Celebration of Route 66 canceled

The Route 66 Red Carpet Corridor tour, traditionally held on the first Saturday of May, has been canceled for 2020 in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The 14th annual Red Carpet Corridor tour has been sponsored by the 13 communities, from Joliet to Towanda, that touch the celebrated road along 90 miles of its run through the state of Illinois. This year’s event was scheduled for Saturday, May 2.
Four communities had already pulled out, and two more were anticipating that city leaders would not permit the gathering due to social distancing guidelines. The organizing committee thought it best to cancel the event before the community organizations who would be able to participate incurred contract and material costs.
“As you might suspect we have some negative feedback from those that believe this entire virus is a hoax, upset that we've canceled the event when it’s some 30 days away. This was the right decision to do our part to flatten that curve,” committee chair Debbyjo Ericksen wrote to the community representatives earlier this week.
She’s trying to keep her response to those who complained positive, noting how difficult it would be to coordinate 13 community calendars to reschedule the event.
“We will be back next year bigger and better than ever. Thank you for your understanding in making this difficult decision,” she concluded.