff Thursday, April 30th through Sunday, May 3rd.
The schedule of events includes the premiere of a new documentary on the Mother Road from Ozarks Public Television.
Documentarian and videographer Nico Burasco sat down to talk about the premiere of “Lost and Found on Route 66”.
KSMU: To start with, with all that's already been documented about Route 66, how did you decide what to cover for this project, and do you feel like there is a through line or a thesis statement for the documentary?
Nico Burasco: Yeah, a lot of the decisions about what to include and what not to include came down to, you know, human interest. I wanted to tell stories that were focused on people and their stories, the livelihoods that they made on Route 66. You know, I didn't want it to be just another kind of catalog of places that opened and closed along the road. The thesis really behind it is the places and experiences that we lost, but also the places and experiences that people are finding now. When people think of Route 66, they think of, you know, the heyday and they think of all the things that have been lost. But when I was researching and talking to people, I found out a lot more people were interested in what the road meant now and what they were doing on the road today and in the future. And so, I thought that was very interesting, you know, and I wanted to highlight what people are doing to preserve the road, what the kind of businesses they're opening along the road, and the kind of new experiences in the future of Route 66.
So, you mentioned that you were kind of surprised a little bit. Are there things in here that you think will surprise people?
I think so. I think the amount of people that really still maintain love for the road and still travel the road, and the amount of international appeal that it still has across the world, and the fact that, you know, especially us people who live along Route 66 that live in these areas, it's pretty mundane. And we just think of it as Route 66. But for a lot of people throughout the rest of the country, throughout the rest of the world, they view it as an emblem of American culture and freedom of travel. And so it was, you know, pretty interesting to learn about all the people that travel from overseas or people that open up new businesses along the road, dedicate their lives and their time to preserving and, you know, learning about the road and continuing that legacy.
What do you think Route 66 means to those people?
I think for a lot of people, there's a certain, you know, nostalgia, kind of preserving, aspects of American culture that have kind of been lost, especially the driving experience. You know, when you're driving on the interstate and you're driving on these highways, what, you know, these kind of super slabs of concrete, you're kind of just flying by and you're not necessarily paying attention to everything that you're passing. But when you drive Route 66, you have to slow down. You have to take turns and curves and drive through forests and, you know, farms and fields. And it's an entirely different experience than driving on the highway. It's less about where you're going and more about how you're getting there and what you're finding along the way. So, for a lot of people, I think it's a way to rediscover small town America, rediscover things that you just don't find on the highway.
Were there any particular things that stand out that you found?
Yeah. One of the many interesting topics we cover is Red Oak II, which is kind of this makeshift town where they've taken all these different buildings from ghost towns and places in rural Missouri and brought it together to create this almost kind of little town, sort of like a 3-D painting you can walk through and people actually live there. They live in the old buildings there, and they've made it their home. They made it a little neighborhood. But it's, you know, a tourist attraction. So, they have people just walking through their yard and, you know, driving through. And it's kind of this little amusement park for Route 66 enthusiasts.
Yeah, that kind of it makes me think of like the roadside giant dinosaur or elephant, like the sort of surreal things you do associate with Route 66.
Route 66 has always been about getting people's attention, trying to get them to pull over. So, whether you said it's like the big giants or the big dinosaurs, people are always trying to get your attention and, you know, trying to do escalating means of getting people's attention. You know, Meramec Caverns has those famous barn paintings. And, that's a lot of what Route 66 is, is DIY culture. It's people, you know, mom and pop shops trying to get people's attention. Supertam Ice Cream is another one. It's an ice cream parlor, but it's filled top to bottom with Superman memorabilia and figurines, and it's kind of this little Superman museum you can walk into and eat ice cream inside of. So, you know, Route 66 is less commercialized and it's more personal. And when you walk into these shops, you really see the personality and the inventiveness of the people who own it.
I think what's really obvious right now, especially, is how many route 66 events there are all across Missouri. How many events did you end up attending? How many car shows did you end up attending?
Quite a lot. Pretty much every city along Route 66 has some sort of festival that they throw, especially during the summertime. So I went to Rolla Summerfest, I went to Lebanon, I went to Joplin, and of course, the Birthplace Festival here in Springfield. And just the amount of classic cars that I've seen is probably in the thousands now. And, you know, those events, they just attract so many people. And it's really a way of keeping Route 66 alive for younger generations. Kind of reminding them of what it meant to, you know, the development of car culture in America and how the route really reshaped travel through the United States. So, festivals like that, they really just keep the name alive and, you know, keep people reminded of the fact that it is a large part of making what America is today.
And people are still coming to America to experience it. Right. You said from around the world coming to drive or bike the route.
Yeah. People from all over. I talked to a couple from Germany and a man who was turning 66, so he wanted to drive 66 now that he had turned 66. And, they start from Chicago and they drive all the way through the Ozarks, keep going west through Arizona and New Mexico all the way to Los Angeles. And it's a way for them to see just a massive swath of America and to just hit the road and not have to worry about, you know, making time or getting to this place at this time and just taking it nice and slow. There's not this large road in most countries where you can drive this massive distance, especially without needing passports or going into a different country, because America is just geographically so large, and because you can drive state to state with no issue. It's just a way for people to hit the road and not have to worry about anything.
Lost and found on Route 66 will screen Saturday at 3 p.m. at the historic Fox Theater in downtown Springfield, with a Q&A to follow. It will premiere on Ozarks Public Television on May 11 at 8 p.m.
Editorial note: transcript edited for clarity.