This episode of Big Blend Radio's "Historic Jefferson Highway" Show is packed with news from the road. As always, the show features Roger Bell, Co-Host and President of the Jefferson Highway Association, along with host and producer Lisa D. Smith. Roger had barely pulled into the driveway from the Crossroads of America Centennial Conference in Joplin, Missouri before joining us to share the highlights, announce where the 2027 conference is headed, and help us celebrate the launch of the new monthly Jefferson Highway Travel Guide.

In 1926 and 1927, Joplin's Chamber of Commerce promoted the city as the "Crossroads of America," where the Jefferson Highway (the Pine-to-Palm route) met Route 66. This year's conference marked 100 years since that designation, and the Route 66 Association of Missouri joined in the celebration. Roger says it was the best turnout yet from tourism bureaus and travel writers, with attendees from every state and province on the route, plus visitors from Ohio, Illinois, and Michigan. Most arrived as strangers and left hugging each other goodbye.

At Schifferdecker Park, site of Joplin's original tourist camp, Daniel Hershberger set up a full 1920s-style tourist camp, surrounded by Model Ts and three vintage camping trailers. CeCe Otto performed highway songs in the museum, closing with her own Jefferson Highway and Route 66 twist on "This Land Is Your Land." Roger also gave a Medal of Merit Award to 20-year-old Ian Borges of Muskogee, Oklahoma, who drove his own Model T, dressed in period clothing, and camped primitive-style overnight, just like a 1920s traveler.

The pre-conference tour traveled the historic route from Harrisonville, Missouri, with stops in Nevada, Missouri, at the Jefferson Highway archives at Pittsburg State, and at Miners Hall Museum in Franklin, Kansas. The biggest surprise came in tiny Opolis, where the whole group squeezed into the post office, housed in a former general store. The postmaster had never seen a group that size walk through her door.

Stinky the donkey, the Jefferson Highway mascot and travel companion to our pink sock monkey Priscilla, now has a paper travel buddy. Flat Stinky rode along in every conference bag, and one young attendee loved hers so much that when his ears tore off, she chose "surgery" with tape over a replacement. And yes, Stinky t-shirts are officially in demand.

Roger announced that the Jefferson Highway Association's 14th conference will be held in St. Cloud, Minnesota, July 19–21, 2027. The association hasn't been up north since Park Rapids in 2014, and a post-conference sociability run toward Park Rapids, Itasca State Park, Bemidji, and Thief River Falls is under consideration.

Lisa announces the launch of the Jefferson Highway Travel Guide, a new digital guide publishing on the first of every month, starting October 1. It covers the whole corridor from Winnipeg, Manitoba through Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana, plus the Arkansas sections of the historic route. The first issue is ad-free and celebrates the members and partners who helped make it happen, with haunted history along the highway, a directory, an events section, and a Google Map for everything featured.

Each issue will also include the Notables, a new column spotlighting a notable person born that month from each region of the highway, all mapped so you can find them on your travels. Down the road, look for games, puzzles, and coloring pages for the kids in the back seat.

Roger reveals that he has pinpointed the center of the Jefferson Highway: little Archie, Missouri. Travelers on this year's pre-conference tour got to stop at a special sign marking the halfway point of the route.

Jefferson Highway Association members: if you haven't submitted your listing for the guide yet, please get in touch through JeffersonHighwayTravelGuide.com. The guide is monthly now, and we'll get to you!

🎧 New episodes of Big Blend Radio's "Historic Jefferson Highway" Podcast air every 4th Thursday.

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