Bus # 1. It had a long, rounded hood, a double windshield divided by a bar, and 24 seats.

Space wasn't a problem, because until the mid-60's, there were less than 75 students in the first through eighth grades (kindergartners went to College school), most of whom lived within walking distance. Those who lived further away were picked up in shifts.

"The first trip went down Figueroa Mountain Road," recalls Gates Foss, who served as superintendent, teacher and backup bus driver for 39 years, starting in 1958.
"Virgil Sechlar, the driver, would pick up kids on the ranches, and go as far as Midland School, to pick up the U. S. Forestry Rangers' children who came down from the Figueroa Mountain Station, and faculty kids. He'd drop them off at school, and go to Ballard and Chalk Hill Road." When the school took field trips, they borrowed a larger bus from the high school, or leased a bus. "But most of our field trips were local," says Gates. "Like, we'd walk to the post office."

Before Los Olivos School Bus #1, ranch children carpooled, rode horses, or simply walked the long miles to get to school. Alumnus Rocco Roberts, whose grandfather, mother and children all graduated from Los Olivos School, rode Los Olivos School Bus #1 until his seventh grade year, in 1965, when the school purchased a 37-seater to accommodate the school's increased enrollment. With the new bus, also known as Los Olivos School Bus #1, came a new bus driver&emdash; Raymond Gonzales.school's increased

"By 1965, that old bus was breaking down a lot," Rocco remembers. "When we finally got the new bus, it seemed humongous. And it was a lot of fun. Raymond would pick up the Cunninghams and the Toll's on 154, then he'd pick up some kids at Dunn, then he'd take Roblar back to town. Roblar used to be pretty rough then, and it had some good-sized bumps. We'd all yell at Raymond to go faster. The back of the bus hung over the axle, and if you were sitting in the last few seats and Raymond hit one of those bumps, your butt would go about a foot in the air. It was a great way to start the day!"

Rocco grew up on Hwy 154 in a house behind the Los Olivos Market, which old-timers remember as Johnnie's. "I had three brothers and a sister and my mother didn't always have an easy time getting us ready for school. Sometimes we were late, but Raymond always waited. He'd sit there and toot the horn. And on rainy days, he'd drive the bus right to our door."

Raymond Gonzales, who also served as the school's maintenance man, remembers that a few of his young passengers chewed tobacco, "and occasionally, I'd catch them. But all in all, they were good kids." He remembers Rocco Roberts, and his son Riley and daughter Robin, who also rode on his bus. "Rocco was a good kid too," he says. "He's still a good kid." Gates Foss remembers Raymond as being "pretty strict, which is why all the kids behaved so well. It was also because they respected him."

Ten years ago, Raymond decided to retire at age 61 "because I was just too old." His former passengers have grown up, and he doesn't always recognize them, but they still remember him. "They like to come up and say hello. They all have something to say. They all remember something about riding on the bus."

Before Los Olivos School moved across the street to it's current location, it had only three classrooms that housed first through third, fourth through sixth, and seventh and eighth grades. Donnell Ronsevelle, the intermediate grade teacher, served as a backup bus driver, and so did Rick Rochelle, who replaced him.

"Mr. Ronsevelle was from Louisiana, and he was a real character," says Rocco. "I had an avocado sandwich for lunch one day, and he'd never had an avocado sandwich before. He was eating a peanut butter banana sandwich, which I'd never tried, so we swapped. It was a pretty good deal."

By 1986, with soaring attendance at Los Olivos School, the 37-seat bus was too small, and the school bought a 72 seater&emdash;again, known as Los Olivos School Bus #1.

Rocco Roberts was on the school board by then, and his two children were among the students who rode the new bus. "Now that bus has been recalled," he notes. "It needs a new engine, but it was grounded for structural stress in the roof." Until funds can be raised to buy a new bus, a bus will be leased to make the rounds.

Current busdriver Kim Gahm, who's been at the wheel of the third Los Olivos School Bus for eight years, has been a Valley bus driver for over ten years and calls Los Olivos "the best route of all. In the morning, the sun's coming up as I go down Foxen Canyon and the baby cattle are playing and maybe there's a deer in the road. There's never any traffic. It's very relaxing."

Not a lot has changed over the years, in terms of young school-bus passenger etiquette; "kids still like to go over bumps," Kim notes.

"The older kids always want to ride in the very back seats. I make the younger ones sit up front, for safety reasons." She has rules; feet on floor, face forward, hands to yourself, no eating, "but sometimes in the morning, the kids have hot chocolate and I allow that." She has about ten ranch children in the Foxen Canyon-Figueroa Mountain route, but she doesn't go out to Midland anymore. "Faculty kids go to Family School," she explains. U.S. Forestry families no longer live at Figueroa Mountain Station.

Because traffic is never an issue on her country route, Kim has the liberty of going back and picking up a forgotten schoolbook. When she's sick, or the bus breaks down, she'll call parents to explain that there won't be bus service that day, "and they're always understanding, and happy to help out." Nobody chews tobacco anymore, "but kids are still rowdy, especially in the afternoons. They'll test you every time."