Lapeer bus drivers finished third in the Region 10 Bus Road-e-o on Saturday

A total of 24 drivers, 8 from Lapeer Community Schools, participated in the Region 10 Bus Road-e-o on Saturday, May 16th at Lapeer West High School.

Of the eight Lapeer competitors, four were driving for the first time in the event.

Lapeer’s top three drivers from last year’s competition did not compete and for the first time in five years, Lapeer did not win the team trophy. Winner of this year’s event were the drivers from the Genesee County Intermediate School District.

The Lapeer transportation team placed third, just 34 points behind drivers from North Branch, who took second. Four Lapeer drivers placed in the top 10.

“We want to thank all of the people in our department and district wide responsible for making the event a success,” said Jerry Podzikowski, Director of Transportation. “We especially want to thank Kevin Walters, Tim Zeeman and their staff for the great hospitality at West. Thanks also to Craig Irish for his help in getting us setup in the morning and cleaning up after we were finished. A special thanks to Vance Holmes who served us well by providing grills and cooking fine ‘tube’ steaks and Superintendent Debbie Thompson for supporting our event.”

“We appreciate all the community businesses and district vendors that contributed gifts and equipment to make the event a success,” Podzikowski said. “Each person who participated and all of the people who helped by judging and assisting us in some way were sent home with a gift that was contributed to us.”

The Lapeer County Road Commission helped by providing road signs for the course.

The Lapeer District will pass the event to another school in Region 10 next year, but the equipment acquired during the past two years will be used by the Transportation Department in future driver training.

While the event is fun and competitive there is a serious point to Road-e-o and that is supporting bus driver training and proficiency.