In Bob Harnett’s school bus, there were three rules to be followed: “Don’t swear, behave, be good to each other.”
If students broke those rules they had to sit in the seat beside him. The length of time they sat in the seat was determined by the severity of the crime and how many times the offender broke the rules.
“The kids were always good. As far as I was concerned they were my kids,” said Harnett, who drove a school bus in 100 Mile for more than 10 years and now lives in Courtenay.
Harnett was among a dozen retired School District 27 bus drivers who met at the Red Rock Grill last week to reminisce about the good old days in the 1980s and ’90s.
The event was organized by Susan Fryer, who said her girls’ lunches with friends Maureen Olsen and Johann Miller inspired the reunion.
“When the girls get together for lunch we have so much fun,” she said, “so I thought that it would be even better if I got a whole bunch of people together and had even more fun.”
Twenty people were invited but only 12 could make it. Under their wisecracks and laughter, it was evident driving a bus was more than just a job.
Norm Cullick, 91, said his 32 years as a bus driver was “the best job I ever had and I enjoyed every day.”
Every holiday he would get treats for the children. “Christmas, holidays, birthdays…,” said Cullick, who now lives in Sooke.
He remembered one little girl crying because when she got snow in her boots and her feet were cold. He peeled off her boots and socks. The boots went on one heater, the socks on another, and her feet on the third.
Following their lunch, Fryer organized “memory games,” which included a series of questions to see how well people remembered the old days.
The questions ranged from who had the most decorated bus to who lost their wheels and who kept the kids waiting so they could finish their crib game. Not everyone whose name came up in the games is still around but they were remembered with a memorial plaque. The plaque, resting on a table, listed 28 names of late SD27 bus drivers.
At one point, Fryer looked across the room, yelling, “No cheating there Ken and Jane! I see you peeking over the table.”
There was some debate over who had the cleanest bus.
In the middle of the discussion, Miller recalled James Hunter once telling her ‘my bus is so clean you could eat off the floor.’ I said, you could eat off my floor too, but I wouldn’t recommend it.”
patrick.davies@100milefreepress.net
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