Hometown Matters

When it became obvious that the Tri-County Senior Center kitchen was running out of steam Terry Noonan Ruyle, Senior Center director turned to the community for help. The first thing to go was the commercial convection oven that has helped the senior center prepare more than 200,000 weekday noon meals for area senior citizens over the past 14 years.  The kitchen also prepared meals for disaster victims, flood cleanup volunteers and first responders. It has been used for local civic … Continue reading “Community Pitches in to Refurbish the Senior Center Kitchen”

A life-sized metal statue once stood on the marquee of the Royal Theater, 301 West First Street, but this bit of Pacific history seems to be gone without a trace. When the Royal was young, gargoyles were all the rage on big buildings, especially movie theaters that were being built in towns and cities across the U.S. I came across a photo of the metal sculpture on the Royal marquee when I was researching the Royal for its latest incarnation … Continue reading “What Ever Happened to the Man on the Marquee?”

The recent blogs on the upcoming 2026 Route 66 centennial celebration generated more than 80 comments on social media and the blog itself. The opinions were a bit fragmented, sometimes criticizing other people’s take on the idea of marketing the town. But the number of comments is significant because it showed a healthy interest in the idea of trying to entice motorists to stop and spend a buck or two in our businesses and attractions. But one reader, in particular, … Continue reading “Talk of Route 66 Birthday Celebration Lit a Lightbulb for One Reader”

The recent board of alderman discussion about promoting the upcoming 2026 anniversary of the construction of Route 66 to aid the local economy stirred up a hornet’s nest of opinions. But, as our current president would say, “Here’s the thing.” It is complicated matter but we can figure this out. In one small snippet of our Route 66 story, we once had a marker on Route 66 that pinpointed the spot where the Confederate Army was stopped on Oct. 1, … Continue reading “Rt 66 at Pacific Promotion Can Be A Tricky Business / But It’s Our Story to Tell”

How does a town like Pacific – which may have the best straight through section of Historic Route 66 of any city between Chicago, Illinois and Santa Monica, California – put together a 100th birthday bash that will get the tourists to stop? The official 100th Route 66 birthday is 2026. That commemorates the year construction started on the road. We have five years to get it together. The birthday party is coming. The federal government has appointed an official … Continue reading “Mayor Wants Citizens’ Help to Map Rt 66 Centennial Celebration. Only Have five Years to Plan and Build”

I normally don’t read love stories. I prefer the grittier tales in biographies and histories. That’s what I thought I would be reading twelve years ago when the late Tom Cronin gave me copies of the letters his father wrote home from this tour in the Merchant Marines during WWII. I thought it was going to be a war story, seen through the eyes of a young man at sea. If I’d known ahead of time that it was a … Continue reading “75 Years Later, a WWII Love Story Told Through a Sailor’s Letters Home”

Mayor Herb Adams says he will begin a nine-month exercise in ‘government by the people,’ as he looks ahead to next April. I’m guessing that most people are familiar with the phrase, government of the people, by the people and for the people. And they take confidence in its intent. A friend and fellow Pacific resident once quoted the phrase to me saying it was the law of the land. Actually, you won’t find it in the Declaration of Independence … Continue reading “Citizen Input Wanted to Help Design City Entrance Complex on Route 66 / Government by the People”

Open House September 25 In 1974 when Bob Chandler bought a new F-250 pickup truck it never entered his mind that his truck might one day be up there in the realm of American pop culture icons along with with baseball, cowboys, Route 66 and apple pie. He just liked to drive. It was a hobby.But like all hobbies, to keep pursuing it the first rule was to keep the thing running and that led to a business that would … Continue reading “BIGFOOT Places Pacific At the Center of Pop Culture – as American as Apple Pie”

Pacific aldermen say there will be no assigned parking spaces on St. Louis Street. They say any motorist hoping to park in front of a residence or business and finding all the spaces filled will just have to drive on and look for the next empty space. They say it is the only reasonable and fair thing to do. At their Tuesday September 7 board meeting, Pacific aldermen declined to act on requests for parking spaces assigned to residents on … Continue reading “No Assigned Parking on St. Louis Street / Motorists Must Look for Next Empty Space”

There are no words to describe the growing body of work that a mixed media artist has created. You have to see it to experience it. And that is what Rex Batson, Pacific’s newest self-styled artist in residence is hoping for. When it comes to words, Batson is a master. He has taught college English and literature for more than thirty years in Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Des Moines. He has edited books for academic authors, big scholastic tomes approaching … Continue reading “Former Wordsmith Switches to Art: Creates Mixed Media Pictures In a Pacific Studio”