Kathy Keam took one last ride on School District #83 bus A1834 on Monday, Jan. 7.
Although she sat alongside pupils of Sicamous’ Parkview Elementary on the bus bound for Malakwa and points east, Keam is not a departing student – she drove that same bus route for 38 years.
The safety of the students riding the long bus route, which once stretched from Sicamous to Griffin Lake east of Craigellachie but now stops at the Perry River, was Keam’s responsibility through rain, sleet and heavy winter snow.
“Let me tell you, when I first started, the snow banks were three times as high as they are right now,” Keam said with a laugh.
Owing to her long service as a bus driver, Keam said she has had the pleasure of watching people who she drove as students bringing their own children to her bus stop. In a rare few instances, three generations of the same family have climbed the stairs and found a seat on her bus.
Rides home from Sicamous on Keam’s bus are fondly remembered by several Parkview Elementary staff members who once rode as students.
“She has always been an amazing driver,” said Mallory Guillebaut, a one-time rider of Kathy’s bus to Parkview Elementary who now works at the school.
“I had the last bus stop on my route when I was in high school so I would sit behind Kathy and chat with her,” said Lara Matthews, who is now a teacher at Parkview.
Matthews recounted the many ways Keam went the extra mile for the students on her bus, including taking them for ice cream on the last day of school.
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Matthews’ mother Heather Milton, who is also a teacher at Parkview, remembers the confidence in her children’s safety she had when they were aboard Keam’s bus.
“Even through blizzards there would be the school bus. I remember sitting there until 4:30 one day thinking where are my kids, and then there would come the bus, safe as can be,” she said.
Along with delays due to winter weather, Keam recalled times where the bus was delayed or stopped on its route due to traffic accidents. She said the bag of books she kept onboard so students could read to each other as well as the bus stereo helped brighten the mood during delays.
Maintaining student behaviour on both the challenging rides home from school and the routine ones required rules. Keam said she wrote out a set of rules for her young passengers and made it clear what was expected from them.
“If you don’t do that, you’re just going to have nothing but problems,” Keam said.
As years have passed and students have come and gone, the bus Keam drove has also undergone a number of changes. She said the number of seats has remained fairly constant over the years but the buses used to have manual transmissions, which she said she prefers.
“The heaters are way better. I remember driving down the road with my toque, my gloves, my scarf and my jacket done up,” Keam said.
Keam formed close bonds with many of the students she drove, some of whom persisted long after they no longer rode the bus. Keam said she can’t remember exactly how many former students’ weddings she has been invited to.
She said it is impossible to pin down a single favourite memory from her time as a bus driver, but said field trips to Vancouver, Victoria and Kannanaskis were definite highlights.
“You see all the good stuff that happens to them and sometimes the bad stuff too,” Keam said of the students in her care from the time the bus pulled away from the school until they reached their stop.
“It’s just been absolutely amazing being able to drive the bus.”
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While her last day in the driver’s seat of the bus was Dec. 21, 2018, Keam returned to say her goodbyes to students and give the new driver in charge of the route some pointers about its unique characteristics.
Keam deferred her goodbyes into the new year because as her last day driving was the last day of school before the Christmas break, she sat behind the wheel dressed as Santa Claus – as she did every year. She expected saying goodbye would be an emotional experience and was surprised by the send-off Parkview’s students and staff had prepared for her.
The students waiting to board the bus and a large contingent of the school’s staff gathered to sing her a song.
“She drives the bus her name is Kathy, She drives us home from school,” they sang
“She takes the corners fast and sharp, fast and sharp, fast and sharp. She takes the corners fast and sharp drifting down the road,” the song continued as Keam’s face became a mask of mock outrage, but with smiling eyes, and a struggle to hold back the laughter.
After a few more verses and a bit of time to exchange hugs and memories, Keam excused herself.
She had a bus to catch.
The doors closed with their pneumatic whoosh and the bus pulled away from the curb on its usual route, with a new driver at the wheel – but right on schedule as usual.
@SalmonArm
jim.elliot@saobserver.net
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