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The Jefferson Bell Tower Festival Plus Sightseeing in Greene & Boone County

June 20, 2013 by Cece

There’s a bunch of pictures in this post, so I won’t write much here. What I will say was I had a wonderful time a being a part of Jefferson’s Bell Tower Festival. I performed both at the opening ceremony on Friday night, as well as a regular performance on Saturday afternoon. Another first for this tour was that I performed as part of a church service on Sunday in Grand Junction, Iowa. The minister said a few words, and then let me perform!

I also got a chance to hang out with a lot of great Iowa Lincoln Highway Association folks during this time, including Bob and Joyce Ausberger, Bob and Janet Owens, Dean and Jeannie Parr, John Fitzsimmons and many more! One beautiful day after the festival was done, the two Bob’s and Joyce took me on a driving tour of Greene and Boone Counties, and I learned more about bridges in one day than I had in my lifetime.

I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves, but if anyone has any questions about the pictures feel free to ask in the comments below. Thanks!

This statue of Lincoln is right next to the courthouse in Jefferson and he faces the highway. An excerpt from his 2nd inaugural address is inscribed below.

The Jefferson Bell Tower is a Carillon Tower that has an observation deck in which you can view the whole city and a couple nearby towns.

The Jefferson County courthouse is truly one of the most beautiful courthouses I’ve ever been in. What a lovely ceiling!

I was honored to be a part of the Jefferson Bell Tower Opening Ceremonies. Thanks again to Bob and Joyce Ausberger for setting everything up!

Hanging out with some LHA folks after performing for the Opening Ceremonies of the Bell Tower Festival.

I was so happy to have my Mom drive down from Minnesota for the Bell Tower Festival, it was great to have her there. Thanks also to our family friend Leann for coming down and taking this picture as well!

Here’s me in the parade! The car is a 1929 Model A.

Here’s a picture of me and Marty, my accompanist for the Jefferson and Grand Junction performances.

Here’s what the museum looks like from the outside.

Here’s another view of the Grand Junction museum.

A great banner done by local artist John Fitzsimmons. You’ll read more about him later.

This Haynes-Apperson car was built in 1902, and is the 1st car ever owned in Boone county, and the 10th car ever owned in the state of Iowa.

Here’s the back of the Haynes-Apperson Car.

It really is the 10th car owned in the state, and here’s the plate to prove it!

Me with Terry, the Mayor of Grand Junction.

This 1914 newspaper was found when they were renovating the museum in Grand Junction. Definitely click on this photo so you can see all of the detail in the paper.

These recreated Burma Shave ads from the heydays of the highway can bee see randomly all over the state. They all are pretty funny too!

This table at the Lincoln Highway museum in Grand Junction has a table that has been covered and lacquered in old matchbook covers. Pretty neat!

Here’s a detail picture of that cool table.

The Eureka arch bridge was built in 1912 and has five large arches spanning the Raccoon River just west of Jefferson Iowa.

The Hillcrest Motel was opened just outside of Jefferson in the in 50’s. When the route was re-routed a few years later, it fell into ruin quickly. There is discussion to restore it back to its original glory and make it a historic site.

The Lincoln Highway has several incarnations as you all know. There were several places in Greene County like this where it went through a person’s property long ago, and then was re-routed. This farm outside of Jefferson has the original route running on their property, and you can see it here between the trees.

Old motel sign just outside of Grand Junction.

Want to know how the Lincoln Highway is spelled in Chinese Characters? This gas station in Grand Junction has it listed on their station.

This Lion’s Club Tree Park and Lincoln Highway Interpretive site is right outside of Grand Junction. It is is located at the point where the Lincoln Highway splits from the newer US 30 and where four bridges cross West Beaver Creek.

The Lincoln Highway wasn’t the only auto trail that was created in the early 20th century, and you can see what their logos/signs looked like here.

The Marsh Rainbow Arch Bridge is located just outside of Beaver, Iowa on the original Lincoln Highway Route. This bridge was one of the earliest bridges of this type, and it was built in the 1910s.

Bob and Joyce posing with two of the bridges that started it all. In the background you have the 1915 bridge, and in the left foreground you can see the 1920s bridge.

Before signs, the routes were painted on telephone poles. This is a faded Lincoln Highway post from that time.

This is the Little Beaver Creek Lincoln Highway Bridge. Note the “L” on the sides of the bridge.

Here’s a full view of the Lincoln Highway Bridge

I saw the leaning shed with the prairie, and thought this image had to be immortalized.

Another Bridge built over the railroad tracks near the Dragoon Trail. Look at that blue sky!

We got lucky when a train passed by I was photographing the bridge!

The Kate Shelley High Bridge (built 1889-1901) is among the highest double-track railroad bridges in the United States. This is the first bridge to be named after a woman in the US, and rightfully so – she risked her life by crossing a railroad bridge to save passengers from a train that had been derailed by flood waters.

View of the original bridge from under the tracks.

You can see the old and new bridge together in this shot.

The Wagon Wheel Bridge was built in 1909, and is one of the few remaining large-scale wagon trusses in Iowa.

John Fitzsimmons is an artist who lives just outside of Boone, IA. He not only does some great artwork about the highway, he also is trying to recreate an old ghost town on his property. Here’s the Miner’s Inn.

This is a picture of John’s barn on the property.

Here’s the happy couple celebrating their 52nd wedding anniversary.

Here’s Bob and Janet Owens, some other great members of the Iowa Chapter. They have been married for 63 years.

This is an excerpt from a 1953 A&W menu. Even back then they had veggie burgers!

Me posing with Bob Owen’s LH Marker in his front yard.

Summary of Eastern Iowa Highlights (Including a Special Trip to Belle Plaine)

June 19, 2013 by Cece

The modern Lincoln Highway Association had its rebirth in Iowa, and for good reason – many of the historic roads and places on the route are still unchanged and/or in use today. Agriculture is still the prominent industry along the route as it would haven been across the nation a century ago. The road has been categorized as a “Heritage Byway” by the state, and the signage here is excellent. You even have the options to take special loop sections along the original gravel routes to really get the old experience of what the route would have been like long ago.

My travels in Iowa thus far on the original route have been tricky. Due to the excessive rain in the state, many low-lying areas and rivers have flooded, and this includes some of the original gravel stretches in Eastern Iowa. Now normally I wouldn’t balk at a little water on the road, but when it has a current running through it, I didn’t want to take the chance. Between the Iowa mud (known as “gumbo”) and the rain travelers faced on the Lincoln Highway 100 years ago, I can see why many travelers turned back at this point.

Before I left Illinois, I received an unexpected but very cool phone call. A 94 year old man by the name of John Schild (known as “Dick” by most), heard of what I was doing. He then asked if we were related, as he had a cousin with the last name of “Otto”. I told him I wasn’t sure, but between us being possibly related, what I was doing for my project, and just exchanging general pleasantries, I had an invitation to visit and tour Belle Plaine, Iowa with John who had spent his whole life in town watching the Lincoln Highway grow and change before his eyes.

I spent about whole day touring the whole city with him, plus I had the pleasure of also having lunch at the Lincoln Cafe and afternoon conversation with him and Bill Sankot, the owner of the Sankot Garage, a place that is on the National Register of Historic Places. The intermittent rain that day facilitated some of the deepest conversations I’ve had on this tour thus far. Back in the heydays of the highway, men would gather at the garage to talk about the news of the day. This particular gloomy Wednesday in June, a 94 year old (Dick), a 60 something year old (Bill), and a 30 something year old (me) sat in the same garage and talked for hours about any and every topic you can think of in society. What did I (Cece) think of the country’s future? Are computers really the downfall of human society? If you could have one modern thing to take back with you a 100 years ago, what would it be? Take these questions and sprinkle in fun stories and anecdotes from our lives (including a few famous people), and you have an amazing, living aural history right in front of you. By the time my day had come to a close my brain was swimming with so much information, I was relieved I had recorded about 80% of our conversations that day.

Before you check out all of the cool photos in the picture gallery below, here’s a couple websites that give more information about the pictures below.

1) Belle Plaine Museum: This museum is quite a find for the area, and has several wonderful collections. A must stop for any Lincoln Highway buff.

2) Youngville Café: Built in 1931, this was a fully functioning gas station, café, and small cabin court along the highway until the late 1960’s. It too is also on the National Register of Historic Places, and now is open a couple days a week for lunch.

And now onto the gallery!

Here’s what both the modern and old Iowa Lincoln Highway Signs looks like.

I’m guessing Lincoln Highway travelers encountered high water like this along the road 100 years ago, but unlike me they didn’t have another route to follow!

Located in Mt Vernon, this is an abandoned stretch of brick road.

Here’s a section of the Mt. Vernon Brick section that has some special details about it.

This abandoned stretch of the Lincoln has a beautiful example of what early an concrete road looks like.

Here’s some detail of the concrete in the abandoned stretch.

Here’s the sign for the Seedling Mile in this part of Iowa which is East of Cedar Rapids.

You can see the change in the pavement in this photo from the original seedling mile pavement to the regular road asphalt that we use today.

This banner on Dick’s barn will greet all of the drivers from a few car tours this summer.

Dick showed me this old picture of what the tourist camp would have looked like along the original route back in the 1920s.

The Lincoln Cafe is another great old stop along the Lincoln, and they’ve got great food.

The Henry Tippie Annex is a great new exhibit in the museum. A prominent businessman, you can see his top ten rules for life.

Some great old sheet music on a piano in the music room of the museum.

Belle Plaine’s piano player reel collection is huge. They have about 200 rolls of music that can still be heard on their player pianos.

This is one of the most beautiful chandeliers I’ve ever seen. On display at the Belle Plaine Museum, this Egerman glass chandelier is a wonderful example of what was the Czech people created with glass in the 1920s. My blue necklace is also made of Czech glass from this period.

Here’s some cool old hotel signs from the Herring Hotel. We’ll see some of the building in later shots.

The Sankot Garage has been a fixture of the Lincoln Highway and Belle Plaine since the 1920s.

Here’s the Neon Sign outside the garage.

Interior shot of the Sankot Garage. Had my father been alive to see this place, I’m guessing he never would have left there! I’ve never seen so many different car parts.

Here’s another view of the front room in the Sankot Garage.

Detail of the Sankot front room’s floor.

Old Clock in the Sankot Garage, which Bill roughly dated to the 40s.

This is an old Edison Trickle Charger. This was used to charge old car batteries.

Here’s a picture of the Model A that Bill is currently restoring. They fired it up, and it runs great!

From Left to Right: Bill Sankot, Me, and John “Dick” Schild

Dick drove me in/around Belle Plaine so I could see some of the original gravel roads of the LH. Here’s the view from the car.

The Herring Hotel was an operating hotel in the heydays of the highway in Belle Plaine. It’s currently under renovation, and hopefully will be restored to its glory.

Dick can around the corner to talk to the owner to see if we could get in so I could take some photos of the area. While I was waiting I took this detail of the original floor.

A few pieces of the hotels’ original ceiling still appear.

Preston’s Garage in Belle Plaine is an important fixture of the highway. It originally was a working gas station on the original route, but when the route was moved in the 20s, the building was pulled by a horse team to the location where it is today.

Anyone who loves old signs will love stopping to view this place.

The Youngville Cafe is one of those place that you wish was open all of time. Open for lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays afternoons, as well as on Fridays for pie and the Farmer’s Market. This early 1930s cafe has been restored beautifully from top to bottom, and is run only by volunteers.

View of the Lincoln Highway from inside the Youngville Cafe.

LOVE this sign, and want it in my kitchen!

Listed on the National Historic Register, Tama’s Lincoln Highway Bridge was built in 1915.

There’s more posts about Iowa after this one, so subscribe to read more!

Take a Step Back in Time at the Lincoln Motor Court

May 11, 2013 by Cece

If you’re out near Bedford, PA and taking a trip along the Lincoln Highway, the Lincoln Motor Court is a place that will instantly transport you to how it truly felt to travel by car all of those years ago.

This place is NOT a chain hotel, so leave your modern conceptions of what a hotel should be like at the door. It is the one of the oldest if not the oldest motor court in the country. The owners Bob and Debbie have put their heart and souls into making this place be what it is for 30 years. The sinks date from the 1940s, but Bob told me that people have been staying in that area of Bedford way before that time. He explains, “Cars overheated easily by the time they got to the top of this hill we’re standing on. The building that’s across from us used to be a hotel/gas station/restaurant (formerly known as the Lincoln Hotel). When the spot couldn’t keep up with the demand, they built this motor court so the additional traffic would have a place to stay. We’ve had couples who have told us they spent their honeymoon here in the mid 1930s, so we think they must have updated the sinks to keep up with the times.”

Here’s a couple photos of the Lincoln Hotel (Bob and Debbie say this property has been abandoned for years):

The Lincoln Motor Court has 12 cottages in total – you can pull your car right up to your door! All cottages have the feel of the past (both interior and exterior), but they do have some modern conveniences to keep you happy (Cable TV, Wifi, Fridge, some have Microwaves). There are two acres of land that you can roam, plus an area where you can build a fire. Each cabin I saw had both a full or queen sized bed plus a twin bed, so you can sleep multiple people comfortably (It IS bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside-a reference for all you Doctor Who fans out there). For those who are exploring this part of Pennsylvania, the Lincoln Motor Court is a great mid-point for you to explore and check out all of the places I talked about in my previous post.

Now without further ado, here’s some pictures of what one of the cabins look like, restored back to its glory:

There are so many things that make this place special to me, but what makes it the most special are the owners Bob and Debbie themselves. They made feel like I was family from the moment I drove up, and I’ll never forget their hospitality and warmth, and I look forward to staying with them again when I’m in the area.

If you are traveling in the area, please try to stop and stay with them if you can-it should not be missed. For more information about the Lincoln Motor Court and/or to make a reservation, head over to their website.

*Note: I was not compensated for my stay for this post, and all of the opinions are completely my own. Thanks!

We did it! Success on Kickstarter, Podcast interview, plus more updates

March 22, 2013 by Cece

It’s been one month since I last posted. Thanks to many you, all funds have been raised on my Kickstarter campaign which means I do not have charge admission to any of my historic concerts on this tour. Again, I thank you all for making this project a big success.

In the last month, the awareness has grown about the project by leaps and bounds which is wonderful! I’ve been featured in a few places this month online, and I wanted to share all of those links with you.

1) My podcast interview with Jon Grayson with Ovenight America is now available online for your listening pleasure. Our 20 minute conversation about this project as well as early 20th Century American Music is definitely worth a listen when you have time.

2) Roadside Author Brian Butko featured my project in a blog post on his Lincoln Highway News website. If you are interested in anything related to this road, you should definitely follow his blog too.

3) Last but not least, Jamie from My Lincoln Highway has been mentioning the project on her website since day one of the campaign. Another great website dedicated to “The Father Road”, Jamie walks different sections of the highway taking beautiful photo essays of what she sees.

I’ll be featured in more media as time goes on, so check back on my website Press page to see it all.

Thank you again for being a part of history, and I hope to see you on the road this year!

American Songline is Live on Kickstarter! Please Help My Project Become a Success

February 20, 2013 by Cece

It’s official! My Project is live on Kickstarter for the next 30 days, and I need your help to make this all happen.

For those of you who don’t know what Kickstarter is, it’s a great way to help people raise funds for projects that matter to them most. From art projects to science research, it’s a fantastic way for people to help a cause directly with no middle person. You can pledge starting in $1 increments, and if you pledge certain amounts you will get a reward from me as a ‘Thank You’ for your help if my overall goal is met. It’s an all or nothing thing with this, so if I don’t meet my goal, no one will get the rewards/have funds taken out.

To donate, please click here

Thank you again for your help in advance, and please tell your friends about it! The more people know about this, the better chance I have or reaching my goal.

–Cece

Happy New Year!

January 4, 2012 by Cece

Control Station Sign, Delphos Ohio — Don’t we wish that all aspects of life had a place like this?

Hi Everyone!

I am back after a few months of leave, and I am glad to be writing again. Thanks for all of your patience. Unfortunately, life doesn’t resolve issues as quickly as we would like them to be resolved. As you saw in my last post, I came home after the Buy-Way weekend to find my house robbed. These thefts in our lives did not stop after that initial incident; we had two other incidences occurring within two months after the August robbery. These three events left my husband and I pretty battered and world-weary to say the least.

The concept of trust as a whole for me was shaken to its core. The quote, “You take the good with bad,” really was true this time. It was very hard to reconcile the good of the last Lincoln Highway trip when I came home to something so devastating. I’ll admit, I was pretty fearful of doing anything with this travelogue. My basic primal fear was that if I left again to do research again, something bad would happen again. Period. I know it seems silly, but that’s how I felt for a while after the thefts.

I knew that I had to let go of all of this in a healthy way, so I went up north on retreat before the holidays, sat with all of emotions of these events along with other events from the last 12 months (including the unexpected death of my father before my wedding), and got my emotions back in check. Grief and loss (including loss of security) is part of everyone’s life, and I know it will never go away fully. The key is to not let the emotions control you of course, but it’s easier said then done.

The last few months have been all behind the scenes work for the journey in 2013. I have been finalizing and rehearsing the concert program you will all hear in 2013. I have been sitting in dusty stacks of sheet music for hours, and pouring over old programs to see what singers performed from 1913-1930. Some of the sheet music is still on order and will be arriving in the coming months. I want to have a good variety of music genres in the program, but still have a cohesive recital that people will want to see. I also have been working on the travel itinerary as well, and I plan to spend roughly 2 weeks in each state when I travel, so I’ll be on the road for about 6 months in total (April-October).

I’ve also started looking at vintage catalogs and books to get a good idea fashion wise how I want to present myself on the road. It will be more of a conservative 1920’s look to keep with the music I’ll be presenting. It’s amazing what little details come into play with something like this.

If you or someone else you know would like to help contribute with this project in one way of another, please send them my way or share this blog with them. While I am the one embarking on this journey, this travelogue is about the communities along the Lincoln Highway as well. You all are stars in this project as much as I am.

I will be posting regularly about my progress, which will include photos and video. If there is something you want me to post about, please let me know. What I think might be boring may be totally interesting to you. If it’s interesting to you, it’s probably interesting to more people out there.

Wherever you all are, I wish you all the best in this new year and I look forward to seeing you on the road in 2012.

Post Buy-Way weekend update

August 16, 2011 by Cece

Hello everyone. You may have wondered my my blog has been silent after the Buy-Way weekend, and this is why.

When my husband and I arrived home from our trip, we found our house was broken into, and the place was ransacked. There are still a lot of things that are happening right now, and what he says in his own blog post is pretty much dead on (click here to read the post).

Emotionally, things are still pretty raw with me right now. Something like this has never happened to me before, and compounded with other losses sustained in the last 12

months, it feels overwhelming at times. People have been very supportive, and I appreciate all of your kind thoughts and prayers. They are still needed and wanted.

I will be writing about the Buy Way weekend, posting pictures and video soon in the coming weeks after doors are painted, closets put back together, and equipment is bought. Please stay tuned for a future blog on the whole weekend.

Take care and stay safe everyone!

Absence makes the road call faster

July 28, 2011 by Cece

“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”- Abraham Lincoln

So I’ve been fairly quiet in the blog world this month. Not because I’ve got nothing to say (my beloved, friends, and family can attest to that), but because I’ve been working on so many other facets of the 2013 concert that are hard to write about.

I’ve been pouring over hundreds of pieces of sheet music from the 1910’s, 20’s and 30’s (some of them the original publications) thinking about what pieces of music I like and would work well for buy cheap viagra online the travelogue, as well as thinking about what format to sing everything in.

I’ve figured out the format now, and am still whittling down the songs for the concert in my own music practice (finding and sight reading all of these pieces takes a long time). I still need help in finding old concert programs from places along the highway. Hopefully I can find some programs soon.

The need to be on the road exploring the highway has been growing stronger since the conference. I was trying to figure out a way to see more of the highway this year, and I found it!

At this time next week, I’ll be driving on the Lincoln Highway for the annual “Buy-Way” weekend. I plan to drive through all five participating states to check out the areas and talk to anyone and everyone I can about the travelogue for 2013.

Here’s my rough itinerary:

I will leave Chicago in the middle of next week and drive east to Pittsburgh via the later alignments of the LH route. I will drive West the rest of the week on the original alignments on the days noted below.

Thursday: West Virginia and Ohio

Friday: Indiana and Illinois

Saturday: Illinois and Iowa (ending in Colo, IA at the famous Reed/Niland corner).

I will be writing from the road as I did in June. If anyone has any recommendations of things I should see while I’m out and about, let me know. I especially want to check out old theatres and opera houses of course.

If any of you will be driving too, please let me know! I would love to see you.

Safe travels!