The souvenir shop Gearhead Curios in Galena has received an award and grant. The Jefferson Highway Association recently presented Gearhead Curios the first-ever Roadside Attraction Award. The Galena attraction is the first Jefferson Highway Information Center, with souvenirs. Aaron Perry bought the establishment in 2018, and began to transform it into what it is today. One of the next additions to the souvenir shop will be a 22-foot muffler man. Kansas Tourism awarded a $12,500 tourism attraction grant to cover a third of the cost. “When you take the trip on roadside America, for that weekend, that week, that month, you’re going back to nostalgia America. I’m offering people an escape almost to a fantasy make-believe world that I get to live in every day. I get people from all over the world, my oldest honeymooner was 80 years old,” said Aaron Perry. The total cost of the muffler man will be $35,000.
Source: KSNF/KODE
