Riding The School Bus
I was just reading the section of your site with respect to the dirt road that connected the community of Port Albert to the outside world and memories of travelling on that road to Centennial High School in Gander Bay. Growing up in Port Albert, our school up by the graveyard only went to Grade Six, at which point you were forced to take that dreaded bus ride on that dirt road to Gander Bay.
I remember fondly those bus rides, which brought different experiences depending on the season. In the Fall with the rain came the potholes. I remember sitting in the front and watching my Uncle Harold, driving the bus and swerving through the sea of potholes that lay ahead, as if he was trying to part the Red Sea, ha ha. Most of the time this task was pointless as the road in October and November, as well as the Spring months, was often one large pothole. In those times when Uncle Harold's attempts to avoid the potholes were fruitless, I can still remember the front engine cab of that old Ford bus shaking and rattling. We all waited with bated breath, wondering when the front of the bus was actually going to fall off.
And then there was Gander Bay hill, just by Horwood branch, where Uncle Harold would have to forget about stickhandling around the potholes and get as much speed as he could to get up that hill, with a final screech in first gear as she would crest the top. This hill was also often an experience in winter when the freezing rain would so often make that hill the perfect place for Olympic bobsledding. I am sure that any of the students who travelled that road on the bus will enjoy this fond memory. Many more stories to come about my enjoyable life growing up in Port Albert.
Submitted by Jason Elliott - Petty Harbour, NL
17 August 2007