Boo Bus bringing cheer, frights to Perry Local elementary students

PERRY TWP. ‒ A tradition started three years ago by two Perry Local Schools bus drivers is getting its public debut on tonight.

The Boo Bus will be at Lady Bug Nursery , 8361 Portage St NW, from 5 to 9 p.m. as part of its Halloween parking lot party. Trunk-or-treat, live music by Off the Record and Lil G's food truck will be on hand.

The bus is the brainchild of bus driver Kim Delebri and former driver Jamie Warner. The pair also served as playground supervisors at Whipple Elementary School. They answered a call a few years ago when the principal asked the staff to decorate their vehicles for the trunk-or-treat event at the school.

"We were like, 'Better yet, we are going to do a bus,'" Delebri said.

The mobile Halloween attraction is "kind of scary" but is decked out with tons of fun for the kiddos who go through it. Students enter the bus from the stairs and leave from the emergency exit.

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The bus appears at the district's elementary school's fall party events.

When Perry Local start it's Boo Bus tradition?

The district agreed to allow the pair to use a junk bus - one they use for parts - to create their Boo Bus.

"The kids loved it," Delerbi, now a playground supervisor at Watson Elementary School, said of the bus.

The Boo Bus has grown every year with more bus garage employees lending a hand.

From volunteering their time to decorating the bus and dressing up as different characters to donating decorations and candy, the employees have banded together to keep the Boo Bus going.

Transportation coordinator Mitzi Wagner said they had more employees participate this year.

"The bus drivers love it," she said. "After hours, they get it ready inside and out and they have a blast. It's a good camaraderie builder and they get to enjoy each other's company."

Their participation also lets students see their drivers in a different light, she added.

"My drivers have to be strict on the road due to the safety of not only the students but for the cars on the road," Wagner said. "It does give the kids a different impression of their driver when they are not behind the wheel. There are no rules to follow, and they see them as a person."

The exposure to the Boo Bus could encourage non-bus riders to ride the bus, she added.

Bus driver Kevin Chandler enjoys helping with the bus.

"It's a haunted house on wheels," he said. "The bus drivers go above and beyond."

Reach Amy at 330-775-1135 or amy.knapp@indeonline.com.

This article originally appeared on The Independent: Boo Bus bringing cheer, frights to Perry Local elementary students