Miles & Memories

After over 30 years of traveling, one of our most trusty buses has finally been retired. And if it could talk, this bus would have some stories to tell.

It was bought new in the mid-90s and carried students to games, field trips, Interterm trips, and all the regular days in between. But in those early years it knew one route better than any other: west on I-80 to Des Moines. It made that trip to State so many times it could have driven itself. That stretch of road was part of its DNA.

Its only accident occurred many years ago on Highway 1 near Lake Darling on the way home from a baseball game. A truck from the opposite direction veered into its path.

Ed Miller ‘58 was driving and was able to swerve the bus into the right ditch to avoid a head-on collision. No one was injured. The sheriff on the scene made it clear it wasn’t Ed’s fault and that he did a good job of preventing what could have been a deadly situation. The right front and door area had to be repaired, and after that, the door never really locked the same. But somehow, that pesky door just became part of the story.

Over the years, Ed Miller, Willis Miller, Marcus Miller ‘76, F ‘93-25, Ron Swartzendruber F ‘87-05, Lee Ebersole F ’05-23, and Kent Blossom mostly got their turns behind the wheel. Along with other drivers, they logged thousands of miles and safely transported students through thirty years of memories.

It’s funny how something as mundane as a bus can become so personal. But this bus was there for short trips, for long conversations, for nap-filled rides home, and for the kind of moments that students remember long after graduation. Thirty years of faithful service is no small feat.

We are thankful for every mile.