My Mom Writes a Letter
Dec. 8th, 2006 11:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bjarvisNot to me though... :-)
Mom drives a school bus in northern Ontario. The weather last Nov 28 was especially ugly.
Dear Editor:
Last Tuesday, Nov.28, 2006 will be a day that the McLellan Bus Drivers of Englehart and all other School Bus Drivers of Temiskaming will never forget.
Most of the drivers sat near their telephones waiting to get called for an early school pickup. No call came!
Most of the drivers left the schools at 3:30 P.M.(their regular time). The Highway crews were already behind. Ice was building up on the pavement as well as on gravel roads. Accidents were occurring, although we were not aware of them at the time. Yet we tried to do our jobs and get the students to their homes.
I managed to get through Charlton to the school and back to Hwy #560 before the bus went sideways. As soon as I stopped I was stuck. I still had 8 students on the bus and it was already 4:30 P.M. I contacted parents to advise them of the situation and waited for the sand truck to come. We did not know that the sand trucks from Elk Lake were also stuck.
By 5:30 P.M. one father phoned me and asked me to send his children to his brother's home which was not far away and the children could walk there on the grass. About a half hour later a father of one of the remaining children arrived and took the other students to their homes.
While all of this was happening people living near allowed the students to go into their home and use the bathroom. Food and drinks were offered. Others driving four wheel drive vehicles stop to see if they could help, but until the road was sanded the bus could not be moved. (It turned out that 3 buses were stuck on a 3 mile section of Hwy 560).
The sand truck from Elk Lake arrived about 8:00 P.M. and we were able to head for home. My township roads were ice coated so I parked the bus just off Hwy 560 and started to walk the 3 miles home. Two other ladies following me also parked their vehicles and walked with me. A short time later a gentleman who works for Shortt Contracting came along driving a four wheel drive truck and very kindly took us to our homes.
Other drivers experienced similar treatment. The Chamberlain road crew went looking for a bus that was stuck with 7 students on board. A farmer who lived close brought his tractor out and pulled the bus into his yard. The road crew found them and sanded a section of Hwy 573 to allow the bus to get moving again. Parent, grandparents and others came to take children off the bus so it did not need to go down some of the side roads. This helped greatly and the children were home by 9:00 P.M.
Another bus (not McLellan's) loaded with students was stuck on a road in another township and was found by a road crew who sand around the bus but when asked by the driver of the bus to sand a path back to the highway so she could return the students to the school, the driver refused. Without the road being sanded the bus would have been stuck again. As a result the driver's family and parents in four wheel drive trucks came to the rescue and sanded the road. It was after 9:00 P.M. before these students were home. The driver was kindly offer a bed for the night by people she did not know.
Our New Liskeard bus was held at the New Liskeard high school because of road conditions and then was told to go at close to 5:00 P.M. She then had to drive up Hwy. 11 past accidents to get to Englehart. Road conditions had not changed.
Another bus went out Hwy 624 and turned around after seeing cars off the road. He returned the students to the Englehart Public School which had stayed open. He was then stranded in Englehart overnight.
One driver and likely others had students spent the night at the driver's home or at a friend's home because the road conditions were too bad to think of driving farther. Mother Nature has a tendency to throw something different at us where skill alone is not enough. This was one of those days.
When an emergency happens, people do try to help and it is very much appreciated. The McLellan drivers of Englehart would like to thank everyone who helped in any form; even if it was just to sympathize. A Special Thank You to parents and people who risked their vehicles to help. It will not be forgotten.
Yours truly,
Sharon Jarvis
McLellan School Bus Driver.
Mom drives a school bus in northern Ontario. The weather last Nov 28 was especially ugly.
Dear Editor:
Last Tuesday, Nov.28, 2006 will be a day that the McLellan Bus Drivers of Englehart and all other School Bus Drivers of Temiskaming will never forget.
Most of the drivers sat near their telephones waiting to get called for an early school pickup. No call came!
Most of the drivers left the schools at 3:30 P.M.(their regular time). The Highway crews were already behind. Ice was building up on the pavement as well as on gravel roads. Accidents were occurring, although we were not aware of them at the time. Yet we tried to do our jobs and get the students to their homes.
I managed to get through Charlton to the school and back to Hwy #560 before the bus went sideways. As soon as I stopped I was stuck. I still had 8 students on the bus and it was already 4:30 P.M. I contacted parents to advise them of the situation and waited for the sand truck to come. We did not know that the sand trucks from Elk Lake were also stuck.
By 5:30 P.M. one father phoned me and asked me to send his children to his brother's home which was not far away and the children could walk there on the grass. About a half hour later a father of one of the remaining children arrived and took the other students to their homes.
While all of this was happening people living near allowed the students to go into their home and use the bathroom. Food and drinks were offered. Others driving four wheel drive vehicles stop to see if they could help, but until the road was sanded the bus could not be moved. (It turned out that 3 buses were stuck on a 3 mile section of Hwy 560).
The sand truck from Elk Lake arrived about 8:00 P.M. and we were able to head for home. My township roads were ice coated so I parked the bus just off Hwy 560 and started to walk the 3 miles home. Two other ladies following me also parked their vehicles and walked with me. A short time later a gentleman who works for Shortt Contracting came along driving a four wheel drive truck and very kindly took us to our homes.
Other drivers experienced similar treatment. The Chamberlain road crew went looking for a bus that was stuck with 7 students on board. A farmer who lived close brought his tractor out and pulled the bus into his yard. The road crew found them and sanded a section of Hwy 573 to allow the bus to get moving again. Parent, grandparents and others came to take children off the bus so it did not need to go down some of the side roads. This helped greatly and the children were home by 9:00 P.M.
Another bus (not McLellan's) loaded with students was stuck on a road in another township and was found by a road crew who sand around the bus but when asked by the driver of the bus to sand a path back to the highway so she could return the students to the school, the driver refused. Without the road being sanded the bus would have been stuck again. As a result the driver's family and parents in four wheel drive trucks came to the rescue and sanded the road. It was after 9:00 P.M. before these students were home. The driver was kindly offer a bed for the night by people she did not know.
Our New Liskeard bus was held at the New Liskeard high school because of road conditions and then was told to go at close to 5:00 P.M. She then had to drive up Hwy. 11 past accidents to get to Englehart. Road conditions had not changed.
Another bus went out Hwy 624 and turned around after seeing cars off the road. He returned the students to the Englehart Public School which had stayed open. He was then stranded in Englehart overnight.
One driver and likely others had students spent the night at the driver's home or at a friend's home because the road conditions were too bad to think of driving farther. Mother Nature has a tendency to throw something different at us where skill alone is not enough. This was one of those days.
When an emergency happens, people do try to help and it is very much appreciated. The McLellan drivers of Englehart would like to thank everyone who helped in any form; even if it was just to sympathize. A Special Thank You to parents and people who risked their vehicles to help. It will not be forgotten.
Yours truly,
Sharon Jarvis
McLellan School Bus Driver.
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no subject
Date: 2006-12-08 04:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-08 04:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-08 04:44 pm (UTC)It is indeed a reminder that we as humans need to try and be more kind to each other. Enough of this hate mongering that's going on.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-08 05:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-08 06:24 pm (UTC)I did my time in The North (NWT 8 years), and I don't think I should ever have to live through another winter again.