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I would like, if I may, to take you on a bit of a journey. A journey of the mind as we travel over the miles and thru the years, back in time, to the year 1976. A midsummer day, July 15, to be exact. Eleven days have passed since America celebrated it's bicentennial birthday. Gerald Ford is President and as America is saying goodbye to the Nixon Era, a man named Jimmy Carter is preparing to say goodbye to his peanut farm and hello to The White House.
. The pet rock fad is becoming extinct and a little country song about truckers written by a New York ad man called, "Convoy," has spawned a new fad among adults, that of the CB Radio.
. Color television has surpassed black and white and if you adjust the rabbit ears antenna just right, you might just be in time to watch one of the hit TV shows like, "Happy Days," or "The Six Million Dollar Man." If a larger viewing screen is more to your liking, may I suggest a drive-in movie theatre that is offering movie selections such as "The Omen," "Rocky," "Freaky Friday," and "Carrie" for your viewing pleasure. And somewhere a man named Alec Guinness is thinking that the 2.25% royalties paid in perpetuity that he will receive for the crappy little science fiction movie called Star Wars that he is filming and hates will not amount to much of anything.
. Lava lamps, disco, roller skates and mood rings are all the rage. Cassette tapes are becoming increasingly popular and probably being used to record songs off of the radio by popular bands such as Abba, Queen, Chicago, K.C. and The Sunshine Band, Kiki Dee, Elton John and Rod Stewart. And somewhere a man named Elvis Presley, who's stomach is growing larger, his costumes growing flashier and who sweats profusely most likely has no idea that in a little more than one years time he will be found dead while on the toilet.
. And on a quiet country road in the sleepy little farming community of Chowchilla, California, a lone vehicle lumbers along, making it's way past the fruit trees which line the street on either side.
. The vehicle is a school bus and the 26 young children aboard, ages 5-14 are a little rowdier today than usual. Whether this is because they have just come from swimming or the fact they are headed home on what is the second to last day of school for these students of Dairyland Elementary is not certain, but whatever the reason, the children are laughing, joking, there is good natured teasing and some of the children are even singing. Even Mr. Frank Edward Ray, the driver of the bus appears to be in particularly good spirits today. There has been a petition circulating collecting signatures trying to extend the summer session by three weeks and Mr. Ray jokingly makes a bet with two of the children, a brother and sister, on whether or not it will pass as he brings the bus to a stop letting the pair off at their destination. As the children are running across the field, eager to tell their mother about the bet, Ed has pulled the bus back into the road and the bus continues on its way. It's when Ed turns the bus onto Avenue 21 that he sees a white van with it's doors open blocking the road ahead.
. Ed attempts to go around the van but he's concerned someone may be inside the van either hurt or perhaps experiencing engine problems. He makes the decision to slow the bus as they approach the van and for Edward Ray, his 26 young passengers and the three men they are about to meet will change the course of their lives forever.
. Stay tuned as we continue our journey in part 2 of"Chowchilla A a Journey Back In Time"
By Sagisteen Vanderhoff
Reporter for AV Street Beats News-Local Late Breaking and Music News
