Bus Museum Spring Fling 2021 (by Dave Millhouser

Bus Museum Spring Fling 2021

by Dave Millhouser

The annual bus museum Spring Fling was held in Hershey, Pennsylvania on June 4 and 5, 2021. Traditionally a gathering for those who like old and new buses, this year’s event offered 94 different buses on display. This photo shows a crowd at the museum’s George Sage Annex where buses not on display are stored. CHRIS SCHMIDT.

The Museum of Bus Transportation / Antique Automobile Club of America Museum’s Annual Spring Fling has traditionally been a sort of homecoming for antique bus enthusiasts and industry veterans for more than 20 years. After a years hiatus due to the pandemic, this years event, held June 4 and 5 under sunny skies at the Museum in Hershey, Pennsylvania, really fit that description. There were 420 total attendees, very close to the best ever, despite the fact that covid is still winding down.

Friday night featured a “Town Hall Campfire” where leadership discussed the state of the museum and how the merger with AACA Museum has fared. The highlight of the evening was a live music performance by Josh Misner and Dan Wright – both attending the Fling with their Eagle Buses.

Forty-four visiting buses were on display with several coming all the way from California. They ranged from a very rare Eagle 03 model and a one-of-a-kind Mack 40-foot coach to several beautifully-restored school buses. For the first time in recent memory there was a large number of Eagle coaches, in seated, motor home and entertainer configurations.

ABC/Van Hool, Irizar, Prevost and Temsa each brought demonstrator coaches, that offered a unique visual perspective into how far the bus industry has come.

The largest previous turnout of visiting buses was 38 in 2019. When combined with the museum’s historic fleet which has now grown to 50, this year’s visitors could experience 94 buses with technology and styling ranging from 1912 to 2021. Transportation between the main museum campus and the George Sage annex was provided, as in the past, through the generosity of Wolf’s Bus Line.

The museum welcomed four newly donated buses with a brief ceremony thank-

A traditional part of the event is the flea market inside the museum building. Vendor tables offered a wide range of bus material from photos and printed material to models and other collectibles. JOHN OAKMAN. While the vintage buses were a main attraction, some of the bus manufacturers brought new coaches to display. Shown here is a new Prevost H3-45 and one of the short Temsa coaches. CHRIS SCHMIDT.

With 420 total attendees and 94 buses on display, this was the largest and best patronized Spring Fling of all time. This group of buses was photographed in front of the museum building to show part of the variety of different makes and models on display. AAA.

ing, and honoring, the late Ira Steinberg’s “Coach Tours” 1964 MC5, Dan Shoup’s 1935 Yellow Coach, Tom JeBran’s Trans-Bridge Lines MCI G model and John Bailey ’s 1998 102D3 MCI.

Prizes were awarded for the “Oldest Bus” (Ronald Pushnik’s 1947 GM PD 2903), and two “Bus that Traveled Farthest” (both Frank Gonzalez ’s 1957 Mack MV-620 and Gary Hatt’s 1967 Eagle Model 03 came from California). The “Best Motorhome” went to Pat McNeal’s 1957 GM Scenicruiser, and “Best School Bus” was John Corr’s 1955 Chevrolet Ward.

Frank Gonzalez and Gary Hatt each won a second time for “Best 1950s Bus” and “Best 1960s Bus” respectively. It is ironic, and a tribute to their owners, that each of these buses are exceedingly rare antiques, and each made the trip from California without incident.

The vendors area/flea market offered the opportunity to see and buy a variety of bus memorabilia and artifacts.

The AACA Museum’s Bus Committee Chair John Oakman said, “Members and visitors are telling us this was the best Spring Fling we’ ve had. This was a real team effort by our museum volunteers led by David Schmidt, Randy Wilcox and Dan Lenz and the Antique Automobile Club of America Museum staff. We even had a number of the folks who drove in with visiting buses “pitch in” at the annex. I can’t thank everybody enough. The most gratifying thing is that we signed up lots of new members, hopefully that’s because they had a great time.

Alocal PBS TV crew was on scene, shooting video and interviewing museum folks, working on a documentary that hopefully will become available this fall.

The museum is located in the middle of Pennsylvania’s Amish country, with lots of non-automotive attractions nearby including the world-famous Hershey Park and Chocolate World. For bus (and car) enthusiasts who have not visited the museum. there is plenty for the rest of the family to do.

Web site addresses are busmuseum.org and aacamuseum.org

The next important event for those who love the bus industry and its history is the “Historic Bus Festival” being held by the Friends of the New Jersey Transit Heritage Center on September 18 in Trenton, New Jersey at Starr Tours facility. This unique group has a large collection of historic buses, most of which run.

For information e-mail FNJTHCEvents@gmail.com or view https://www.friendsnjthc.org/. q