{"id":11881,"date":"2023-12-07T10:52:53","date_gmt":"2023-12-07T16:52:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/?p=11881"},"modified":"2023-12-07T10:52:53","modified_gmt":"2023-12-07T16:52:53","slug":"ive-been-blessed-hathaway-resident-peter-leblanc-talks-about-his-50-years-as-a-school-bus-driver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/2023\/12\/07\/ive-been-blessed-hathaway-resident-peter-leblanc-talks-about-his-50-years-as-a-school-bus-driver\/","title":{"rendered":"“I’ve Been Blessed” Hathaway Resident Peter LeBlanc Talks About his 50 Years As A School Bus Driver"},"content":{"rendered":"

Peter LeBlanc recently celebrated 50 years of driving a school bus for Hathaway High School.\u00a0 <\/span>The Jeff Davis School Board honored him at a meeting and presented him with a certificate.<\/p>\n

Since 1974, LeBlanc\u2019s driven countless miles with precious cargo, making sure that three generations of kids have gotten to and from school, field trips and sports events safely. He\u2019s now driving the grandchildren of some of his first passengers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But what makes LeBlanc\u2019s story even more interesting is that he inherited the job from his father, who put in 38 1\/2 years behind the wheel.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Taking The Wheel From Dad<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d just gotten out of school when my father retired,\u201d LeBlanc says. \u201cThey asked me if I wanted the job.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019d attended McNeese, where he planned to major in business administration and play on the basketball team. He\u2019d figured out that business administration wasn\u2019t for him, and being chosen as one of the final 15 basketball team members meant long, late practices and long commutes (he had to live at home in Hathaway, since there was no dorm room available). So he\u2019d quit college. He\u2019d been helping some local farmers and had just begun farming on his own when the offer to drive the bus came up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it would be perfect,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He hadn\u2019t planned on driving for 50 years, however.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people do this for about 30 years,\u201d he says. \u201cI planned to put in my 30 years and retire. Well, I hit 30 years, and I was still young and still felt good, so I kept going.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s quick to point out that, as a father of five, the insurance the job provided was what led him to take it. \u201cYou don\u2019t make a lot of money farming, and the insurance was a big help,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

All About The Kids<\/b><\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not what\u2019s kept him at it for 50 years. That would be his passengers and the relationships he builds with them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just love the kids,\u201d he says. I love being able to put a smile on their faces, to help with problems they may be having at home. A lot of those kids just want a connection and some attention. I can give them that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shorter Routes, More \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>Discipline Problems<\/b><\/p>\n

As you might expect, LeBlanc has seen some changes in 50 years behind the wheel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

His routes are shorter now, he says. When he started, he drove around 65 to 70 kids in two runs, totaling about 35 miles per day. These days, he\u2019s driving 15 to 18 miles per day, with only one run.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And he says the kids are a bit different now than they were in the \u201870s.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are more discipline problems now,\u201d he says. And, he adds, kids had more respect for adults when he first began driving. To add to that, he says, he has little control now over discipline problems on the bus.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve taken control out of our hands,\u201d he says. \u201cWe can\u2019t discipline kids on the bus; we have to report the problems to the school principal,\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Still, he says, there are plenty of parents in his area that support him \u201c100 percent\u201d when it comes to potential problems with their children.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had one kid about 40 years ago who was a real troublemaker,\u201d he says. \u201cHe really gave me a hard time. \u201c\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The boy grew up, married, moved out of the area, then moved his family back to Hathaway to live in the same house he\u2019d lived in growing up. And LeBlanc was driving this young man\u2019s kids to school.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember the first day his kids rode the bus,\u201d LeBlanc said. \u201cHe walked out to the bus with them, put his hands on either side of the bus doors, leaned in and said he gave me 100-percent permission to discipline his three kids if there was a problem. He said he knew what I\u2019d been through with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

And he says he has that kind of support from the parents of many of his riders.<\/p>\n

Passing It Down?<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>LeBlanc\u2019s now 80, and he\u2019s been on the job for 50 years, so it\u2019s logical to ask about future plans \u2014 first, whether he intends to pass the job along to one of his kids, as his own father did to him.<\/p>\n

The answer is a resounding no. LeBlanc and his wife, Julia, have five daughters; all have good careers and have no need of the job, he tells me.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy five girls all have college degrees and great jobs; they\u2019re all doing very well,\u201d he says proudly. One daughter is an architect in the East Baton Rouge area; one is a school counselor; two are retired teachers; one has been a substitute teacher for years. \u00a0<\/span>The second obvious question about<\/p>\n

the future: When does he plan to give up the route? That question, he says simply, he leaves to his cardiologist.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tell him every time I go in that I carry precious cargo, and if he sees any kind of problem at all, just put me an X. No complaints, no hard feelings. If he says I shouldn\u2019t drive, I won\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, he says, that day isn\u2019t coming very soon. His cardiologist, he says, tells him that his job is \u201cthe best thing for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, especially since his passengers often include at least a few of his 10 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren, he says, he\u2019s not going to take chances.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Peter LeBlanc recently celebrated 50 years of driving a school bus for Hathaway High School.\u00a0 The Jeff Davis School Board honored him at a meeting and presented him with a certificate. Since 1974, LeBlanc\u2019s driven countless miles with precious cargo, making sure that three generations of kids have gotten to and from school, field trips [&hellip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11884,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4,51],"yoast_head":"\n"I've Been Blessed" Hathaway Resident Peter LeBlanc Talks About his 50 Years As A School Bus Driver - BestOfSwla<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/2023\/12\/07\/ive-been-blessed-hathaway-resident-peter-leblanc-talks-about-his-50-years-as-a-school-bus-driver\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""I've Been Blessed" Hathaway Resident Peter LeBlanc Talks About his 50 Years As A School Bus Driver - BestOfSwla\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Peter LeBlanc recently celebrated 50 years of driving a school bus for Hathaway High School.\u00a0 The Jeff Davis School Board honored him at a meeting and presented him with a certificate. 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