“Awesome” is how one student rider on Phil Gardner’s bus describes the octogenarian, who has driven yellow buses since 1948.
The 84-year-old driver’s “life of service” was lauded this week in his local newspaper. Gardner started his career in Southern California before moving to the Plumas Unified School District in 1956 and then to Yuba City USD in 1966. He worked as a mechanic, bus driver and eventually the transportation manager. He “retired” in 1994, but reported to work as a bus driver the very next morning, he recalled.
Gardner kept driving until 2001, when he attempted to retire again. It didn’t last long, as the superintendent called him in 2006 about driving a bus for Wheatland High School. “I like to be a person that provides service and to help students get on their way to their adult life,” he said. “I’ll put up with a reasonable amount of foolishness. I was a kid once.” And the students he transports to school each day are grateful he is still behind the wheel. “I think he is really awesome and I like how he keeps the bus warm in the morning,” said Marissa Yanez, a sophomore at Wheatland.
Speaking of rewarding work … the heroic school bus driver in Buffalo, N.Y., who helped save a woman from taking her own life attracted the notice of one Donald Trump. The billionaire magnate, host of “The Apprentice” and political upstart will give a gift of $10,000 Darnell Barton, 37, to express his appreciation.
Barton was on his route driving high school students and other passengers when he noticed a young woman leaning outside the bridge guardrail over the Scajaquada Expressway in upstate New York, reported local TV station WGRZ. He parked his bus and slowly approached the woman until he was close enough to grab her in a bear hug and gently guide her to safety. Trump was so moved that he decided to send Barton a hefty check for his life-saving intervention. In publicly announcing the gift through Twitter, he wrote: “The bus driver who saved the woman from jumping off the bridge was really cool, great guy. I’m going to send him $10,000 — he deserves it!”
To wrap up this blog entry and in honor of the upcoming Veteran’s Day, STN would like to thank Carl Cater, transportation director at Allen ISD in Texas, for sending us this image that honors his transportation staff who are military veterans. Many are bus drivers, while others are dispatchers, crossing guards or bus monitors or technicians. While we honor them for their dedication and service in protecting this country, we continue to honor them for their continued service in a different way: serving children and ensuring their safety.
