A smiling face and a warm greeting are always good ways to start the day.
And, after long hours working in the summer heat, a pleasant farewell has certain medicinal properties to ease the aches and pains brought by toting wood and swinging a hammer.
The drivers of Crescent School Transport have been on both ends of the workdays during this week’s Jimmy Carter Work Project. They’ve maneuvered streets to and from sites in western Anniston and at Wellborn Manor, carrying the excited, tired, weary and inspired.
They also pick up and drop off volunteers at the hotels, motels and dormitories around Anniston, Oxford and Jacksonville.
The hours are long, but the personal satisfaction of playing a role in such an important event is enormous, drivers say.
“My day started at five this morning,” said Phoebe Denney. “Between nine and 10, I go home to rest a little bit.
“I come back around three o’clock and usually don’t get off until 10 at night.”
Delivering so many different groups has allowed Denney to meet people from all over the country. She has met volunteers who have traveled from Nebraska and California to be here this week. On Tuesday, she had a conversation that has become a source of good-natured ribbing from her fellow drivers:
“I was talking to a man riding with me about how great it was Jimmy Carter was in town working. I asked him had he met President Carter while he was out at the houses.”
“When he said yes, I told him what a privilege that must have been.
“He said, ‘Not really. Jimmy Carter is my dad.’”
Come to find out, that the man she was speaking to was Jeff Carter.
Not all of this week’s visitors have such an impressive lineage, but their motivation for being here makes them all stand out. The driver’s get a first-hand opportunity finding out how special they really are.
Herbert Clark, a retired part-time driver, remarked on the good manners the volunteers have shown him. “They always tell me good morning and thank you for the ride. My groups are really nice people.
“This morning, my first load was almost all senior citizens.” Then Clark winked, “And most of them were females.”
