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Alpine will ride in style
It can be argued that students participating in academic and sports events for Alpine schools travel more miles per year than any students in any other district in the continental United States. It's not uncommon for an Alpine team -- academic or athletic -- to travel 500 miles roundtrip to an event. Last Thursday morning, when it took delivery of two new Blue Bird buses, the school district took a huge step toward alleviating the impact of that travel on its students and faculty. The buses, obviously, will not eliminate travel in the standard "yellow hounds." However, for the long trips - particularly those for large numbers of students -- the district will rely on the 46-passenger buses. School board President Ray Hendryx was delighted to have the buses finally arrive. "We thought we were going to get them back in October, but they were delayed," he said. "I think the kids will be proud to ride in them," he added, "and the rest of us can stick our chests out a bit more when we see our kids getting off them." Hendryx noted that this will be the first new buses of this kind that the district has been able to purchase. "I remember back in the '60s, we bought a used one from Colorado City and repainted it," he said, "But whoever drove it had to also be a mechanic because it was sure to break down somewhere along the road. We called it the Golden Goose." The buses are identical in every way. Each bus has 46 seats, and each seat will have significantly more leg room. Among other specifics, the buses have 100-gallon gas tanks, get 8 miles to the gallon (not bad at all for a vehicle that size) and can cruise at 70 miles an hour. Each has a 300-horse-power, Caterpillar C-7 engine. Mike Davis, Alpine superintendent of schools, was unsure last Thursday when the buses would be put into student use. First, they had to be properly titled and taxed. (However, the wait wasn't long; the basketball teams got the debut ride.) Each bus comes with a DVD system that has four screens dropping out of the ceiling, and spread back through the bus. The buses cost between $100,000 and $150,000 each. As for the need for the buses, consider: € Alpine students routinely travel 300 miles round-trip on academic and athletic trips. € Trips are almost all one-day affairs: Go to school, ride the bus to an event, participate, ride the bus back home € For context, consider that the Alpine football team rode 1,800 miles on buses this past season; the volleyball, basketball, baseball and softball teams rode buses for a few hundred miles more. € With district realignment now set, the mileage could get even worse. Fort Davis honored, out-of-towner selling: Seguin man will sell to whoever meets his demands mikeperry@alpineavalanche.com National Trust honors Fort Davis; ceremony Saturday Avalanche staff Patterson puts off Christmas proposal Special to the Avalanche Analysys: Second in a series Avalanche staff mikeperry@alpineavalanche.com Highlights of the National Park Service's proposal € Facilities that are currently functional and in at least occasional use include an antenna system on the south peak, a rugged service road to the antenna site and several roads entering the property from Terlingua Ranch. |
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