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We began our visit to Kansas by attending a meeting of the Kansas Historic Route 66 Association, held at the Galena Mining Museum. After introductions, the group discussed upcoming events, including their third half-marathon, planned for October. They also told us about their Christmas celebration, when parades were held in all three Kansas Route 66 towns on the same day. They had fun participating in all three.
Following the meeting, we were given a guided tour of the museum by Joe and Wilma Douffett, and Howard Litch. Joe volunteers at the museum quite regularly, and also teaches a computer class for the Head-Start program. Wilma is active in the association, and was promoting a pancake supper for a church group.
Howard Litch, age 89, is the director of the museum. He was born July 17, 1906, in Galena, to Tom & Gladys Litch. His mother died of tuberculosis in 1907, and his father, a miner, raised him. They lived in a boarding house across the road from "Hell's Half-Acre", a polluted area near the smelter, and the roughest part of town. At age 16, Howard asked his dad if he could quit school to be a "screen ape's" helper at a mine, for $1 per 14-hour day. His father told him that he'd never let him work in a mine, but would let him work for a mechanic. Howard was soon fired for slugging a customer who called him a SOB, but immediately found work at another garage.
Howard dated his future bride, Ruby Gladys, a widow with two children, for eight years, because he was caring for his ailing father. Following his death, they married, and Howard opened his own garage in 1936.
He showed me a tool and asked if I knew what it was. He said that it was used to set the spring tension points in Model A's. The normal tension was set at "8", but if you increased it to "12", the car would run five miles per hour faster. Howard had a reputation for being able to get the most out of a car. One day, a man came in wanting his car to be the fastest in the state. Howard performed a few modifications and got it running great. After picking up his car, the man promptly robbed a store, killing the cashier. He was quickly apprehended. Howard said he'd always felt sorry about that incident.
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