By Shari Benyousky
Guest Columnist

Column Note: This is the twenty-eighth column in the Diners and Dives series in which a small group of Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club members and their guests road trip to explore the restaurants of Kosciusko and the surrounding area.

WARSAW — Those invited to this week’s Diners and Dives received an obscurely worded email invitation telling them to arrive at 11:30 a.m. at a residential address, and not to be late without a parent’s excuse note. What?!

A group of confused people milled about on the driveway, their stomachs rumbling. At 11:30 a.m. sharp, they heard the familiar loud phsst sound of a bright yellow school bus braking. The safety arm went out and the door opened. “Hi!” said a smiling Gina Keener. “Welcome aboard!”

Some Unexpected Statistics

Grins broke out on adult faces. Several scampered directly to the back of the bus as far away from authority as possible. If you ever rode a school bus, you know how that goes. Transportation Director Mark Fick introduced himself and gave us some interesting data as we drove to a secret lunch location. “Warsaw Community Schools transports about 4,700 kids each day, and the transportation department works about 215 days a year.”

As we sat back in those familiar high-backed bus seats, I marveled at Gina’s clean bus. Each seat was spotless and even the floor looked waxed. “I care for my bus,” Gina told us. “If you respect your kids, they’ll respect you back. I want them to respect the bus too.” Gina is passionate about her bus and her kids. Mark Tracy and Jeff German, two other bus drivers riding along, nodded their agreement.

“We get really attached to our kids over the course of a year,” Driver Mark Tracy told us. “It’s tough when we have to change routes.”

Clearly, the people at the transportation department at Warsaw Schools are on the same page. They like each other, respect each other and love their jobs. “We’re all here because of Superintendent Hoffert.” Mark Fick leaned over a bus seat to speak to the whole crowd. “He respects us, listens to us, and values us.”

Gina pulled the bus into our unannounced lunch destination — Patino’s Restaurant in the Center Lake Plaza at 918 N. Detroit St., in Warsaw — and found a place long enough to park a bus. We filed into Patino’s and the staff helped create a table long enough.

Is It Easy To Be A Bus Driver?

After we had chosen either from the menu or the extensive lunch buffet, we munched on chips and salsa. By the way, the salsa at Patino’s is excellent and the chips are hot and crunchy. “Of course, it isn’t easy to be a bus driver,” Mark Fick gestured affectionately at his three drivers represented. “We want the best people to drive around our students. But we train our drivers well, and we pay for their licenses. And we are a big family. And we have fun too.”

On the ride, we saw Driver Gina’s comfortable chair. The new buses also have backup cameras, driver AC, Automatic door open buttons, GPS, all-wheel traction, and lots of safety features such as instant radio communication to headquarters and other authorities. One new bus costs at least $220k. “That chair is my driver’s office,” Mark gestured. “I have 42 routes, and all of my drivers need to feel comfortable.”

“It’s actually a lot easier to drive my bus than my car in the snow,” Driver Jeff German put in. “I’d much rather drive the bus in bad weather.”

By the way, Warsaw Community Schools are currently still hiring drivers and they are offering a $2k sign-up bonus plus $500 referral bonuses. If you’re interested in becoming a driver, check out the details here.

The Food

We paused our conversation as enormous plates of Mexican-style tacos with cilantro and lime started appearing. Brittany Lyon and I got up to choose from the long silver buffet tables which featured several kinds of meats, fruits, sides and desserts. I piled my plate high with everything to make a steak burrito. Refilled drinks arrived quickly, and the crowd talked up the taste of their burritos, tacos, and chimichangas. The chimichangas got several thumbs up. Patino’s is quick, efficient, and tasty.

Do Those Bus Cameras Really Work?

I asked the drivers about funny stories. All of them chuckled. Driver Gina replied, “It’s funny, but the kids don’t believe those cameras inside the buses work. One time a little kid was telling his friends the cameras are just for show while he was wiping something on the lens. Like chalk maybe? And then he wiped it on another camera lens too.”

Director Fick explained that the drivers sometimes need to pull the footage of the cameras if they get a complaint or need to discuss behavior. Gina added, “Here we are back at the office watching the video footage of this little kid talking about how the cameras are just for show. What a surprise he had!”

The footage of an incident goes to a student’s principal for behavior issues. Sometimes a principal pulls a kid into the office “for a show” and the show ends up being them. Driver Gina smiled sympathetically. “We don’t have bad kids though. We have kids that make bad choices, right? I love my kids and my parents and my families.”

Which Regular Got In Trouble On A Bus?

Podcast Plack cringed. “Look, I was one of those kids. I had a flashback when I got on the bus from when I was like 6 years old. It was a total misunderstanding. But my punishment was to sit in the seat right behind the bus driver for months.”

“That’s how it was when we were growing up,” Driver Mark Tracy chuckled.

“Do you hear yourself?” REMAX Realtor Jeff Owens waved his hands. “When we were growing up? That’s like old people talk now!” He turned to ask. “What’s the craziest thing you guys have ever found left on a bus?”

Does Stuff Get Left On The Bus?

Driver Jeff German answered, “If you can imagine it, it’s been found on a bus after the kids leave.” Some of the things the drivers mentioned — many teeth, vapes, squishy balls which have been squished, things you don’t want to know.

“But we’ve never lost a kid!” Director Fick said. “We’ve never lost a single kid.”

We finished eating our rice and beans and wiped our messy hands. The food was so good that we didn’t have enough left to request take-home containers. I went back to the buffet for a bowl of watermelon sprinkled with spicey tajin, and then we filed back out to the bus where the regulars headed for the back of the bus again.

“Chris Plack!” the intercom called. “Chris Plack. We need you to come to the front of the bus. Bring your things.” An abashed Plack left the laughing regulars in the back. “You’ll need to sit here in this seat behind the driver.” Driver Gina grinned. “Misunderstanding or not.”

Clearly the Transportation Department knows both how to have a good time and run a tight ship. All of us were proud of the Warsaw School Systems for doing a fantastic job with the huge transportation task they have.

“We aim to serve,” Gina said as she dropped us off.

Mark Fick, Gina Keener, Jeff German, and Mark Tracy plus all of the staff at Patino’s – we Warsaw Breakfast Optimists salute you!

Do you know of an interesting place, restaurant, nonprofit, or person that you’d like to see featured in Dives and Diners or in Profiles behind the scenes someday? Send SB Communications LLC an email at [email protected].