Jolene Hawkins, President
Topping the Corpus Christi Conference was going to be no easy task, but the newly elected executive committee felt they were up to the challenge. Jolene Hawkins, as president, left Corpus Christi and went straight to San Antonio to look over the sites for the 1992 Conference. A change of hotels had already been made necessary by the layout of the Marriott 2000 that had originally been selected. When the property selection was first made, the Marriott was just starting construction and there was no way of knowing that it would not have an area suitable for large vendor displays. Therefore, an alternate site, the Plaza San Antonio had been chosen to house the membership and the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center would be the site for the vendor exhibits. When the vendors, members and guests started arriving on June 6, none would have guessed the problems that had been resolved prior to the start of that conference that would run through June10, 1992. Mike McClung , Jesse Soto and Richard ‘Dusty’ Rhoades had diligently applied their talents and influence, as Site Coordinators, to make sure that San Antonio would be a conference long remembered.
The theme for the ‘92 Conference was "Today’s Challenges...Tomorrow’s Accomplishments". Pupil transportation professionals were facing some tough problems in the form of alternative fuels for school buses and drug testing for school bus drivers but the theme depicted the resilience of this group.
The following individuals were elected to head TAPT in 1992-93:
PRESIDENT: James Bailey, Jr.
PRESIDENT-ELECT: Dan Roberts
SECRETARY: Jesse Soto
TREASURER: Pat Crone
HISTORIAN: Connie Bean
AREA DIRECTORS:
Area 1: Jerry Belt
Area 2: James Hunt
Area 3: John Bramlett
Area 4: Larry Sanders
EX-OFFICIO: Jolene Hawkins
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY:
Diane SherwoodThe President’s Reception on Sunday evening was a long established ritual of the conference and, for several years, had been hosted by Conwell Smith. The reception on June 7, was to be the last one he would host as this long time friend of TAPT died two months later.
The conference opened with a moving presentation in both word and song by Dr. Clifford Lee. The rest of the conference was filled with workshops aimed at equipping the attendees to deal with the alternative fuel and drug testing dilemmas.
The international city of San Antonio was a strong temptation to the members to stray from the meetings and out into the city. The rain on Tuesday worked wonders for workshop attendance but it played havoc with the School Bus Road-e-o participants and judges. Road-e-o Chairman, Connie Bean, rose to the occassion and provided the workers with large white trash bags for protection making some locals wonder if they were observing a gathering of the Klan.
The fast growing Texas School Bus Technicians Association (TSBTA) was thrilled to be able to conduct it’s Mechanics Workshops in the same facility were the conference was being held.
On Tuesday, everyone gather in the banquet hall for a fun-filled evening of entertainment, awards and dancing. Dan Miller, as outstanding speaker from Washington state, entertained the audience with stories and songs. Awards were presented to winners of the golf tournament and the school bus road-e-o.
Winners of the Road-e-o were: 1st Place - Dan Stefaniak, Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD 2nd Place - Randy Tyler, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD 3rd Place - Bill White, Pleasanton Isd
At the conclusion of the conference on Wednesday morning, Connie Bean was announced as the winner of the TAPT Leader of the Year Award. The Billingsly Schlorship award was presented to Brandi Welch, and James H. Wright, Sr. was the 1992 Honoree.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
1991-92
Jolene Hawkins - President
Jim Bailey - President-Elect
Joe Glover - Secretary
Jesse Soto - Treasurer
Pat Crone - Historian
AREA DIRECTORS
Connie Bean - Area 1
Jimmy Hunt - Area 2
Lee Davis - Area 3
Larry Sanders - Area 4
John Brummett - Ex-officio
Diane Sherwood - Executive Secretary
