Route 66: Sign Re-Lighting at the Luna Cafe in Mitchell, Illinois

We have a Great Route 66 event next weekend in Mitchell, Illinois (about 20 minutes from downtown St Louis, Missouri).  It is good to see the old neon signs along Route 66 be re-lit one at at time.  I saw the announcement that matching funds had been awarded to help re-light the Luna Cafe sign and I look forward to seeing the sign in all its brilliance.

The Illinois Route 66 Association provided the following announcement on their webiste regarding the re-lighting ceremony for the Luna Cafe sign in Mitchell, Illinois (a suburb of St Louis in the St Louis Metro East):

Please join your fellow roadies on Saturday evening October 22, 2011 for the special relighting event of the classic neon sign at the historic Luna Cafe in Mitchell, Illinois.

Please find attached for your reference and review the official announcement that I sent to various media sources.

For those of you that may not be exactly sure how to reach the Luna, it is located approximately 5 miles east of the Chain of Rocks Bridge on Route 66 in Mitchell, Illinois. Its actual address is 201 East Chain of Rocks Road, Mitchell, IL 62040.

If accessing the location off of Interstate 270, you can take Exit 6 for Illinois Route 111 North - go to first major intersection and turn left (that's west) on E. Chain of Rocks Road (old Route 66). You'll see the old Bel Air Drive-In sign on the northwest corner of that intersection. The Luna will be on your right about 1 mile or so down.

These annual relighting parties on the Missouri side have been really neat events the last three years, and its a special experience to celebrate the restoration and rebirth of these vintage neon Route 66 signs.

So, grab your calendar and mark the date down now --- plan to get down to the Luna around 6:00 PM so you won't miss the actual "flip of the switch"! We anticipate a well-attended event with roadies from Missouri, Illinois, and other locales near and far.

Jim also says, "We want a big showing of Route 66 roadies for this event, as the owner of the Luna (Larry Wofford) is planning for a big party! In fact he's going to have fried chicken and beans and cole slaw ready for 200 people. And special commemorative t-shirts will be available for purchase at a reasonable price also. Should be quite the event!"

Here is a Google Map of the location of the Luna Cafe:



View Larger Map

Looking forward to seeing you at the Luna!