By Terra Avilla
What a wonderful Holiday season we had here in Lassen County, and now that the dust, and several feet of snow, has settled I thought it would be nice to showcase a particularly important asset to our community – Lassen Rural Bus.
Now, in big cities, I would think that the local bus system would be an area of contention. Our buses, however, rock, and step in to help fill whatever void we need in the community.
Aside from the drivers getting to know and caring about their passengers (which they absolutely do), our local drivers make it a point to be integrated into our community.
For example, the past two years, when Covid-19 drove Holiday with a Hero to a format in which we delivered gifts, we needed to transport volunteers and Santas throughout town, and didn’t know how we were going to do it.
Literally one, twenty second phone call to Caleb Schwartz and it was handled. We had five jolly and helpful buses ready to help on the day of our event.
Another example of the millions of things they do for our little community – did you know they offered to deliver groceries or medications and deliver them if you were ill with Covid-19 last fall? Good luck getting that service in a bigger city.
But perhaps the coolest thing they did was respond to Westwood (and if I’m not mistaken, I believe they also assisted in Chester) with seven buses (yes, seven) to help evacuate residents who did not have transportation.
These guys and gals stepped in to help, without hesitation. For free. Many of whom were most likely also affected by the fire and power outages, yet they selflessly stepped in to help.
These fine people who work at this organization are so much more to our community than a simple bus system. They are our neighbors. They are our friends. They care about our community and are willing to step up and be a very important resource to our unique community, in which sometimes resources are difficult to find.
We are incredibly lucky to have these men and women serving in this role within our community.
If you take the bus, you know that I am telling the truth. If you don’t take the bus, I suggest you follow them on Facebook and you can see the million things they do for us, usually without any acknowledgement. They just do it, to do it.
So, when you see them at their stops, give their drivers a wave. You’ll see their wonderful smiles, gleaming back at you, and you too, will understand why Lassen Rural Bus is one of the reasons I love the place we live.
