On Saturday May 25 Souhtland Transportation held its annual School Bus Roadeo in Calgary for the Southern Alberta region. We had an amazing turnout of 42 contestants, 31 in the big bus category, and 11 in the small bus. Amongst those 42 were 20 first time participants that we call Rookies! 

Watch our slide show now!

The Roadeo has been a long time tradition for Southland and something our operations, safety, and training teams get very excited to host for our drivers.

Our Calgary Training and Safety Department with help from Mark Pulfer spent many hours on Friday and early Saturday morning preparing the Ogden Yard for the competition. Our local and rural Operations teams worked on organizing the event behind the scenes and ensuring our almost 200 people in attendance were fed breakfast and lunch.

With the help of 14 chaperones we were able to send 32 contestants’s children to the zoo for the whole day! They had an amazing time despite the clouds.

24 of our 42 contestants will be heading to Nisku, AB on June7 to represent Southland Southern Alberta in the annual Provincial Roadeo. If they place top 3 in provincials they have the opportunity to be heading off to Austin, Texas at the end of June to compete internationally!

Local Winners were as follows:

Calgary Big Bus:

1. Heidi Hartwick
2. Nathaniel O’Coin
3. Matthew Badiou

Okotoks Big Bus:

1. Kris (KC) Craig
2. Sara Moroski (Rookie)
3. Catina Despotopoulos (Rookie)

Medicine Hat Big Bus:

1. Clayton Orge
2. Brook Dawson (Rookie)
3. Dawn Wolf (Rookie)

Lethbridge Big Bus:

1. Anthony Rodzinyak
2. Joe Trinque (Rookie)
3. Trish Zwingli (Rookie)

Cochrane Big Bus:

1. Amy Porter
2. Ryan Flood
3. JoDana Hartwick (Rookie)

Small Bus Southern Alberta:

1. Matt Cochrane – From Medicine Hat
2. Natalie Gauthier – From Calgary
3. Erik Fehr – From Calgary

Top Rookie overall for Southern Alberta – Matt Cochrane from Medicine Hat!

Top Scorer overall for Southern Alberta – Heidi Hartwick from Calgary!

Congratulations to all of our local winners, and good luck to you and the other contestants heading to  Provincials. We will be there to cheer you on and make memories!

Can’t wait to see many more contestants out next year for the Roadeo.

On May 6^th to 8^th our General Manager, David Richards, along with a group of Edmonton region businesses led by Edmonton Global were in Ottawa to lobby the Government of Canada for the region’s share of programming and funding.  Delegates had the opportunity to share their success stories, and build awareness from federal government officials on activities happening in our region. 

Among other items highlighted one of the key messages was that the Edmonton region has been a world leader in the development of the Hydrogen supply chain, creating the potential for Canada to significantly reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. 

While in Ottawa, David met with the following: 

Office of the Minister of Environment and Climate Change

• Joshua Swift – Senior Policy Advisor
• Liam Olsen – Regional Advisor, BC & Prairies

Natural Resources Canada

• Michael Vandergrift – Deputy Minister
• Jeff Labonté – Associate Deputy Minister

Privy Council Office

• Paul Halucha – Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet (Clean Growth) & Deputy Minister of Public Lands and Housing

Global Affairs Canada (Trade Dept.)

• Nathalie Dubé – Director General, Investment, Innovation and Education

Transport Canada

• Arun Thangaraj – Deputy Minister
• Désirée Sauvé – Chief of Staff to the Deputy Minister 

Office of the Minister of Trade, Export Promotion and Economic Development

• Leslie Sherban – Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of Operations
• Elise Wagner – Director of Policy

He also attended the House of Commons tour and dinner hosted by Mike Lake MP (Edmonton—Wetaskiwin) / Laila Goodridge MP (Fort McMurray & Cold Lake).  At that dinner he had the opportunity to sit with Mike Lake and discussed potential contacts to support our hydrogen initiative and an array of other topics. Laila is Fort McMurray born and raised and her parents rode our coaches to work every day, or as she called it  ‘The Syncrude Bus’. 

Regretfully, she is unable make our anniversary celebration on June 5^th, but we will be having further discussions on the challenges of working in Fort McMurray.   

It’s exciting to see that our Hydrogen initiative and region have made an impact to that level of government and look forward to where this is going to lead.

May 6th has been designated School Bus Driver Appreciation Day for a very good reason. It gives teachers, students and families a wonderful opportunity to thank school bus drivers and to show them how much they value their service. It also gives PWT the opportunity to show our appreciation and yesterday saw several fun celebrations across multiple Student Line locations!

Thank you School Bus Drivers! There are not enough words to describe your impact on your communities and passengers. Your continuing Dedication to ensuring every student makes it Safely Home is inspiring. In the past year, our drivers have provided incredible Customer Service to parents, school boards, and most importantly – the children on their routes.

Your Positive Attitude and welcoming smile have allowed Student Line to continue to succeed and your daily commitment to our Core Values goes above and beyond your job description.

We appreciate everything you do!

Check out this slideshow of some of the various activities found in Southern Alberta yesterday and look for more celebrations later this week!

A contingent of SOUTHLAND Edmonton employees and their families joined thousands of people wearing dinosaur costumes in Drumheller on Saturday, hoping to break a world record. 

Travel Drumheller’s ‘Jurassic Jamboree’ event aimed to break the Largest Gathering of People Dressed as Dinosaurs record of 252 people, which was set in Los Angeles in 2019. While the final numbers have not been released, the fact that organizers handed out 3,000 wrist bands means the attempt to break the record was an unqualified success!

SOUTHLAND Edmonton arranged a charter for their drivers to travel to Drumheller for the event, in exchange for donations to the Edmonton Food Bank.

It looks like it was a roaring good time! The turnout was simply Dino-Mite!

Prairie Bus Lines is thrilled to announce that one of our own has been recognized by the Student Transportation Association of Alberta. We want to extend our sincerest congratulations to Don Strandquist for being named the 2023 School Bus Driver of the Year.

Working out of Stettler, Alberta, Don recently marked 50 years of consecutive service transporting students to school and Safely Home. His experience navigating the rural country roads and local highways is unmatched, and Don is humbled by the unexpected recognition.

“I’m tickled pink about it, actually! You know, when you’re doing something that you really enjoy, it’s never really work, and I truly believe that. In all of those years, I can never remember a morning when I said, I wish I didn’t have to drive today.”

Over the past five decades, Don has witnessed three generations of school kids in the Stettler community grow up before his very eyes. Some of his current bus students have parents or even grandparents who also rode on Don’s big yellow school bus.

“Yes, I’ve seen a third generation of families in a few places! I’ve seen a lot of kids come and go over the years. You don’t do something for this long unless you love it!”

Don is famous for fostering a positive atmosphere on his bus, and his dedication to his students has been a key ingredient in his career in student transportation since day one. In September, a special needs student on Don’s run simply refused to enter the school. After repeated failed attempts by teachers to coax the student into joining his classmates, Don took it upon himself to walk the kindergartener into the building every day at drop-off – a ritual that continues to this day.

“When he gets on the bus, he gives me a high five. When we get off, we walk into the school, and I pat him on the shoulder and say, ‘You have a good day, Wyatt.’ Then he gives me another high five, and he’s happy as a lark! For the little time it takes me to work with him, it is time well spent.”

During the holidays, Don has treats ready to hand out to every one of his riders. He always carries lollipops in his pockets for any other students he comes across and always has an easy smile and a fun story to share with students and staff. He even provides jokes to the office for the daily announcements at the school – often cutting them out of local newspapers.

Don turned a very spry 79-years-old in January, but the avid walker says he feels great and has no plans to permanently park the bus and retire anytime soon.

“I still enjoy every day of it, and I wouldn’t give it up for anything,” Don adds. “If I’m not fit to be there, I don’t want to be there, but as long as my health is good and everything like that, I’ll continue to enjoy every day with the kids.”

Don Strandquist has become a pillar of the Stettler community, and the students see him as a permanent fixture of the school and love to recognize him during the annual Bus Driver Appreciation Day. Here’s one of their recent tributes.

“Come rain or shine, you know Mr. Strandquist will make it through the worst road conditions and arrive at your doorstep. Although some days, some of us would probably rather stay home, we appreciate how we can always count on you, Mr. Strandquist” – Junior High Student, Bus Driver Appreciation Day

Don will be presented with his award at the STAA’s Supervisor’s Meeting on April 26 in Stoney Plain, Alberta. There, he will officially receive the School Bus Driver of the Year for the province of Alberta and a cheque for $500.

Congratulations, Don, on receiving this well-deserved honour and on your unwavering commitment to the safety and well-being of the students in your care.

On April 9^th Diversified attended a fireside chat hosted by the Association for Mountain Parks Protection and Enjoyment (AMPPE), Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) and Ski Big 3.

In attendance at this event were various stakeholders including Ron Hallman, CEO of Parks Canada, Francois Masse – Superintendent Lake Louise/Yoho/Kootenay Field Unit, Richard Ireland – Mayor of Jasper, Corrie DiManno – Mayor of Banff and many other individuals and organizations with a common goal of maintaining ecological integrity in the Park. 

It was a great honour to showcase our Hydrogen unit and have the opportunity to collaborate on initiatives that align with long term strategies for the area.