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14 The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, December 19, 1979 Section Two Pines Girls' Team Wins Western Area Volleyball Championship Charterways Speaker Stresses Bus Safety Letter to the Editor Dear Johnny Two weeks ago you were good enough to publish the interim results of the C.N.I.B. canvass. Trouble was it appeared as $1200, instead of $12,000.00. The error was pointed out and last week the results were corrected. Trouble was it was credited to the Cancer Society's Campaign. Now to get everything back on track we have a final figure for the C.N.I.B. canvass and it is $12,293.02. This total is well over our expectations and we are sure that everyone involv- ed in this canvass is delighted. Thank you all once again and best wishes for a happy holiday season. Les Langs Morgan Lunney Et Al Editor's note: Some weeks nothing goes right. The girls' team from The Pines Senior Public School won a volleyball tournament held last Thursday, December 13, at the Bowmanville High School. The girls' team, pictured above, also won the consolation prize in the Great Pine Ridge Kinsmen Tournament the previous week. Pines Sr. Public School Wins Boys' Volleyball Championship Lion Les Smale, left, a former part time school bus driver now in public relations, seemed like the logical choice to introduce the club's guest speaker last Monday evening. Murray McAlpine, centre, traffic and safety director for Charterways, addressed Lion members on the importance of school bus safety. Pictured right is Lion President Roy Turner. or prior to boarding the bus. The addition of special fender mirrors now enables the driver to accurately deter- mine when children are clear of the vehicle. Inside the bus, padded seat backs and improved seat anchoring has minimized the possibility of serious injury should an impact accident occur. A co-operative effort in the past few years between, bus companies, police and school boards has increased both student and public awareness to the necessary caution that must be exercised to ensure school bus transportation safety. Charterways' drivers are tested on a regular basis and the company sponsors regular bus rodeos where drivers demonstrate and practice their expertise at navigating.a difficult obstacle course. As an incentive, Charterway awards its employees wiLt safe driving pins for every accident free year. It's nearly year end and the Bowmanville branch has recorded no accidents to date. Since children's lives are involved and a severe acci- cent could feasibly bankrupt the company, Mr. McAlpine maintains Charterways involves itself with a serious ongoing safety program. They continually keep abreast of any new development in improved bus standards as well. The speaker rounded out his address with a film entitled, "Who Cares," which demonstrated how sensible driving techiques effect both safety and fuel economy. Twenty four teams from senior public schools in the area competed in a volleyball tournament held Friday and Saturday, December 7 and 8. The winning boys' team is this squad from The Pines Senior Public School. The tournament was sponsored by the Great Pine Ridge Kinsmen Club and was held at Clarke High School and the Pines Senior Public School. A group of pupils from the Newcastle Public School filled in for an absentee team and won the consolation trophy in the boys' division. Board Saves $50,000 by Eliminating Four Buses An annual savings of $50,000 can be expected as a result of four school buses being eliminated from the Northumberland and Newcastle Board of Education's western area. Doug Galt, chairman of the board's transportation committee, explained that three of the routes were located in Clarke Township and one was in the Courtice area. The trustees stated that he believes declining enrollment will mean fewer buses on the roads in the upcoming years. He noted that enrollment has declined by 700 pupils this year and suggested that it may be necessary to remove from five to eight buses annually in order to keep pace with the declining numbers of students. The four western area bus routes will be eliminated in the new year. Earlier in the year, three buses were .L........ . . .I-4et there be famies and o friends joined together in love and warmth, linking the old ways and the new. Starry eyed with Christmas joy we send thanks to one and all. The Staff of ury & Loveli Drugs 26 King St. E., Bowmanville 623-3361 removed from routes in the board's eastern area, Mr. Galt said. When a bus is taken out of service, its route is absorbed by another vehicle. By Donna Fairey Closing of small country school houses and a trend toward larger centralized educational institutions has increased emphasis on the yellow school bus. Lions Club members were updated on the status of our present school transportation system at their regular dinner meeting last Monday. Charterways hold the school bus franchise in this area and Murray McAlpine, the company's traffic and safety director addressed the club on the various aspects of the operation. According to the speaker, school busing is a big opera- tion. In the Bowmanville area alone, Charterways has approximately 70 buses in active duty and the company here sustains about 120 employees. It was interesting to note that Charterways is owned by Scott's Chicken Villa restaurants and was previous- ly a holding of the Holiday Inns. Originally chartered in 1958, the company was purchased by Scott's in 1974. In a provincial overview, Mr. McAlpine told Lions his company operates 1200 school buses in 16 different branches across Ontario. Sixty-five thousand school children are bused to school each day by various Charterways branches. Praising the excellent per- formance of Charterways' 1 1u A NEW DATSUN 210 You Save $501!' on ail new '79 210's " 4-Door Sedans " Hatchbacks " 2-Door Sedans * Station Wagons Hurry. While current stocks last! MIDWAY DATSUN LTD. 1300 Dundas St. E. WHITBY 668-6828 drivers, Mr. McAlpine dis- closed that at least 65 per cent of them are female. "I don't know where our company would be today, if we didn't have these women willing to take up school bus driving on a part time basis," stated the speaker. Mr. McAlpine attempted to dispel the popular opinion that ail women drivers are poten- tial road hazards. He noted the company's drivers, both male and female, are classed as professional people an4 have earned one of the best driver's licenses available. They must pass extremely rigid testing to qualify for their mandatory Class B license. Charterways was one of the first companies to adopt automatic transmission systems in their buses. It has been the company's experience that automatic models are much easier for women to operate. At least 20 per cent of the buses from the Bowmanville branch are now radio equipped and according to the speaker, they maintain no bus older than a 1972 model. Mr. McAlpine spent a good deal of time outlining the safety features and pre- cautions which safeguard the company and its passengers from accident. Government statistics prove that a child is at least ten times safer in a school bus than in the family car, explained the speaker. Records indicate that our Ontario school buses offer the safest form of ground transportation in North America, said Mr. McAlpine. Most fatalities which have occurred were after leaving, YULETIDE CHER Management and Staff of Warkworth Cheese House Hwy. 115 and 35 Bowmanville Public Utilities Commission CH RISTMAS HOLIDAY SCHEDULE The Bowmanville Public Util- ities office will close Monday, December 24th at 12 noon, and will remain closed until 8:00 a.m. Thursday, December 27th, 1979. The office will close on Mon- day, December 31st at 12 noon, and will remain closed until 8:00 a.m., Wednesday, January 2nd, 1980. FOR EMERGENCY SERVICE Cal 623m4452 M. P. Watson, Manager.