"Rendezvous Back to Route 66" Event a Success

On Friday and Saturday, Oct. 10 and 11 at San Manuel Baseball Stadium, the “Rendezvous Back to Route 66” event was held. The event came about in 2013 when the San Bernardino Chamber of Commerce wanted to bring the spirit of Route 66 back to life throughout the local community. There were so many festivities being held throughout the weekend. Friday’s activities included prize wheels at multiple booths that were set up, trivia contests, many classic cars and food, drinks, and music. Saturday was filled with similar activities and cars, as well. In the information booklet they were handing out for free at the event, Mayor R. Carey Davis wrote a little welcome note to all the community members joining in on the event. “This highway is more than a road that helped people get from one place to another: it is responsible for being a catalyst for the cruisin’ culture and the love affair that Americans have with their automobiles,” Davis said. There were three different parking lots reserved mainly for community members with their classic cars to park. Many of the car owners set up their tents and chairs up-right next to their car and relaxed with food and drinks from their local vendors. There were 40 winners among the classic cars. Sponsors of the event picked the Top 40 classic cars throughout the whole car show. “There were a lot of winners... and I was told that there were a very good quality of cars this years,” Judi Penman, President and CEO of San Bernardino Area Chamber of Commerce, shared. She commented on how supportive the entire community was that helped made this event successful. “There was so much going on, it was just a really fun event... people were still coming in at 8 and 9 o’clock at night,” she shared. Dr. Richard Hart, President of Loma Linda University, allowed the open parking lot across the street from the stadium, where they will be building a new facility, to be used for parking. “This was a huge part of the event,” Penman shared. Not only did he allow the space for parking but he hired two men and secured equipment in order to blade down the lot so it would be smoother for the attendees. Penman added, “The volunteers and community put it on, no one could have done this alone...that is what makes an event like this successful.” This year was filled with supporters and sponsors who were all instrumental in making the car show happen. Sponsors of this car show include: Ford, IEHP, Route 66, Alta Vista Credit Union, Loma Linda University Health, Inland Center, Marinello Schools of Beauty, Chili’s, McDonald’s, Costco, Burger Mania and many more.