River to River

Take a Peek at the Award-Winning "River to River" Trailer

 

"River to River" DVD FLASH SALE! 48 Hours ONLY!

Our Emmy-nominated "River to River: Iowa's Forgotten Highway 6" is just $15.00 U.S. with FREE U.S. shipping!

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REVIEW EXCERPT: If there's one lesson to be learned in the beautiful, nostalgic documentary, "River to River: Iowa’s Forgotten Highway 6," it's this -- at least once when you travel on an east-west link, get off I-80 and sample the truly historic U.S. Route 6.

Another award-winning visual and educational feast from Moline's Kelly and Tammy Rundle, it literally takes viewers on an ambling, affectionate two-lane journey from Davenport, on the Mississippi River, to Council Bluffs on the Missouri.

First built as a dirt road all in one July day in 1910 by 10,000 farmers and businesses across the state, Iowa’s Route 6 is part of the second-longest transcontinental highway in America. Mostly paved by the end of the '20s, U.S. 6 stretches 3,652 miles from Provincetown, Mass., to Long Beach, Calif.

The retro tour (also lovingly featured in the film) draws more than 100 classic cars each year to the Quad-Cities, where the Route 6 adventure begins, with stops at events, museums and restaurants along the way to Council Bluffs.

In this action-packed doc (full of intimately personal sights, sounds, information, complemented with historic figures and photos and evocative music), we are gently led on a fascinating tour from east to west. In compelling, short vignettes, the Rundles stop to discover the stories behind Route 6's people and places that shouldn't be missed.

I love the Wilton Candy Kitchen (26 miles from Davenport), started in 1860, continuously operating as an ice-cream parlor and confectionery, which is on the National Register. We meet owners Thelma and George Nopolous (the film is dedicated to him, since he passed away last year), and she says of the homemade treats: "We serve happiness." Thelma adds: "People who really want to see America use Highway 6.

We learn how the road is connected to Jack Kerouac's "On the Road," the Nancy Drew mysteries, president Herbert Hoover and the outlaws Bonnie and Clyde. We visit museums, historic homes, lovely landscapes, a drive-in, filling stations and attractions like the jewel-box style former bank building (from 1920) converted to an elegant bistro in Ladora (the hometown of Mildred Benson, creator of Nancy Drew).

Early this month, the new film (from Fourth Wall Films) won the Gold Eddy in the Pro Documentary category at Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival -- plus the Iowa Connection Award from Produce Iowa for the film the group feels best represents filmmaking in Iowa.

The passionate on-screen devotees and historians of Route 6 include Curt and Elizabeth Roseman. She says: "There is something about a road experience that really captures people's imagination."

"River to River" sweetly captures that experience as well. --Jonathan Turner, Dispatch-Argus

You must place your order before the end of day C.S.T., October 1, 2019 via the FLASH SALE link below.

Online orders only. NO CHECKS for this special sale.

Thank you! 

<---Order your DVD HERE!

River to River Retro Road Trip Sept. 19-22

Ladies and Gentlemen, Start your engines! The 2019 River to River Retro Road Trip is ready to roll September 19th through Sunday, September 22. The Cruise is sponsored by the non-profit Historic US 6 Iowa Association.

The 4-day Historic Route 6 road trip begins where Historic 6 and New 6 meet at the Mississippi Marketplace, 4004 W. Kimberly Rd, Davenport, Iowa and ends in Council Bluffs, Iowa at the 100 Block Car Show.

Thursday night will feature music, food, and the traditional Cruising the Ones in downtown Davenport.

Friday, Davenport Mayor Frank Klipsch will welcome cruisers and the trip begins with a rally in Tiffin, a tour of the Pioneer Heritage Museum in Marengo, overnight dinner and stay in Colfax.

Saturday drivers hit Route 6 to explore the White Pole Road, lunch at the fabulous Menlo Cafe, rally in Oakland, and final stop Council Bluffs' 100 Block Car Show.

Sunday the traditional stop at Freedom Rock and head home.

Visit http://usroute6iowa.org/Cruises/River-to-River-Retro-Road-Trip/Trip-Info for details and registration. There is a $20 registration fee.

Happy Cruisin' Historic Route 6, everyone! Be safe!

To purchase Fourth Wall Films'  Emmy-nominated River to River: Iowa's Forgotten Highway 6 or other award-winning documentaries on DVD, click HERE!

You can also get the River to River: Iowa's Forgotten Highway 6 DVD at the Wilton Candy Kitchen in Wilton, Iowa right on Historic Route 6!

RABRAI Riders Stop in Several Historic Route 6 Iowa Towns

RAGBRAI photo by Brian Powers/Copyright Des Moines Register (All rights reserved).

It's RAGBRAI time again!  This year's seven-day bicycle ride across the state brought cyclists from all over the world through the Historic Route 6 Iowa towns of  Council Bluffs, Atlantic, Wiota, Anita, Adair, Casey, Menlo, Stuart and Dexter.

In its 47th year, RAGBRAI is the oldest, largest and longest recreational bicycle touring event in the world.  The RAGBRAI route averages 427 miles of often times rolling Iowa landscape with approximately 8,500 riders participating in the journey.

RAGBRAI cyclist and friend Troy Turley shared this Route 6 photo he took during in a previous tour. Thanks for sharing, Troy!

Safe and happy riding, journey-men and women! Enjoy the people, history, food, sights and sounds of these wonderful Iowa communities.

To purchase Fourth Wall Films'  Emmy-nominated River to River: Iowa's Forgotten Highway 6 or other award-winning documentaries on DVD, click HERE!

2019 River to River Retro Road Trip set for Sept 19-21

Image courtesy Dave Darby (Copyright Dave Darby; all rights reserved).

Mark your calendars! U.S. Route 6 Iowa's Sixth Annual River to River Retro Road Trip is set for Thursday, September 19 through Sunday, September 22, 2019. 

The cruise begins in Davenport, Iowa and ends in Council Bluffs, Iowa at the 100 Block Car Show. Details of the event will follow. 

According to US Route 6 Iowa's Facebook page: "We are working diligently behind the scenes to get things finalized and are excited about all of the improvements we are planning.  We will be posting more information in the next month or so on where and when to send in your registration and fee.  If you have registered with us in the past you will be receiving information via email.  We look forward to seeing everyone again this year."

Check back for updated information regarding Cruise registration, cruise schedule and loding details at US Route 6 Iowa's website: http://www.usroute6iowa.org/

Or their Facebook fan page: https://www.facebook.com/usroute6iowa/

Looking for the perfect Father's Day gift?  Purchase Fourth Wall Films'  Emmy-nominated River to River: Iowa's Forgotten Highway 6 or other award-winning documentaries on DVD,  HERE!

 

 

Spring Car Show and "River to River" at Oakland Mills Park in Mt. Pleasant April 14

SPRING IS HERE!  Henry County Conservation kicks off Spring on Sunday April 14, 2019 with a special free screening of the Emmy® nominated River to River: Iowa's Forgotten Highway 6 by award-winning documentary filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle at 3:00 p.m. at Oakland Mills Park, 2591 Nature Center Dr., Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.  Q&A with the filmmakers will follow the film.  A fun classic car show will take place in the park prior to the film, 2 p.m.  

The April 14^th 2:00 p.m. Car Show will take place at the Top of the Hill area, Oakland Mills County Park. Car owners are asked to preregister by April 12^th for a parking spot at www.mycountyparks.com, Henry County events. FREE. On the date of the event, car owners should first check-in at the Oakland Mills Nature Center and be in place by 1:30 p.m. Car show participants and attendees are invited to stay for the 3:00 p.m. film, “River to River” in the Oakland Mills Nature Center.

Inspired by the research and photography of Dave Darby, former Executive Director of the Iowa Division of the Route 6 Tourist Association, River to River: Iowa’s Forgotten Highway 6 guides viewers on a nostalgic classic car journey through yesterday’s soda shops, filling stations, general stores, drive-ins, historic sites and roadside attractions that line Iowa’s U.S. Highway 6.

“Most travelers are unaware of the many colorful stories from the past around every turn in the road,” said Dave Darby. “Iowa’s portion of the transcontinental Route 6 has a past that includes Bonnie and Clyde, Jesse James, Nancy Drew, Jack Kerouac, the Great Race Across Iowa, and others.”

“With Interstate 80’s near universal use by travelers, Route 6 and the memories that define it have faded from the public’s consciousness,” said director Kelly Rundle of Fourth Wall Films.  “The film is a celebration of a journey.”

The one-hour film has been delighting capacity crowds at its showings in towns along Route 6 and beyond.  The film has been an official selection at numerous film festivals and received a Mid-America Emmy® nomination for the Rundles. 

River to River: Iowa’s Forgotten Highway 6 was funded in part by grants from Humanities Iowa, Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area and the National Endowment for the Humanities through the documentary’s fiscal sponsor, The Iowa U.S. Route 6 Tourist Association.

To purchase Fourth Wall Films'  River to River: Iowa's Forgotten Highway 6 or other award-winning documentaries on DVD, click HERE!

Where people get their scare on this Halloween in the Quad Cities

Oakland Cemetery in Iowa City, home of the Black Angel. Photo by Kevin Schmidt, Quad City Times.

Enjoy the recent story below printed in Sunday's Quad City Times, featuring Halloween Haunts in and around the Quad City area--a number of them on Highway 6! 

By Barb Ickes and Amanda Hancock
Quad City Times

Shorter days and falling leaves are music to the minds of Halloween lovers.

As some carve pumpkins and pick out costumes, others set out for more serious seasonal undertakings.

There are haunted houses to tour, cemeteries to visit and ghost tales to explore.

In the spirit (ahem) of the season, two Times staffers hit the road to find area places where things are said to go bump in the night.

Fishing for frights, the duo discovered local lore, spooky stories and unnerving places.

Their curious finds are our Big Story.   Check it out the Quad City Times story HERE!

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Fourth Wall Films focuses on telling Midwestern stories through historical documentary films that reach viewers via PBS broadcasts, theaters, film festivals, national DVD release and online streaming.

To purchase Fourth Wall Films'  River to River: Iowa's Forgotten Highway 6 or other award-winning documentaries on DVD, click HERE!

"River to River: Iowa's Forgotten Highway 6" Filmmakers Receive Emmy-nomination for New Film

River to River: Iowa's Forgotten Highway 6 producers Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films  have received a Mid-America Emmy® nomination for their new documentary Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City. This is the Rundles' fourth Emmy® nomination. 

The Moline, Illinois-based independent production company successfully competed with 42 proposals by 36 other media production companies nationwide to win a contract to produce "Good Earth" for the visitors center at South Dakota's newest State Park, Good Earth at Blood Run.

Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City tells the fascinating and forgotten story of the Blood Run National Historic Landmark as told by a Native American grandfather to his grandchildren. Produced in 4K, the documentary combines vivid present-day views of the park's scenic vistas and wildlife with dramatic historical reenactments portraying daily life in the year 1650. 

The Good Earth site in Iowa and South Dakota was occupied between 1500 and 1725 by ancestors of the present-day Omaha, Ponca, Ioway and Otoe-Missouria tribes, making it one of the oldest long-term habitation sites in the United States.  At its peak around 1650, the site was home to 6,000-10,000 residents--more than Boston (2,000) and New York (New Amsterdam-1,000) in that same year--making It the largest city in what is now the United States.

Good Earth was an important Native trading center for pipestone, bison hides and culture.  The once-vibrant city featured hundreds of lodges, earthen mounds, and a serpent-shaped effigy mound an eighth of a mile long.

Fourth Wall Films is an Emmy® nominated and award-winning independent film and video production company formerly located in Los Angeles, and now based in Moline, Illinois.  The Rundles are the producers of the award-winning The Barn Raisers, Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg (co-produced with Garry McGee, McMarr, LTD.) Lost Nation: The Ioway series, Villisca: Living with a Mystery; the Emmy® nominated Letters Home to Hero Street (co-produced with WQPT-PBS); Country School: One Room - One Nation, River to River: Iowa's Forgotten Highway 6, and the soon-to-be released docudrama Sons & Daughters of Thunder.

Fourth Wall Films focuses on telling Midwestern stories through historical documentary films that reach viewers via PBS broadcasts, theaters, film festivals, national DVD release and online streaming.

To purchase Fourth Wall Films'  River to River: Iowa's Forgotten Highway 6 or other award-winning documentaries on DVD, click HERE!

2018 River to River Retro Road Trip 2018 Promises Beautiful, Fun Cruise on Iowa's Route 6

The Historic US 6 Iowa Association's annual River to River Retro Road Trip is set for September 13-15, 2018 beginning in Davenport, Iowa and ending in Council Bluffs, Iowa. 

This year's event promises fun stops, sights to see, car shows, history to take in, wonderful food,  and beautiful Iowa landscapes along Iowa's winding Route 6.

The popular cruise was started in 2011 by former Iowa Historic Route 6 Tourist Association executive director Dave Darby in response to Fourth Wall Films' desire to film classic cars cruising the historic 2-lane highway for their documentary River to River: Iowa's Forgotten Highway 6.  Each year the cruise has grown and added more fun activies and stops in small-town America during the three-day cruise.

For details about the cruise visit US Route 6 Iowa's Facebook page.

To register visit http://usroute6iowa.org/Cruises/River-to-River-Retro-Road-Trip/Registration-Form.

For information on lodging during the cruise, click HERE!

For more information about Historic Route 6 Iowa, visit www.usroute6iowa.org.

Dave Darby recently retired as the executive director of Iowa's Historic Route 6 Tourist Association after serving for nearly a decade.  Formed by new leadership in 2018 the Historic US 6 Iowa Association is a non profit organization and its purpose is: To educate the public about history and original route of Highway 6, using maps, old and new photos, post cards, and travel brochures; To increase awareness, traffic, and commerce in the cities, towns, and businesses along original route ; To place historical signage designating Historic Route 6, along with the River to River Road, and the Great White Way auto trails; Encourage cooperation of communities along Highway 6, to hold festivals, concerts, car shows, garage sales, etc, to boost tourism; As well as to encourage car clubs, bicycle clubs, and others to hold River to River cruises along highway 6 in cooperation with local communities and locally owned businesses, i.e., motels, gas stations, and restaurants.

 

To order a copy of the award-winning and Emmy-nominated documentary "River to River: Iowa's Forgotten Highway 6" by Fourth Wall Films, visit  http://www.fourthwallfilms.com/dvds.htm.

 

RAGBRAI Riders travel through Iowa Route 6 towns

The Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI), an annual seven-day bicycle ride across the state, will be traveling through several Highway 6 towns--Newton, West Liberty, Iowa City, Atalissa, Moscow, Wilton and the final destination Davenport!  

Heading into its 46th year, RAGBRAI is the oldest, largest and longest recreational bicycle touring event in the world.  The RAGBRAI route averages 468 miles of often times rolling Iowa landscape and this year's participants is about 10,000 riders.

Route 6's Newton, Iowa City and Davenport are Host Cities along this year's route.  For more information about RAGBRAI, visit www.ragbrai.com.

Keep an eye out for the riders and give them a thumbs up, honk, wave and wish them a great and safe ride! 

#RAGBRAIriding6

To purchase the award-winning and Emmy-nominated River to River: Iowa's Forgotten Highway 6, visit http://www.fourthwallfilms.com/dvds.htm.

"Everyone eats at Harlan's" on Route 6 - Saying goodbye to Harlan Hagberg

Harlan A. Hagberg, 93, an historic fixture himself on Historic Route 6 in Davenport, Iowa, and later a resident of Brandon, Florida, passed away on May 21, 2018.  He was a WW2 veteran of the Marine Corps, and a fixture in the Iowa-llinois Quad-City area restaurant business for many years.  

It was the early 1950s when he bought the Triangle Truck Port in Davenport. He later changed the name of the restaurant to HARLAN'S Fine Food, coining the phrase on the menus “Everyone eats at Harlan's.”  The iconic image of Historic Highway 6 jammed with semis and traffic during a massive Iowa blizzard, with Harlan's Fine Food a safe haven for the weary and hungry traveler, was incorporated into the restaurant's menu.

He and his wife Shirley ran the restaurant in Davenport until the early 1980s, turning over the business to Harlan's son, Jeff.  Harlan and Shirley relocated to Brandon, Florida to retire.

Harlan's Fine Food Restaurant is still open for business, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner daily from 6:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m.  at 3905 Hickory Grove Rd. in Davenport. 

Harlan's Facebook page touts: "Since November 23, 1953, real home cooked meals at a reasonable price has always been the Harlan’s philosophy for every meal of the day!"

A celebration of Harlan Hagberg's life will be scheduled later this summer.  Thank you, Harlan, for your service to our country, and to providing us with a spot on Historic Route 6 to fill our coffee cups, visit with our neighbors, enjoy fine food and memories.  

To read the full Quad City Times obituary, click HERE.

To purchase the award-winning and Emmy-nominated River to River: Iowa's Forgotten Highway 6, visit http://www.fourthwallfilms.com/dvds.htm.