|
It's
hard to believe, but a
few years ago there were
families who didn't own
a car, let alone have
two in the garage and a
couple more parked in
the driveway. In those
days if you wanted to go
out of town, you took
the bus.
Most
of us senior citizens
remember the Greyhound
bus stopping at Gus
Fisher's restaurant on
the comer of South
Howard and Washington
streets (The Haines
Agency today). If you
have a really good
memory, you'll remember
that the Buckeye Bus
Line was in operation
before the Greyhound
line took over.
Gus
Fisher sold out to Frank
West in 1946 with West
continuing the
franchise. The station
didn't change locations
until 1955 when
Harparee's Pure Oil on
the comer of Hulse and
Washington took over the
franchise. They
continued until 1964
when Max and Ann
Miller's 5 & 10
cents store became the
bus station.
In
1965, the Greyhound bus
came through Sabina
every hour on the hour
from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
seven days a week. Only
after the buses stopped
their run through the
village did people
realize how convenient
it was to have the
service. Leona Ewing,
who lived in Sabina and
worked at Mt. Carmel
Hospital in Columbus for
twenty-six years was one
of the people who took
advantage of the service
and appreciated it. She
rode the bus for
nineteen years and her
son Kenny, who worked at
Lazarus in Columbus rode
the bus for eleven
years.
Leona
and Kenny lived on Hulse
Street so they had a
short walk to Harparee's
to get their ride to
Columbus. They could buy
a commuter strip which
would give them a week
of rides to and from
Columbus for $10. The
morning bus consisted of
fourteen regulars: One
woman from Wilmington
who worked at Ohio State
University, Kenny and
Leona, a few riders from
Washington C.H., two of
whom worked at Lazarus,
and a few from Mt.
Sterling and Harrisburg.
It took approximately an
hour and ten minutes
from Sabina to Columbus,
which was good time
considering the stops
the driver had to make.
For the most part, the
passengers were the same
people every day;
consequently, they
became a "family." The
driver looked after his
family and gave them
every advantage and
courtesy that was within
his power to do. Most of
the people who rode to
Columbus came back in
the evening of the same
day. If the passenger
wasn't at the station at
departure time, the
driver would stroll off
someplace, supposedly
checking on something,
but actually waiting for
his late passenger to
show up. Usually the
passenger was late
because his job held him
up past the time he was
scheduled to get off
work.
Some
of the passengers had
gardens and in the
summertime when their
fruits and vegetables
ripened, they would pass
the fresh produce around
to the driver and other
passengers. And on a
hot, summer day one of
the drivers, Herb Kelly,
stopped at an ice cream
stand and bought cones
for everyone on the bus.
The
bus drivers were always
cautious and responsible
behind the wheel.
However, there was one
time when a mechanical
problem created more
trouble than the best of
drivers could overcome.
Kenny's bus was on the
midnight trip out of
Columbus to Interstate
71 when the bus began
slowing down and would
not speed up past 20
mph.
The
driver exited and went
back to Columbus,
driving 20 mph all the
way. He switched buses
but the second bus would
only go 15 mph. He again
returned to the bus
terminal and again
switched buses. The
third bus would not
reach a speed of over 20
mph. The driver said, "I
am going to run the
route, even if it is at
20 mph. I have to get to
Cincinnati." Kenny got
home that morning around
3:30 a.m. He found out
later that a maintenance
man had used motor oil
instead of diesel fuel
to gas up the buses.
In
1964, when Max and Ann
Miller bought the
Greyhound franchise,
Leona and Kenny boarded
the morning bus at the
Laundromat on the
southwest corner of
Washington and Howard
streets. The driver then
turned left on North
Howard, stopped at
Miller's 5 & 10 and
then drove to Elm,
turned right and then
another right on
Jackson. Made a left
onto Washington and was
on his way to Columbus.
The drivers didn't like
having to make all the
tight-squeeze turns so
after they stopped at
the Laundromat, they
would look up the street
to Miller's 5 & 10
and if they didn't see
anyone standing out in
front waiting for the
bus, they would go
straight east on
Washington Street, which
was much easier for
them. Max Miller got
very upset when the
driver didn't make the
scheduled stop, as he
wanted everyone to have
the proper service.
After
1-71 opened, the drivers
exited at Town and Rich
so that Leona would only
have half a block to
walk to Mt. Carmel. The
bus station was only a
couple of blocks from
Lazarus, so neither of
them had far to walk.
In
the mid and late '50s,
Leona worked the late
shift and couldn't get
to the station by 10
p.m. to catch the bus to
Sabina. She would have
to wait for the midnight
bus. At that time the
Catholic nuns ran the
hospital and when Sister
Josena learned that
Leona had to walk to the
terminal and wait for
the midnight bus, she
changed her schedule.
Kenny's
supervisor at Lazarus
wasn't as accommodating.
He insisted that Kenny
work until his scheduled
time of 9:30 p.m. on
Mondays and Thursdays
when Lazarus stayed
open. After his
supervisor was promoted,
Kenny's next two bosses
made sure he got off
early so he could catch
the 9 p.m. bus.
When
the driver got to
Sabina, he would let
Leona and Kenny off at
the Hulse Street corner,
even though that was not
a scheduled stop. Leona
was a favorite of the
bus drivers and when she
was by herself, the
driver would wait until
she was on her front
porch under the porch
light before he moved
on.
At
the time, Kenny didn't
know just how highly the
drivers regarded his
mother but an incident
that caused him
considerable
inconvenience also let
him know that had he
dropped her name to the
driver, he could have
spared himself a lot of
time and trouble. He was
at the Columbus terminal
ready to leave for
Sabina when a substitute
driver looked at his
ticket and told him he
could not stop in
Sabina. (The regular
drivers made an
exception.) Kenny had to
purchase a ticket to
Washington C.H. and then
take a taxi to Sabina.
Later, some of the
regular drivers heard
that the substitute
driver wouldn't
stop in
Sabina for Kenny and
gave him a good talking
to. From then on the
driver made every effort
to make it up to Kenny
for the mistake.
In
September of 1975, the
Greyhound buses
discontinued service
through Sabina. Kenny
and Leona began driving
to Columbus, carpooling
with different people in
Washington C.H. Leona
retired from Mt. Carmel
in 1982 and Kenny
retired from Lazarus in
1988. If you add the
number of miles they
covered in their
combined years of riding
the Greyhound buses, it
is well over a million
and a half - 60 times
around the globe.
The
information in this
story was provided by
Kenny Ewing.
Joy
Shoemaker
|
