HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2005-09-08, Page 7THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2005. PAGE 7.
For Marie McIntosh it’s time to hit the road
Back to School
Marie McIntosh of Belgrave area prepares for another school year on the roads as one of the
Blyth and Brussels area school bus drivers. (Heather Crawford photo)
By Heather Crawford
Citizen staff
Marie McIntosh has driven a
school bus for almost 40 years.
Upon first meeting McIntosh, it’s
easy to see why thousands of parents
throughout the years have entrusted
her with the safety of their children.
Her calm and easy demeanor are
as reassuring as a mother’s touch
and it’s not difficult to see how
someone so self-assured and calm
could master everything from
vicious winter weather, snake-like
country roads and a bus load of
anxious children.
This year, as she has done for the
past 30 years, McIntosh will be
chauffeuring kids from Brussels and
Blyth to school (or the next stop
along the way).
You would be hard pressed to hear
her complain about her job.
When asked what the best part of
her job is she mentioned the kids
first.
“I enjoy the kids. I think they're
unique and polite, nice kids,” she
said.
‘‘I'm anxious to get back,” she said
about the impending school year.
“It's not too bad, you know, to get
back into a routine.”
In 1965 when McIntosh first
started driving the school bus in
Dundalk, road conditions were much
worse and buses did not undergo the
same safety inspections they do
today.
“Things have much improved
from when I first started,” McIntosh
remembers. “The roads weren’t
always plowed back then, and we
didn't have the radio.”
McIntosh speaks highly of the
operators that she has communicated
with on the other end of her radio for
the past 40 years. “I’ve always had
nice operators,” she said.
Kids have changed through the
years also. She noted that kids today
are much more self-assured then
when she first started driving and the
interaction with parents is different
as well.
“[There was] a lot more parent
support [when I first started). If a
child needed someone to talk to
them, the driver could tell the parent.
Today I talk to the school and the
operator but there’s no more one on
one with parents.”
Aside from driving the bus,
McIntosh also raised eight children.
“I used to take some of the babies
in a bassinet beside me on the bus,”
she remembers. “It was nice to have
the same holidays as the kids when
they were in school. It was a good
job for me,” she said.
Through the years McIntosh has
never been in any hair-raising
experiences that she can remember.
“1 feel safer driving the bus [in
winter],” she said. “I’m higher up
with more visibility and a big
vehicle under me.”
McIntosh is grateful for her work
and appreciative of the work of those
around her.
She shows off her newly-cleaned
bus with pride. “They waxed the
floors and cleaned the windows,"
she said pointing to the squeaky
clean glass.
Soon the windows will be
smudged with tiny fingerprints
waving good-bye to parents or hello
to friends they haven’t seen all
summer.
Parents can rest assured that
coming or going, their children are
in good hands.
Ethel euchre
winners
The Ethel euchre was held on
Monday, Aug. 29.
Winners were: share the wealth,
Helen Cullen, Linda Stevens; high,
Shirley Verstoep, Mac Smith; lone
hands, Viola Adams, Grace Stewart,
Beryl Smith; low, Isabelle Craig,
Ross Stephenson.
There were several lucky tally
prizes.
The next euchre will be held on
Monday, Sept. 12 at 8 p.m.
SCRIMGEOUR’S Food Market
209 Drummond Street, Blyth
Open 7 Days A Week. Tel: 519-523-4551
The Beer Store
Approved Retail Partner
ff
Independent Food Town\
Lean
Ground Beef
Scrim's Storemade
Patties
Italpasta Whole
Wheat Scoobi Doo Pasta
Nestle Parlour
Ice Cream
TRUCKLOAD SALE
Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Orange, Ginger
Ale, Water, 7Up,
Diet 7Up, Ice Tea 6x710 ml.
Product of South Africa
Seedless Oranges
Schneider's "By the piece
Thuringer Summer Sausage
Italpasta
Canned Tomatoes
Clover Leaf
Sockeye Salmon 213 g.
Store Hours: Mon. - Wed. 8 am - 7 pm; Thurs. - Fri. 8 am - 8 pm; Sat. 8 am - 6 pm; Sun. 12 noon - 5 pm
Prices in effect until closing Sunday, September 11