By Roslyn Ryan
Editor

Brown

Mary Brown began her career as a bus driver for Powhatan High School in 1960, when Dwight D. Eisenhower was President and gas was around 30 cents a gallon.

Oh, how times change.

Last week, 48 years later, she marked the end of that career by receiving a certificate of appreciation from the Powhatan County School Board and a standing ovation from those in attendance.

“I have the most admiration and respect for her,” said Superintendant Dr. Margaret S. Meara, telling the audience how much Brown will be missed.

To say the retirement has been a long time coming would be something of an understatement.

Brown took the job when her daughter started school, and said she only intended to keep driving until her daughter graduated.

When that day came however, in 1971, Brown just kept on truckin.’

Despite the early wake-up calls and the other rigors of being a bus driver in a rural county, Brown says she has enjoyed her career with the schools.

She’s seen plenty of changes over the years: Brown started driving when the county had just two schools, one for black students and one for white students.

Over the years she’s seen the county add four more schools, and watched the children on her first route grow up and have children of their own.

Then those children had children, and Brown has driven them all.

“Some of the drivers [today], I drove them,” Brown laughed.

While she’s going to miss driving when she finally turns in her keys at the end of December, Brown insisted there is one thing she is looking forward to: a leisurely morning.

“I’m just going to take my time and do what I want to do,” she said happily.