Ben Young To Celebrate His 90th Birthday Sunday, March 29, 2009

[Henry]

Ben Young will be celebrating his 90th Birthday, next Sunday, March 29, 2009.  I will try to get in touch with him or some members of his family over the next week to seek if I can get a photo of him to put up here on the forum.

Ben still lives up on Richards Road here in Fairfax, but haven't seen him as of late.

HAPPY 90TH BIRTHDAY BEN

[Dick Brown]

Henry   When I was a rookie Principal back in 1971, Ben was one of BFA's bus drivers and part of a group that included Raymond McNall, Herb Wilkins, John Shedd, Larry Leach and Bob Gates.  Later, within a year, they were joined by Ralph Ellsworth and their driving record was never a problem that I had to be worried about, in any season, nor did I ever have to deal with many discipline situations ( except when Bob took his bus with our softball team through the Notch because " damn Dick, we were running            late " ) . 
The point I'm trying to make is that Benny, along with the other drivers, were so well respected by both the riders and the parents that very few incidents happened on their school vehicles, and virtually none made their way to the Principal's office.  Benny, in particular, could always be counted on to do his best, no matter what job he was doing in the town. Certainly, I always thought of him as an example of what Fairfax and BFA was all about, and I wish him the best.

[Henry]

The photo above of Francis Bessette, Raymond McNall, Herb Wilkins, Bob Gates and Ben Young must bring back some memories for you then Dick.

[Dick Brown]

Great picture. When i was writing my note this morning, I knew I was forgetting someone....Francis Bessette certainly was among that group of drivers, and maybe the one most remembered at Graduation Time when the Francis Bessette Award is given to the Best Baseball Player for the season. Thanks for posting it.