'I can't see myself doing anything else': School bus driver celebrates 50 years of memories
Hail to the bus driver of 50 years.
Since he was 26 years old, Robert McNamara has driven a school bus in the community of Prospect, N.S.
“A lot of different people, but you know, they all feel the same,” said McNamara, outside his morning stop at Prospect Road Elementary School. “Everything is great. I couldn’t see myself doing anything else.”
50 years later, the 76-year-old driver says a lot has changed.
“When I first started, there were no numbers on the house, and what numbers were on the house were so far away you needed binoculars to see them,” adds McNamara, who works for Student Transportation of Canada. “Then the fire department got out there and added numbers, and that made a big difference, I’m glad those changes came.”
Generational bus driver
His favourite part of the job is the students.
“When the kids come on the bus in the morning, its fun to talk to them,’ explains McNamara. “I always find a way to talk to them, make them comfortable, never get mad at them.”
Jane Caudle agrees. McNamara currently drives her seven-year-old daughter Avery to school.
“Robert is kind, gentle, and I think the biggest thing is he gives so much respect to people, and the kids,” explains Caudle. “I work a lot, and I’m not always there to drop off my daughter. I feel so safe and comfortable. He’s been taking my daughter to school since she was four.”
Avery, who is about to finish Grade 1, agrees.
“He’s kind,” says the student. “He always says 'Hi.'"
Parent Steve Price first met McNamara in 2019.
“My son Grayson was starting primary,” explains Price. “Robert picked him up, and right from day one, he was happy he was his driver.”
Price says he’s never seen a sad child coming off of Robert’s bus.
“He always has them smiling, he really puts them at ease” adds Price. “He says goodbye to them, always remembers their names.”
As McNamara reflects on 50 years, so do members of the community.
“He’s a remarkable person. Anyone who you talk to about Robert has consistently good things to say about him taking their kids, or even grandkids to school,” adds Caudle. “Robert is someone who is a constant in their lives. He thinks he’s just doing his job, and he is, but he’s making a big impact in peoples’ lives.”
Not running out of gas
For McNamara, he says he’ll continue to drive a bus for years to come, as long as he passes the driving and medical tests.
“If I can go for 20, I’ll go for 20,” he adds. “I look forward to driving the bus as long as I can, that’s what I want, that’s what I hope I can.”
With files from CTV Atlantic's Paul DeWitt
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6944829.1719591965!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
TREND LINE Trudeau Liberals 'under siege' across the country, with Conservatives cracking red 'fortresses' like Toronto and Vancouver: Nanos
Hot on the heels of the Conservatives’ stunning byelection victory in the riding of Toronto—St. Paul’s, new seat projection data from Nanos Research show ridings considered previously safe for the Liberals are increasingly up for grabs.
Is homemade sunscreen safe to use? Here's why it's 'a horrible idea,' according to experts
If you could make sunscreen with items found in your kitchen pantry, should you do it? Posts from social media influencers and bloggers including recipes to make your own sunscreen have been wildly circulated online, but the dermatologists who spoke to CTVNews.ca call it a 'horrible idea.'
Ontario MPP removed from PC caucus over 'serious lapses in judgment'
Premier Doug Ford has removed a member of his caucus due to what he’s describing as 'serious lapses in judgment.' In a statement released Friday morning, the premier’s office said MPP Goldie Ghamari had been removed from the Progressive Conservative caucus 'effective immediately.'
Need multiple alarms to wake up in the morning? Here's what could be happening, according to experts
If you are clogging your clock app with multiple morning alarms, you’re setting yourself up for a groggy morning, experts say.
Biden's Democratic allies admit he had a poor debate but say they're still standing behind him
U.S. President Joe Biden strained to quell Democratic anxieties over his unsteady showing in his debate with former U.S. president Donald Trump, as elected members of his party closed ranks around him in an effort to shut down talks of replacing him atop the ticket.
Russia to prepare a 'response' to U.S. drones over Black Sea
Russia's defence minister ordered officials to prepare a 'response' to U.S. drone flights over the Black Sea, the ministry said Friday, in an apparent warning that Moscow may take forceful action to ward off the American reconnaissance aircraft.
The U.S. Supreme Court weakens federal regulators, overturning decades-old Chevron decision
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday upended a 40-year-old decision that made it easier for the federal government to regulate the environment, public health, workplace safety and consumer protections, delivering a far-reaching and potentially lucrative victory to business interests.
A harmless asteroid will whiz past Earth Saturday. Here's how to spot it
Called 2024 MK, the space rock will make its closest approach to Earth Saturday morning, passing by at about three-quarters the distance from Earth to the moon. It was first spotted two weeks ago by a South African observatory and is about 393 feet to 853 feet (120 metres to 260 metres) wide.
A mother's pain as the first victim of Kenya's deadly protests is buried
Edith Wanjiku holds onto one of the few photos she's left with of her teenage son Ibrahim Kamau. His life was cut short by two gunshot wounds to his neck that were sustained during Kenya's deadly protests on Tuesday in which more than 20 people were killed.