During the summer months there is a need for about 20% of the bus fleet – that I work for – to be operational. Since I was one of this 20% I was given many extra ‘runs’ to fill my days through the month of August. One of my runs was to take a busload of London youths to a summer camp, just outside of the city. The camp is called ‘Circle R Ranch’.
To and from this camp the youths would – with the guidance of two camp counselors – sing a huge variety of silly songs…
The Moose Song
There was a great big moose
There was a great big moose
And he liked to drink his juice
And he liked to drink his juice
Singin’ Way-ay-o!
Way-o way-o way-o way-o!
Way-o way-o!
Way-o way-o way-o way-o!
The moose’s name was Fred
The moose’s name was Fred
And he drank his juice in bed
And he drank his juice in bed
Singin’ Way-ay-o!
Way-o way-o way-o way-o!
Way-o way-o!
Way-o way-o way-o way-o!
He drank his juice with care
He drank his juice with care
But he spilled it everywhere
But he spilled it everywhere
Singin’ Way-ay-o!
Way-o way-o way-o way-o!
Way-o way-o!
Way-o way-o way-o way-o!
This song made me laugh. I thought that it was hilarious.
There were three buses taking children to the camp and each bus – and driver – was given a name. My bus was called ‘The Heart Bus’ and since I had previously decorated the inside with pictures of peace symbols I suggested that we call it ‘The Bus of Peace and Love’.
My nickname became ‘The Peaceman’. The counselors had taken thin cross sections of a branch and had made nametags for everyone… including me!
On the first day of camp, the counselors had used red construction paper to create hearts - with each of the camper’s names – and these were taped to the side windows of my bus. The counselors then asked each of the campers to create their own decorations for the bus. Everyone became excited…
…but the next day only one little girl came with a decoration. But what a decoration it was. I didn’t get a chance to really appreciate it until I got home and took a closer look… I was really amazed! She had used scissors to cut out the shapes of three horses. Each horse had a mane and a tail and a set of eyes that had been individually cut out and glued onto the body of the horse. There was a foreground of grass with individual blades cut out. The two lower horses are holding a big heart between them and the top horse is holding a peace symbol in his mouth. Very creative and truly inspiring!
That afternoon I asked the artist to introduce herself to me and this young girl raised her hand. I don’t think that she was older than nine! I told her that her artwork was truly magnificent and I encouraged the other children to take a look at what she had done. The young artist blushed and sat back down with a huge smile on her face.
I really wanted to see more artwork by these campers so I told them that at the end of the week that we would have a competition to see who could create the best artwork for our bus and that there would be two winners who would each get one of my art prints. Well… the excitement that continued for the rest of that bus ride home was almost deafening!!!
Soon, the windows of my bus were filled with many different artworks…
On the second last day, one of the campers brought colourful streamers…
…that were soon hung from each and every window of the bus!!!
And then more artwork was taped to the windows…
Since I wanted everyone to feel pleased with their art accomplishments – on the last day when we were to have our competition judging – I had to change my plans. Very simply, I told all the campers that all of the artwork was fantastic and that I could not pick the two best. Instead, I had all the campers choose a number between one and one hundred and that the two closest numbers would win the art. This made everyone happy without making anyone feel that their art was not the best.
It was an absolute pleasure for me to have had this time to share with so many young and creative minds. I learned lots of fun and silly songs and I was able to get these youths excited about things like peace, love and art – my favourite subjects!
Since then, I’ve used the same melodies from a few of the songs that I’d learned and I’ve created new and fun lyrics that I’m introducing to the elementary students that I am now driving – now that school has resumed. But that sounds like the beginning of another story…
Jim
To and from this camp the youths would – with the guidance of two camp counselors – sing a huge variety of silly songs…
The Moose Song
There was a great big moose
There was a great big moose
And he liked to drink his juice
And he liked to drink his juice
Singin’ Way-ay-o!
Way-o way-o way-o way-o!
Way-o way-o!
Way-o way-o way-o way-o!
The moose’s name was Fred
The moose’s name was Fred
And he drank his juice in bed
And he drank his juice in bed
Singin’ Way-ay-o!
Way-o way-o way-o way-o!
Way-o way-o!
Way-o way-o way-o way-o!
He drank his juice with care
He drank his juice with care
But he spilled it everywhere
But he spilled it everywhere
Singin’ Way-ay-o!
Way-o way-o way-o way-o!
Way-o way-o!
Way-o way-o way-o way-o!
This song made me laugh. I thought that it was hilarious.
There were three buses taking children to the camp and each bus – and driver – was given a name. My bus was called ‘The Heart Bus’ and since I had previously decorated the inside with pictures of peace symbols I suggested that we call it ‘The Bus of Peace and Love’.
My nickname became ‘The Peaceman’. The counselors had taken thin cross sections of a branch and had made nametags for everyone… including me!
On the first day of camp, the counselors had used red construction paper to create hearts - with each of the camper’s names – and these were taped to the side windows of my bus. The counselors then asked each of the campers to create their own decorations for the bus. Everyone became excited…
…but the next day only one little girl came with a decoration. But what a decoration it was. I didn’t get a chance to really appreciate it until I got home and took a closer look… I was really amazed! She had used scissors to cut out the shapes of three horses. Each horse had a mane and a tail and a set of eyes that had been individually cut out and glued onto the body of the horse. There was a foreground of grass with individual blades cut out. The two lower horses are holding a big heart between them and the top horse is holding a peace symbol in his mouth. Very creative and truly inspiring!
That afternoon I asked the artist to introduce herself to me and this young girl raised her hand. I don’t think that she was older than nine! I told her that her artwork was truly magnificent and I encouraged the other children to take a look at what she had done. The young artist blushed and sat back down with a huge smile on her face.
I really wanted to see more artwork by these campers so I told them that at the end of the week that we would have a competition to see who could create the best artwork for our bus and that there would be two winners who would each get one of my art prints. Well… the excitement that continued for the rest of that bus ride home was almost deafening!!!
Soon, the windows of my bus were filled with many different artworks…
On the second last day, one of the campers brought colourful streamers…
…that were soon hung from each and every window of the bus!!!
And then more artwork was taped to the windows…
Since I wanted everyone to feel pleased with their art accomplishments – on the last day when we were to have our competition judging – I had to change my plans. Very simply, I told all the campers that all of the artwork was fantastic and that I could not pick the two best. Instead, I had all the campers choose a number between one and one hundred and that the two closest numbers would win the art. This made everyone happy without making anyone feel that their art was not the best.
It was an absolute pleasure for me to have had this time to share with so many young and creative minds. I learned lots of fun and silly songs and I was able to get these youths excited about things like peace, love and art – my favourite subjects!
Since then, I’ve used the same melodies from a few of the songs that I’d learned and I’ve created new and fun lyrics that I’m introducing to the elementary students that I am now driving – now that school has resumed. But that sounds like the beginning of another story…
Jim
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