I’ll Give You a Bus
(circa 1984)
Give you an old church school bus as partial payment for a week long youth camp.
How can you say NO to a deal like that?
Our good friend, Rev. Gary L. from First Presbyterian Church in Albuquerque, had arranged a weeklong camp at Sonlight Christian Camp way back in the early days of this facility. It was to be what we call a rental group. They come in with their kids, counselors and speakers and Sonlight provides the cabins, food service and cleans up after they leave. The youth leaders do all the programming. A rental group. They combined with a church in Los Alamos, NM. It was a huge group with the two churches and all their staff and kids. It was wonderful.
So, Gary says, “when we drive the old church bus up to camp, can we just leave the bus there at camp as part of our payment?”. What? “The parents will come and get their kids and Sonlight can just keep the bus.” What? Wow!
The school bus was from the 1960’s or early 1970’s. It had a manual transmission with a 2 speed rear axle that you had to shift. One of those red buttons on the gear shift lever. It had a gasoline engine. What an antique.
So, I said sure…yes…Sonlight will take the bus as partial payment for your week of camp. I think we came up with the dollar amount of $ 600 for the bus…somewhere in there. But, Gary got rid of their old bus and the church youth group got a newer bus. Sonlight now had a bus. I think this is progress? But, who knows. Sonlight has a bus.
(This bus was retired some time in the mid-1990’s)