Mystery of missing bus driver solved: Evidence shows signs of happy retirement By Lillian Bufton
A
gnes Hagerman is a hardworking wife, mother of three, grandmother of five, goat and cattle farmer, and recently retired from driving a school bus for nearly 41 years. Almost everyone knows Agnes, and many of our readers have been on her bus as children, and are now putting their children, and even in some cases grandchildren on that same bus!
there were only 5-1/2 year’s difference between her and the oldest kids on her bus. They were “like buddies”, and sometimes even found themselves at the same parties. They all got along really well, and some of these older kids became life-long friends.
But Agnes is also a well-known farmer, whose beautiful animals this writer has admired many times while driving on Mountain Road. Many of us already know her quite well, always willing as she is to share a good story. But here are the fine details the Scoop has been able to find, thanks to our many confidential sources (thanks, Agnes!). She’s been farming in Tamworth “since she was able to walk” and took over the family farm after her father’s death in 1971. Wanting a job where she could be around the farm, she got in touch with Claude Richmond, who at that time owned most of the bus lines in the area. She had told him that “when he could pay [her] $50 a week, [she’d] drive for him”. After obtaining her class B license during the summer of 1974, and marrying Ernie in October, she returned from her honeymoon, and Claude informed her that she had her first bus run. Agnes remembers her first day on the job when Claude unceremoniously threw her the keys and told her to “go talk to the previous driver – he’ll tell you where to go”.
Agnes got to know her bus runs like the back of her hand. Her last route went something like this: She’d leave home at 6:30 a.m. and head south towards Roblin, picking up the fifteen or so high school kids along the way – up County Road 15 to the river, then down Cedarstone, up to Bradshaw, out to the 41, down the 41 to Kidd, and then down to the Wesleyan Church in Roblin, where all the kids would get off her bus and take another bus into Napanee. Then she’d turn around and start picking up the elementary school kids to bring them to Tamworth School: Deshane to Boundary, across to Clareview, then back onto the 41 to McGuire Settlement, then Donahue, out to the 41, Keegan, Waddell, County Rd 13 to Marlbank, back down the 41, onto County Road 4 to Tamworth, picking up more kids in the village, and then arrive at the school by 8:45 a.m., sharp. After dropping the kids off safely, she’d always meet for coffee with the other bus drivers before heading back home to the farm. Once a week, they’d all meet for breakfast at one of the local restaurants. “We had a great group of drivers”, Agnes tells, “we all supported each other and had a great relationship”.
Those early years driving were fun, she recounts. When she first started bussing,
Her favourite part of her twice-daily runs were the mornings, because she could
have real conversations with the kids then, more than in the afternoons when they’d typically be more energetic and noisy. Like most bus drivers, Agnes had her own set of rules (in addition to the bus safety rules that everyone has to follow) to keep her bus under control. Bullying and belittling were absolutely not tolerated. Treating all the kids with fairness (“like they were my own kids”) was important, and please and thank you was mandatory. For Agnes, the greatest joy of bussing was getting to watch the kids grow up. “It’s really neat to talk to the kids down the road, finding out what they’ve done with their lives – that’s the rewarding part of my job”. And after driving two generations of students, she’s probably seen hundreds of kids grow up, and has made many “everlasting friends”. These days, she’s enjoying not having to get up at 5:00 am every morning, she laughs. She does miss the kids (“especially the little ones”, the young kindergartners who always had a story for her), but now that she’s retired, she gets to bring her own grandkids to the
Agnes, comfortable in the driver’s seat. Photo by Barry Lovegrove. bus in the morning, something she could never do when she was the one behind the wheel all those years. So who can replace Agnes now that she’s no longer behind the wheels of a yellow bus? Clearly, nobody. But here’s hoping she can share her remarkable experience with the next drivers, and, in the nicest possible way, tell them “where to go”!
MATT WHITLEY - NEW TRUCK SALES mwhitley@kenworthontario.com 1-800-267-0212
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