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Date: Fri 03-Jul-1998

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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.

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