Conference dispatch: postcards from Louisville

The school bus industry convened here in Louisville, Ky., for the annual NAPT and NASDPTS conferences. The events were full of fascinating speakers, inspiring awards presentations and entertaining sights and activities. Here's a look at what we SBF editors captured with our cameras.


Yes, there are many different ways to pronounce the name of this fine city. But I think they left out "Lewisville."


Harold Dennis, a survivor of the fiery Carrollton, Ky., bus crash that killed 27 children in 1988, gave a stirring presentation to NASDPTS members about the impact of the tragedy and how he was able to persevere in its aftermath, going on to become a star athlete. On the screen behind Dennis is an image of Larry Mahoney, the drunken driver who collided head-on with the bus.


Attorney and consultant Peggy Burns of Education Compliance Group delivered an engaging keynote speech to NAPT on the need for school transportation leaders to recognize and embrace change in order to stay relevant.
 

The old steamboat the Belle of Louisville, docked on the Ohio River. One NASDPTS function was a dinner cruise aboard another steamboat. A state director who grew up in the area said he can remember a time when the river, which is about a mile wide at one point near downtown, froze over.


The NAPT crew showed off the various styles of IC Bus jackets (with a few fake entries thrown in, like the caveman tunic) that attendees have received over the years. At left is Tom Cellitti, a former executive of the Navistar bus business, who began the jacket giveaway tradition. Cellitti was being inducted into the NAPT Hall of Fame.


Louisville City Hall. The horse statue in the foreground is one of many that have infiltrated the downtown area.


An army surplus store with a sense of humor.


Colonel Sanders shows off the unofficial state bird: fried chicken.

See you next year in Portland, Ore.

— Thomas McMahon, Executive Editor