{"id":2453426,"date":"2020-01-19T19:04:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-20T02:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/rick-tadus-driving-the-future\/"},"modified":"2020-01-19T19:04:00","modified_gmt":"2020-01-20T02:04:00","slug":"rick-tadus-driving-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/rick-tadus-driving-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Rick Tadus, driving the future"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Rick Tadus greets kids as they hop on the bus at Sopris Elementary School.<\/strong>
Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Born in New Mexico but raised in Rifle, Rick Tadus has been chauffeuring the youth of the Roaring Fork Valley as a school bus driver for 23 years.<\/p>\n

His father was a jewelry repairman, so out of high school Tadus went on to the Kansas City School of Watchmaking to help out with the family business. That involved a move back to Raton, New Mexico, in the early \u201970s.<\/p>\n

Before the move, Tadus met his wife, Marsha, in 1971.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe actually met when I was umpiring a softball game and she was playing,\u201d Tadus said. \u201cShe was born and raised in Rifle.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI promised (Marsha) that we would always move back to Glenwood,\u201d Tadus said, which they did in 1985.<\/p>\n

After working various jobs, Tadus eventually opened All Valley Pest Control in 1996. Looking for some extra income, he started driving a bus for the Roaring Fork School District in 1997.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was good friends with Carol Burns, who at the time who was a driver trainer for the district. She approached me about it and since I had driven a bus before, it wasn\u2019t that big of a deal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Tadus worked for the Silt and New Castle Recreation Program in 1971 and drove kids to and from Glenwood for swim lessons and baseball games.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always liked kids, so that helped me make that decision. I wasn\u2019t afraid to be around kids,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The smiles, hellos and see-you-tomorrows from the kids show that they enjoy Tadus, also.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou try not to get attached, but you become friends with them, especially when you have the elementary school kids. I have young adults now who have young families of their own that I see at Strawberry Days, and they still remember me from when I was driving them to school, so that\u2019s rewarding,\u201d Tadus said.<\/p>\n

Tadus predicts within the next five years or so he will be driving the kids of the kids he drove to school many years ago.<\/p>\n

Driving a bus while also keeping track of 40 to 60 students is no small task. Tadus\u2019 head is on a constant swivel between watching the road and checking on the kids in his rearview mirror.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get along with 99% of the students. The school district has a write-up system for any kids that misbehave on the bus,\u201d Tadus said. \u201cThis is my 23rd year and I\u2019ve written up less than 10 kids\u201d<\/p>\n

Tadus drives one of two bus routes that go up Four Mile Road each morning and afternoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love my route up Four Mile. I like going up there every morning not knowing what we are going to see, from deer to elk to bear or moose,\u201d he said. \u201cThe elementary school kids get pretty enthused, especially when we see a bear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tadus has worn multiple hats for the school district, including being a driver trainer for the new guys, which he admitted was his favorite role.<\/p>\n

Jared Rains, who is the transportation director for the Roaring Fork Schools, was one of the lucky ones who was trained under Tadus, because he enjoyed teaching the new guys how to drive safely.<\/p>\n

\u201cRick taught me how to drive a school bus in 2016; he had my job at that time,\u201d Rains said. \u201cI continue to lean on him for advice, guidance and insight.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is a regular sounding board for many of our drivers, myself, my staff and the district executive team regarding transportation issues,\u201d Rains added.<\/p>\n

Aside from the kids and his love for driving, Tadus thoroughly enjoys the people he works with.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust a great bunch of people. \u2026 We all have a common goal of student safety. It\u2019s all about getting them home to school and school to home safely,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Now retired from his business, Tadus continues driving as a way to get out and about in the mornings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a morning person, so I\u2019m up. And now that I\u2019m retired, it gives me something to do to occupy my time. Plus, I still enjoy the kids,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are times when we tell jokes and we visit. I just really enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n

cself@postindependent.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rick Tadus greets kids as they hop on the bus at Sopris Elementary School.Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent Born in New Mexico but raised in Rifle, Rick Tadus has been chauffeuring the youth of the Roaring Fork Valley as a school bus driver for 23 years. His father was a jewelry repairman, so out of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2453426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 20:18:00","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2453426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2453426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2453426\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2453426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2453426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2453426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}