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Weingarten’s time on bus a memorable experience

Weingarten’s time on bus a memorable experience Weingarten’s time on bus a memorable experience

Rita Weingarten began driving bus for the Lake Holcombe School District in 1989, and has seen at least 75 families on her route since that time. Submitted Photo

By Ginna Young

For 34 years, kids and their parents have relied on Rita Weingarten to chauffeur the precious cargo, to and from Lake Holcombe School. During that time, about 75 families have come and gone through Weingarten’s school bus doors, giving her the chance to watch the children grow and become parents themselves.

“I’m hauling kids of kids,” said Weingarten. Originally, Weingarten began driving bus when her son was being bullied on the bus and the company at the time was short of drivers. She signed on and was able to waitress at night, while driving bus during the day, and keeping an eye on her son’s tormentors.

“For some reason, people just don’t knock on doors to drive bus,” she said. “You don’t make a lot of money, but there are a lot of other reasons to do it.”

Weingarten had the North Route the first year, and ever since, has been assigned to Route 1, now called Blue 23.

“Which is good, because blue is my favorite color,” said Weingarten.

Because Weingarten lives far out on her route, she took the bus home, to save the time driving into the bus barn, then back to begin the morning route. Growing up, her neighbor, Kent Dorney (now a teacher at Lake Holcombe), remembers being a passenger on Weingarten’s bus.

“We used to watch out our door [and say], alright, she’s coming down the hill,” he said.

Of course, Weingarten didn’t just haul kids back and forth to school each day, but also drove on field trips. Since she wasn’t that familiar with the Twin Cities, when it came time to go to the Science Museum, she had a trick for avoiding getting lost.

“I’d go over there the weekend before I had to go…so I knew where I was going,” she laughed.

Not everything was smooth sailing, but Weingarten handled it with grace and kindness. At times, Weingarten served as a counselor for the kids and even a lending bank.

“A sense of humor got me a long way sometimes, in tricky situations,” said Weingarten.

Despite her happy memories and the friendships she made, Weingarten’s license is expiring March 15, which is the same day as her birthday. The decision was not an easy one, but she is retiring to do something for herself, to visit with family and grandchildren, and find out what her next adventures will be.

“That’s half my life I drove bus,” said Weingarten. “I’ll miss them.”

Over the years, Weingarten says she had a lot of great support from each of the three bus companies she worked for and made many wonderful friends. But in the end, it all came down to the kids who rode her route, that made the biggest impression.

“Being the second person that greeted them every morning, that was kind of nice.”

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="241"] All it takes is a fish to make Rita Weingarten laugh, as she recalls the day a student caught a large fish at the Lake Holcombe School winter fun day in 2022. The student actually was on her route and asked if they could take it on the bus home, to which Weingarten was more than happy to oblige. “That’s one of my fond memories,” she said. Submitted Photo[/caption]  
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