Dahl Ford of Davenport took part in the Highway 6 Classic Car Cruise during
preliminary production in 2011. The Rundles are grateful for the support of
SSNHA and Dahl Ford on the Highway 6 documentary project.
Award-winning Quad City filmmakers Tammy and Kelly Rundle of Fourth Wall Films have received a grant from Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area (SSNHA) to partially fund production for their new documentary River to River: Iowa’s Forgotten Highway 6. KPTS-PBS is the fiscal sponsor for the film project.
“We are very grateful to SSNHA for its support of this exciting project,”
said producer Tammy Rundle. “The grant will help us gather footage along the
eastern section of Highway 6 between Davenport and Des Moines.”
The Highway 6 documentary will feature several SSNHA partner sites.
Inspired by the research and photography of Dave Darby, President of the Iowa U.S. Route 6 Tourist Association, River to River: Iowa’s Forgotten Highway 6 will guide two-lane motorists from Davenport on the Mississippi to Council Bluffs on the Missouri on a nostalgic classic car journey through yesterday’s soda shops, filling stations, general stores, drive-ins, and roadside attractions that line Iowa’s part of the second longest transcontinental highway in the U.S.A.
"To really see America and get the stories, and meet new friends along the way, you have to get off the interstate and take the road less traveled." Darby said. "Highway 6 invites you to slow down, take in the scenery, and rekindle your love of driving."
Preliminary production on the documentary began in the spring of 2011 in Wilton, Iowa at the Wilton Candy Kitchen, where 92 year-old George Nopoulos and wife Thelma continue the Kitchen’s 150 year tradition of making homemade ice cream and confectionaries.
“It’s Iowa’s version of Route 66. This is our romantic little highway,” said Dimitri Makedonsky during an interview for the film. Makedonsky and fiancée Colleen Klainert are the proprietors of the Ladora Bank Bistro, a popular wine bar housed in a restored 90-year-old bank in the village of Ladora, Iowa right on Highway 6.
A 290-mile Highway 6 Classic Car Cruise organized by Dave Darby was shot during the summer of 2011. Davenport’s Dahl Ford took part in the tour and is a supporter of the documentary project.
River to River: Iowa’s Forgotten Highway 6 is slated for release later in 2013.
The Rundles are the owners of Fourth Wall Films, an award-winning independent film and video production company (Country School: One Room – One Nation, Lost Nation: The Ioway, Villisca: Living with a Mystery) formerly located in Los Angeles, and now based in Moline, Illinois.
Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area, a non-profit organization, is one of 49 federally designated heritage areas in the nation and is an Affiliated Area of the National Park Service. Through the development of a network of sites, programs and events, SSNHA's mission is to interpret farm life, agribusiness and rural communities-past and present.
