Madison Yohn, marketing content manager for Visit Springfield, said the VP of Marketing Andrea Copeland came to her with the idea for a documentary.
“She really thought that people in Springfield just didn't know a lot of the importance of Route 66 and how it really is a huge part of our community,” said Yohn. “And so, that was the story that she wanted to tell, and she kind of turned to me and said, ‘[let’s] make this happen.’”
“Working here for seven years, I've made a lot of different relationships, and I just know a lot of quirky things about Springfield, and so Andrea really turned to me for that,” she added. “[Andrea] was like, ‘I know you know the cool spots, the good stories. I want to lean on you for that, to find those stories, the people to interview.’”
Yohn said that much of the process of planning the series had to do with picking interview subjects and spots to highlight.
“When it came to picking those places, I was going for things on Route 66 that I thought were important,” said Yohn.
She created a contact list for the series with information on Route 66 history to back her suggestions.
Among the suggestions was the Joyce Theatre, the Shrine Mosque, Rail Haven Motel and Rockwood Motor Court.
To film the series, Visit Springfield commissioned Josh Kingham Productions, run by Kingham, a local freelance photographer and videographer.
“Josh has worked on a couple projects for us, and he was so excited [to work on this],” said Yohn. “He’s lived in Springfield for a while, and he was excited to be able to tell those stories and be able to hear stories firsthand.”
“He knew a little bit about Route 66, but I think this process really just kind of opened his eyes to a lot of it,” she added. “Overall, after working on this project with everybody, it just gave [everyone a] deeper appreciation for Springfield and its history.”
Yohn said this experience is what Visit Springfield hopes to offer for viewers of the series.
She felt the community wasn't embracing its history, she said. But "after the centennial, I feel like people have a much greater appreciation for things in their city and that Springfield is really cool,” said Yohn.
All four episodes of the series are available for viewing on the Love Springfield, Missouri YouTube page.