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, came up with a suggestion that was a real light bulb moment – and seemed worth repeating. Nicole Van Alstyne offered a scheme for attracting and entertaining Route 66 visitors.
To my way of thinking, if we hope to capitalize on the birthday travelers, Pacific needs a broad plan that would engage all the players – retailers with new products and advertising – event planners who would welcome more attendees – tourism providers who look to visitors for revenue.
Nicole touched on a lot of these things with her idea.
Readers who peruse day old comments can find her idea by scrolling all the way to the bottom of the comments section of the blog. But I want to put it up front because it is a really good idea that shows the scope of what we could do with a good plan if we had the will and wherewithal to implement it.
I have to tell you . . . I do not know Nicole but I’m encouraged by how well she has thought this out.
Here’s what she said:
“How about utilizing the lights on each side of the street for a neon drive experience.
How interesting would it be if you could expand that down the stretch of our town so it’s a neon path with stopping points that are enriched with interesting tidbits of our town’s history, have food trucks or stopping places or coupons available for local businesses.
People travel the Route 66 trail because of history. They are interested in the rich history along the way. Give it to them but make it interesting and unique.
A long path of neon lights on either side would be an unforgettable adventure. You could have them on certain times of year or every weekend. I haven’t heard of anyone doing something like that.
Could start at Jensens’s Point and have neon lights / signs and information at points clear down to the high school.
You could offer a brochure in a welcome kit for all new residents that gives juicy highlights along with advertisements / mini coupons for specific places in town like restaurants, stores, etc. have them placed several places along the way for people to pick up.
That area is completely walkable as well.
Participants could park near Dollar General or across the street and walk it or bike it at night as well.
It could be EPIC and not overly expensive.”
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My conclusion to Nicole’s suggestion is that it’s an outstanding starting point
We don’t have to have a perfect plan to capture some of the enthusiasm for the 2026 Route 66 centennial and turn it into tourism dollars. We don’t all have to agree on every tidbit of history or the location of a mural.
What we need is an idea – a straight forward marketing plan – and we need an individual – a chair person so to speak – who can marshal the community forces into action.
Businesses, civic organizations, schools, churches and city government all play a role in the economy and cultural scene of the community.
If you would be willing to participate in a forum or workshop to plan the celebration, or if you have a marketing idea that local stakeholders could put into action, please add a note at the end of the blog. Include your email or other contact info. We’ll keep a list and get it to the planners once they are established.
great idea, city spent a lot of sales tax dollars on those lights, they could easily be converted to multi- color LED bulbs like downtown St. Louis has installed,They have over 1,000 now. they use WI-FI to control brightness and colors., my understanding is all it should take is new bulbs and a controller to get started. Let Tourism Commission turn loose of some money so Community Development can research some prices.
Put me down for a forum to discus options. MODOT might be cautious since it is their right of way and need regular lights at the intersections.
It sounds like a cool idea to me. However if the city were to invest the money to make the roadway lighting customizable it would probably have to comply with whatever standard regulations MODOT enforces on public roadway lighting. Certain colors like red and blue are usually prohibited as they’re reserved for emergency vehicles, etc. That said, it seems feasible nonetheless… but it’s a not insignificant investment in the lighting hardware required, so due diligence is critical to make sure we don’t throw tax money down the drain on lighting that isn’t legal. It would also require some networking infrastructure so each light has a connection to either the internet or, preferably, a private network – so that the lights can be programmed from a central hub/app. I’d be happy to help with researching this, I have many years of experience in IT and specifically in IoT networks and security.
I should mention Chris Bays -owner of Bays Internet – would be an excellent source of expertise on this subject if the City wants to look into it.
my understanding is that St.L uses a wireless private mesh network where each fixture is independently addressable, they use red and blue on MoDOT maintained downtown roadways.
Please put me down for any Rt 66 committee or meetings. I am very interested in helping the city move forward with any plans and yes I agree with Nicole that is a great suggestion with using the neon.
I’m in for planning and implementing our city’s strategy for this celebration, and I love the neon idea, its on fire!
Thank you so much for repeating my ideas, I just read it and I am truly flattered! I would also love to be a part of a forum or attend an ideas meeting to get this going! I haven’t been here all my life but I have lived In this community since 2005 and visited friends a full decade before that.
Very exciting times for Pacific ahead!
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