Date: Fri 03-Jul-1998
Date: Fri 03-Jul-1998
Publication: Bee
Author: KAAREN
Quick Words:
bus-drivers-Mattegat-Glover
Full Text:
Two Veteran Bus Drivers Come To A Final Stop
(with cuts)
BY KAAREN VALENTA
"Anyone who has ever taken a vacation with two kids in the back of a station
wagon, and multiplies that by 30, has some idea of what it is like to be a
school bus driver."
Prefacing his remarks with that comment, Superintendent of Schools John Reed
thanked retiring school bus drivers Lee Glover and George Mattegat for their
combined 57 years of service to the community.
"I want to thank you. I know it is a difficult job," Dr Reed said as the two
school bus drivers were feted at the annual end-of-the-year reception held by
bus coordinator Mary Kelly recently for the district's owner-operators at the
administrative offices at the middle school. And, as if to drive home the
point that driving a school bus presents challenges, it was a hassle-filled
morning. A tractor-trailer truck was stuck under the railroad bridge on Church
Hill Road, forcing the bus drivers to make unexpected detours while driving
their routes on the last day of school.
First Selectman Herb Rosenthal, a former longtime member and chairman of the
Board of Education, and Police Chief James Lysaght also attended the reception
to thank the two drivers.
"I've always been a strong supporter of our owner-opeator system. We have a
superior safety record thanks to drivers like you who do a fine job," Mr
Rosenthal said.
George Mattegat drove school bus No 17 for 33 years. Lee Glover drove bus No
21 for 24 years. Neither one ever had an accident that was their fault.
"They are excellent drivers," Mary Kelly said. "They always put the interest
of the children first."
Both men are 69 years old and, although the district no longer has an age
limit for drivers, both decided the time was right to "retire" to pursue other
interests. Lee Glover is an active real estate broker and appraiser in
Newtown; George Mattegat is the town's full time dog warden.
Remembering The Early Years
Mr Mattegat was working as a mechanic in the garage across from the high
school on Route 34 in 1965 when he was asked if he would be interested in
driving a school bus.
"Mr Ferry, who lived in Bethel, owned a school bus and asked me if I'd be
interested in having a contract," Mr Mattegat said. "I said that I would, so
he told me to go see Mr Sommi, the superintendent of schools. I talked to him
for five minutes and he told me to go buy a bus. We shook hands. At that time
I didn't even have a license to drive a school bus. But I went to Danbury to
take the test, and I passed."
He ordered a bus which cost $4,900, a big investment at that time.
"I had only been making about $1.50 an hour at the garage," he pointed out.
The first day on the job the new bus broke down on Jeremiah Road.
"The pulley on the generator broke," Mr Mattegat said. "I was taking a busload
of kids to the high school. At that time there was a spare bus -- all the
drivers chipped in to buy it -- and you could use it for $5. Betty Smith, the
bus coordinator then, brought the bus out for me so I could finish my run."
In the 1960s George Mattegat had a long high school run.
"Walnut Tree Hill Road to Glen Road, Riverside to Lorenzo's restaurant, turn
around, to Route 34, Jeremiah, Bennett's Bridge, Great Quarter, Great Ring
Road. We'd stop at Great Ring Farm, by the pond, and everyone would get out
and we'd have a cigarette. Then we'd get back in the bus and go to High
Bridge, Pine Tree Hill, Bears Hill, Meadowbrook, and up to the high school"
which was on Queen Street then."
Mr Mattegat remembered the years when there was a particularly wild bunch of
kids in Botsford and none of the bus drivers wanted that route.
"I said I'd do it," Mr Mattegat said. "The kids sat in the back of the bus and
first day three of the bus seats were cut. Then the ring leader got sick and
was in Danbury Hospital, and I rented him a television set for the whole time.
After that the kids sat up front. At Christmas, after the ringleader got out
of the hospital, he took up a collection of 25 cents from each of the kids on
the bus to buy me a watch. He pocketed the money and stole a watch. But from
that day on I never had any trouble with those kids."
George Mattegat also chuckles when he recalls all the things -- many of them
very personal -- that the elementary school children on his bus routes told
him over the years.
"The kids would tell me all the things that their parents did," he said. "All
these years I've kept everything to myself. I could write a book but I guess
they'd throw me out of town."
Twelve years ago Mr Mattegat bought his third bus in 33 years, this one cost
"something between $30,000 and $40,000," he said. The bus will be donated to
the Shriners in New Milford to haul the little fire engines used by the Fire
Brigade to parades. The Shriners support orthopedic hospitals and burn
treatment centers. "It's all free. I encourage anyone who needs the orthopedic
or burn treatment to call me at 426-3228," Mr Mattegat said.
Mr Mattegat is a member of the local Masonic temple, the Shriners, the Fire
Brigade, and the VFW. He is a past president of the Newtown Lions Club.
In the 1970s he learned that the position of animal control officer for
Newtown was available. And, except for a brief hiatus, he has had that job
ever since. He will continue his duties at the dog pound but a big part of his
regular routine will be gone now that he won't be driving the school bus
anymore.
"I will really miss the kids," he said repeatedly during this interview. "It's
been a pleasure working with John Reed, John Torok, Mary Kelly and St Rose
Principal Donna DeLuca along with the rest of the bus drivers in the town of
Newtown."
"With Newtown's owner/operators, I think we have the best buses in the state
of Connecticut."
Lee Glover agrees. Newtown is only one of two towns in the state -- the other
is Orange -- in which school buses are owned by their drivers. That started
with Sarah Mannix, who originally picked up students in her car and later
became the first owner/operator.
"Parents really appreciate the concept," Mr Glover said. "They know you live
in town and know the people. I really want to thank all the parents and kids
on all of my routes. I know I'm going to miss driving."
Lee Glover Hasn't Left
"I don't want people to think that I'm retired, " Lee Glover said. "I'm
keeping my commercial license so I can still work as a substitute driver. And
I'm in Newtown six to eight hours a day with my real estate business. I can't
visualize stopping dead."
A fifth generation Newtown native, Lee Glover grew up on Glover Avenue when it
was still a dirt road and buildings were few and far between. He recalls
looking out of his bedroom window and watching the trains pass behind Hawley
School. When he was still in high school at Hawley during World War II, he and
a few other students joined the Hook & Ladder Fire Company.
"The fire company lowered its age limit to 16 because so many of its regular
members were away in the war," he explained. "When the fire alarm went off,
we'd rush out of the school and -- until we got cars -- try to hitch a ride up
to the firehouse."
He also was on the state forest fire crew that chased blazes in an old Model A
pickup truck modified for firefighting.
Following in the footsteps of his father, Walter Glover, who was the first
chief of Hook & Ladder and also the first fire marshal in town, Lee Glover
became fire chief after he returned from military service in the Army during
the Korean conflict. He served 18 years as fire chief before stepping down in
1973 and remains a lifetime member of the company.
Following high school he took a job as a gauge technician with the Heise
Bourdon Tube Company. He left 27 years later after the company was purchased
by Dresser Industries. That's when he took the courses and passed the exam to
get a real estate broker's license and also applied for a school bus contract.
"I've had a Hawley Elementary School run every single year that I drove the
bus. I watched kids grow up, go to college. Now one of those kids is a mother
and her child rides on my bus," he said.
"It's hard to leave. "I've always had four runs -- two elementary, a middle
school, and a high school run. I always got along good with the kids. I
treated them very fairly -- strict, but in a nice way -- and they respected
me," he said. "The parents are cooperative and supportive because they know
the system in Newtown is one of the best in the state."
Lee and Pat Glover recently sold their large house at 16 Main Street and moved
to Heritage Village in Southbury. They also bought a ranch-style house in a
new planned community called Arbor Creek in Southport, North Carolina, and may
retire there someday.
Because of the move, Mr Glover resigned from the Newtown Borough Board of
Burgesses on June 1. He had served on the board since July 1988 (following a
tradition set by his father and his sister, current Warden Joan Crick), was
appointed second senior burgess July 1989 and senior burgess May 1991. In
1990, as sidewalk commissioner, he handled the repair project of deteriorating
sidewalks on the west side of Main Street. He was active in saving the trees
on Main Street at the onset of the sewer project and was responsible for
overseeing the care of the traffic islands and parks in the borough.
He also was the first parade marshal of the Labor Day Parade, a post he held
for several years when the marshal was responsible for the organization of the
parade's line of march. Other fire chiefs were division marshals at that time.
Lee Glover hasn't decided what he will do with his school bus. The 1990 model
has three years left on its contract and could be used as a spare bus by
another driver or could be sold to a commercial bus company.
"In Newtown, a new contractor has to furnish a new bus," he explained.
A bus can be used for only 10 years and has regular, thorough inspections as
often as twice a year by state inspectors. Bus drivers also must take an
annual refresher class that covers such topics as safe driving and how to
handle children, pass regular proficiency tests, and be recertified in first
aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation every year.