By Fox23.com News Staff
TULSA, Okla. — The president of the Oklahoma Route 66 Association, Rhys Martin, spoke at the Rotary Club of Tulsa on Wednesday about the Mother Road and its centennial.
Martin discussed the history and preservation of Route 66 as the state continues preparations for centennial celebrations this year.
“Route 66 is full of all kinds of great attractions, museums and small businesses, but its biggest asset is the people who operate these places, the Route 66 fans who travel the road and people from all over the world that have chosen Route 66 as the lens they want to view this entire country through,” said Martin. “The real focus is making sure people know that when they take a road trip on Route 66, take some time to talk to the people, learn their story. They are going to want to hear your story too and that’s what is going to stick with you when you get back home.”
Martin is an author and photographer from Tulsa whose love of travel began in 2009 when he sold all of his possessions and spent ten months backpacking through Southeast Asia and Europe. After returning home, he rediscovered Oklahoma by exploring the back roads of the store before eventually traveling all 2,448 miles of Route 66.
Martin shared what it means to him to have the Rotary Club of Tulsa reach out to him to speak at the event.
“Rotary is all about service,” said Martin. “So many of the people who have turned Route 66 into what it is today were the same-minded people. This Rotary Club was the home club of Cyrus Avery who is known as the father of Route 66. This is a man that people know for his association with the Mother Road, but he was involved in so many projects in Tulsa and Oklahoma. He was very civic-minded. So it’s always great to come and talk to a bunch of like-minded people that service matters and that no great thing is possible through just a single person.”
Since 2019, Martin has served as the president of the association, which he said has been around for more than three decades.
“We’re really happy that our headquarters is currently in Tulsa because the City of Tulsa takes Route 66 very seriously,” said Martin. “They put money behind the neon sign grant, the facade grant to help with historic preservation. So when I travel Route 66 around the country and I tell people I’m from Oklahoma, they say ‘boy what do you guys have in the water out there?’ They’re really excited and they want to learn about what we’re doing. The whole road is really one long, linear village. So it’s just an honor to be able to help represent it in this amazing centennial here.”
Martin said there are all kinds of centennial events being planned across the state right now.
“Tulsa’s got its big classic car cruise coming up on May 30 and Oklahoma City has a concert happening the same night. There’s a national caravan that I’m working on that’s going to cover the entire road throughout the month of June,” Martin said.
You can learn more about the upcoming events by clicking here.
