The Heart of Route 66 Auto Museum was awarded first place in the 2023 Division 1 category by the National Association of Automobile Museums (NAAM) for “best events and public promotions,” according to a statement on their website.
The award was given specifically for their 1922 Packard ride project, which Sapulpa Times helped promote last year. The promotion worked so well that they sold out of their available rides almost before they started them.
Richard Holmes, co-founder and president of the Heart of Route 66 Auto Museum, said he was “thrilled” about winning first place. “I was both surprised and delighted that our newer and smaller museum won such a prestigious award while competing against bigger and longer-established museums across the country,” he said.
The NAAMY awards competition is a nationwide annual contest that recognizes and promotes creative and professional excellence in auto museums across the country, specifically honoring the fields of curation, education, collections stewardship, marketing, and other related museum endeavors. Getting a NAAMY award not only gives the museum a certain respect in relation to its counterparts in other cities, but can be a point of interest with both private and institutional donors and when applying for grants.
This year, the museum has elected to not only bring back the popular 1922 Packard, but expand it to include additional rides in a 1922 Cadillac Phaeton.
The pricing will remain $15 per person and the route is the same—along Sahoma Lake Road adjacent to the museum to nearby Pretty Water Lake. Rides began May 1st and will last through the end of September. They will run every Saturday morning from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. with four drivers, weather permitting. The $15 ticket for a ride will also include admission to the museum, and popcorn.
“The Packard car ride was widely successful last year, and we can’t wait to offer even more fun this year for individuals, couples, families, and history lovers at our museum,” their website says.
See the promotional video from last year below:
