It was actually night.
We had an amazing crew of mechanics that cared for our bus fleet. Sanford Falkner was our crew chief. He managed engines, transmissions, air systems, anything. You name it and Sanford could fix it.
Rick Henderson was another. Rick handled weekly maintenance and safety checks as well as jobs that one man could manage without help, alternators, starters, exhaust, etc.
Craig Eisenmann was our body and paint man. He helped me paint our first bus as well as the other twelve. Craig can tell you why I listed the first job separate from the others. I still wake up in cold sweats after that one. He also designed and painted our coach bus making it something to be proud of.
Rodney Claxton was our fourth always making himself available to handle any job that the other men may have not been able to get to.
These men have logged thousands of hours of volunteer time to keep our buses on the road. As bus director, I could not have done my job without the aid of these guys.
It was a dark and stormy night.
Bus #17 had broken down on the shoulder of the road right outside of the bus barn. There was no way to get it inside and a transmission had to be replaced.
I still remember looking down the hole in the floor at Sanford and Rick. They were lying on the ground in puddles of water. The rain was driving down and flowing like a stream around them. The only light was from a security light by the front of the barn. They were trying to get the bell housing attached to the motor. My job was lifting the transmission up by the shift lever and holding it still so they could start the bolts. After many attempts, we got it on and the bus ran the next day.
I’m sure I said thank you, but I never did thank them enough.
Joel Stiff's Adventure 