Chapter 10 - Counting Weathervanes from the Bus

1950 - 1957

The Bus Morning Drop-off Site - Clinton Inn

     How well I remember the waves of excitement and anxiety when I first spotted my school bus pulling up to its assigned stop! It was kindergarten. The buses were unknown territory and I remember that the bus picked me up right in front of my house. My brother was three years older and maybe has a more accurate memory of the event. He doesn’t share this memory so I’m not sure whether it happened, although it sure did in my mind. I can still feel the worry and anticipation as the bus appeared rounding the bend.

     Finding a photo of one of the old red, white and navy blue buses brought back some of those memories. We spent a lot of time on the bus which had its own little world inside. The spiffy new yellow school buses came later. There were four buses that picked up and delivered us and I identified with my bus number which was mostly Bus 2 or Bus 4. Each fall began a new route and it was exciting to start off the year by seeing new sights. During kindergarten we shared the buses with the Edison Institute high school and junior high students on the way home. It was crowded with the older kids required to stand all the way. I thought it was a bit scary.

     Our bus stop was a block away from our house and there were ten or twelve kids at our corner. We sometimes waited a long time and there were fights, both verbal and physical, before the bus arrived when we suddenly lined up and boarded in a most organized fashion.

     I remember singing on the bus and learning a lot of songs such as “100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall” and “Beer, Beer for good old EI.” These songs don’t seem real appropriate for young children, especially for teetotaler Henry Ford’s school, but they provided much needed entertainment. I still remember the words to “Beer, Beer for good old EI (Edison Institute),” which were sung to the tune of the Notre Dame Fight Song. “Beer, beer for good old EI, you bring the whiskey, I’ll bring the rye. Send a loyal freshman out and don’t let a single senior in. We never waiver, we never fall, we fill ‘er up on wood alcohol. What a loyal faculty we found on the bar room floor. Fill ‘er up again! Beer, beer for good old EI…”

     My happiest bus memories were sitting next to my best friend Janet and counting weather vanes to and from school. They were often on the garages alongside or behind the houses we passed and we liked the horse ones best. I still recall the joy of spotting a new weathervane that had been missed on previous rides.

     Each morning we were dropped off at the Clinton Inn which was the most convenient location to reach Martha-Mary Chapel for the daily service. Going home was a different story – we lined up in front of our individual school buildings by bus number and boarded there. It was on the homebound ride that we had to hold our breath while passing through the covered bridge. I vividly recall how hard it was to hold our breath for so long and that the silence made the sounds all the louder as our bus clattered over the large but fragile old boards. I think the breath-holding custom was intended to bring good luck. Perhaps the good luck was specifically aimed at the bus -- that its weight pounding upon the noisy ancient boards wouldn't cause the bridge to give way.