Ferndale Bus Breaks Down on Way to Band Camp

One of the three buses taking students to Interlochen broke down about 40 miles north of Clare, MI, Operations Director Gary Sophiea informed the Board of Education Monday night.

Clare is about 150 miles north of Ferndale. Interlochen Center for the Arts, where band camp is held each year, is about 250 miles north of Ferndale, just south of Traverse City.

Sophiea said the students on the bus that broke down were loaded into the other two buses and continued on to Interlochen without any problems.

"There happened to be a tow truck where the bus broke down," he said. "A big one to handle buses."

The bus was taken to a mechanic in Clare and it was determined that an alternator went bad and there were problems with the transmission.

"We'll get a quote tomorrow morning to determine how to take care of it," Sophiea said Monday night. "If the quote meets what we think is fair, the bus would be ready by Saturday for the return part of the trip. If not, we'll send up another bus to bring the kids back."