812-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 29, 2000
Warren and Arlene Shenk stand in front of the home they built on their farmland. For
more than 10 years, Shenk collected the stones from his fields.
Bus Ready To Roll To Highest Bidder
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Farming Staff
MOUNT JOY (Lancaster
Co.) Thirty-three years ago
Warren Shenk started driving
school bus. Today he’s 68 years
old and still driving.
In his sparetime, Shenk fash
ioned a wooden bus to duplicate
the one he drives. Instead of
keeping it, he’s donating it to
Kraybill Mennonite School’s
23rd annual Benefit Auction,
May 12-13.
Shenk and his wife Arlene
married in 1953 and begin farm
ing 103 acres in Mount Joy.
“We raised beef and potatoes
because it was something good
to eat,” Shenk said.
The Shenks have four chil
dren. When their children were
young, they attended Kraybill
Mennonite School, which
needed a part-time bus driver.
Shenk figured he could fit driv
ing into his farming schedule. It
wasn’t always easy, especially
during the harvest season.
Some mornings he delivered a
truckload of potatoes to Harris
Warren Shenk made this bus to duplicate the one he
drives. He is donating the bus to be sold at the Kraybill
Mennonite School Benefit Auction, May 12-13.
burg before picking up a busload
of children.
“When I first began driving, I
didn’t get paid. Two years later,
I got $5 a day,” Shenk recalls of
the changes during his tenure.
Shenk estimates he trans
ported more than 2,000 students
to school on a regular basis. Now
some of his students are the
third generation of those he has
driven to school.
“I don’t see much difference
in children’s behavior. In fact,
they keep the bus cleaner than
they used to maybe I do a
better job of getting them to
keep it clean,” he said.
Shenk washes all the school
buses for Kraybill’s.
While most children cheer
whenever school is canceled due
to bad weather, Shenk doesn’t
share their joy.
He said, “I don’t like when
school is cancelled for a little bit
of snow. I like the challenge of
driving in it. They didn’t used to
cancel school for snow like
now.”
Driving is more of a challenge
because the traffic is more con
gested. On the other hand, back
roads are not as narrow as they
used to be and that helps when
maneuvering a cumbersome bus
around curves.
Shenk has numerous trophies
for winning first, second, and
third placings at the Lancaster
/Lebanon School Bus Rodeo.
After winning the grand cham
pion one year, he stopped partic
ipating in competition in order
to give others a chance.
Rodeo competition is tight.
Shenk explained, “We need to
drive through an obstacle course
with only one-inch space on
either side of the bus. We must
park in a space by only pulling
up one time. If we are over the
line or against it, SO points are
deducted from our scores.”
Maneuvering around the ser
pentine barrels with such a long
bus is no easy feat. Contestants
are also judged on their ability to
find all defects in five “bugged”
buses within five minutes.
“Bues.” Shenk said, “include
such details as a truck license in
stalled instead of a bus license,
the amber and red lights
switched, and windows open a
crack.
Now retired from farming, the
Shenks had a new home built on
some of their farmland.
“For 10 years, I saved the
stones I picked out of our
fields,” Shenk said of the stone
house they built six years ago.
Shenk often volunteers to
drive bus for several retirement
communities and for the Men
nonite Disaster Service. He is a
church trustee and janitor for
Erisman Mennonite Church.
“I enjoy volunteering,” he
said.
Making the bus to be sold at
the benefit sale is a way to vol
unteer time to help others,
Shenk believes. The funds raised
at the benefit enable lower tui
tion.
“I wanted to make a bus that
looked just like mine,” Shenk
said of the bus, which includes
33 details not included on the
original bus blueprints. These
include such details as a first aid
kit, step light, fire extinquisher,
reflective triangle, wrecking bar,
hand brake, foot throttle, und
erseats heaters, five dome lights,
step railing, rear view mirror,
and other things.
The most difficult parts to
find were amber and red lights.
He finally located some at a
(Turn to Pago B 15)