Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, August 14, 1993                   TAG: 9308140208
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: PAT BROWN
DATELINE: BUENA VISTA                                LENGTH: Medium

BUS STOP DOESN'T MEAN YOU'RE AT END OF THE LINE

Mary Huffman, Tolley's sister-in-law, has become her own boss. She is proprietor of Flowers & Things in Buena Vista. But she still hates to see the old factory go to waste.

"We sure wish somebody would buy that plant down there," she said.

"God knows we've got the work force ready, willing and able. And everybody knows that if you worked at Blue Bird, you worked hard."

For six years she delivered new buses for Blue Bird to California, Maine, Florida and points in between. "I always did enjoy driving, and I still miss it today," she said.

Ironically, Huffman and husband Phil had both enrolled in computer classes at their own expense before any Blue Bird layoffs were anticipated. "I had planned on someday making a [job] change," she said, "but I didn't like the idea of them [Blue Bird] leaving me."

When the factory closed, Huffman signed up to take a truck driving course that was offered by Blue Ridge Community College in Weyers Cave. It was a long commute.

Just about the time she was performing the on-the-job training that would have completed her trucking course, a voice at the other end of the telephone line was offering a shop full of florist equipment for sale.

Phil Huffman uses his computer training in his new position. He landed a job as parts manager for Lee Hi Truck Stop in Lexington. The Saturdays that he used to devote to Blue Bird are now spent at the florist shop helping his wife.

Tom Keiser, the brother of Larry Tolley's wife, Brenda, and Mary Huffman, took a truck-driving course and has a freight delivery route out of Lexington.

When he began working for Blue Bird at age 19, he was "the youngest person down there." Keiser welded bus floors and attached the body fronts.

On his delivery route, Keiser feels more freedom. "There's not somebody pushing you and watching over your back all the time," he said. But there's also no one to talk to. "I miss the friends I had down there."

Another disadvantage is his hours. On Thursday his run was short. Monday he put in 15 hours. It's probably better family-wise to be on a regular schedule," said Keiser.

Joyce Keiser, Brenda Tolley's aunt, was making $13.50 an hour in Blue Bird's upholstery department. When the plant closed, she took a 15-week course paid for by the Labor Department to become certified as a nurse's assistant. She works for $5 an hour now, but does not complain.

Instead, she will continue to take advantage of the free training by enrolling in a computer class in the fall.

The list goes on. David Tolley, Larry's brother, was a group leader in Blue Bird's paint department. He landed a job in Roanoke with MAACO Auto Body Painting. Another relative stepped up his hobby, farming; another tackled remodeling projects. Two cousins found work with other Buena Vista companies. One struggles to juggle the two jobs that are necessary to match his former Blue Bird income.

The classes and job searches are the practical signs of people piecing their lives back together. But part of the struggle is emotional. "Being out of work was hard to accept at first," Joyce Keiser said. "You have to make yourself accept it."