Red bus driver "Jammer Joe" is an icon of Glacier National Park
By Dianna Troyer
After he settles himself behind the driver's seat of his red bus to give a tour of Glacier National Park, Joe "Jammer Joe" Kendall, 79, adjusts his
microphone and shares a secret with his passengers in a confidential tone.
"These buses used to have manual transmissions and gears, so I used to be a gear jammer," says Joe of the red vintage style 17-passenger touring coaches with tan canvas rollback roofs, "but now the transmissions are automatic, so I've become a shiftless jammer."
Whatever he calls himself, "Jammer Joe is an icon of the park," says Alicia Thompson, Glacier Park Inc. sales and marketing manager.
Since 1997, "Jammer Joe" with his humor and vitality has endeared himself to red bus passengers and other park employees and even has a pizza place, "Jammer Joe's," named after him at Lake McDonald on the park's west side. Among the drivers, who all wear crisp white shirts and pressed khaki pants, "Jammer Joe" is easily recognizable with his handlebar mustache. Also, he is the only driver who occasionally slips into a g
rizzly bear costume to surprise passengers returning from a short hike.
For the past six years, "Jammer Joe" has driven the Great Lodges of Glacier tour, a six-day journey to the park's historic lodges. His high school sweetheart and wife of 55 years, Geri, is tour director.
"We're so happy we can be here together working in the summers," says Joe. "I feel so fortunate to see the most beautiful area of the country every day and to show this delightful, wonderful land of Glacier to others."
Glacier Park encompasses 1.3 million acres and is known for its active glaciers, 700 miles of trails, dozens of alpine lakes, diverse and abundant wildlife and flowers, and mountains resembling Europe's Alps.
Joe's personality makes his passengers want to know as much about him as the park.
Every season, Jammer Joe says passengers ask him how he keeps going at his age. The retired farmer from Galva, Illinois, a town about 50 miles northwest of Peoria, says he never tires of answering.
"I grin
and tell them, 'I just keep breathing,'" says Joe, whose birthday is February 22. Then Joe, who has completed several marathons, shares a favorite quote from Dr. George Sheehan, a runner and author.
"Most people live no where near their limits. They settle for accelerated aging, and an early and precipitous fall. They give aging a bad name."
Joe attributes his vitality to exercise and having a positive attitude.
"Every morning, I walk for about 45 minutes," he says. "When I was 50, I started running, and after that I completed 14 marathons. The first half-mile is the hardest, then the endorphins start pumping through your system, and you feel so good. About three years ago, I started walking because I damaged a tendon in my knee while ice-skating. In winter, I use a treadmill."
Joe says he also tries to have something to look forward to. As his season at Glacier was winding down in September, he was looking forward to working again in Antarctica from October to February.
After completing his red bus duties on September 21, Joe left for Antarctica on September 30 to work as part of a 1,100-member support team for the National Science Foundation at McMurdo Station, an American research post. He drives a variety of vehicles designed for snow travel, from 56-passenger buses with 10-foot tall tires to smaller web-tracked vehicles. He shuttles researchers to their destinations within McMurdo and to outlying areas.
"Last year I had the opportunity to work down there for the first time," he says. "I first heard about the job from an office clerk here at the park who had worked there. I applied six times before I was accepted. I'm going back this year and hope to go to the South Pole. I want to be able to walk around the pole, and say I walked around the world in less than a minute."
As "Jammer Joe" navigates the park's winding roads, dispensing details about grizzlies, glaciers, and the Going-to-the-Sun Road, he recalls the delight he felt during his first summer in Glacier.
"I came to Glacier 59 years ago," he says. "My brother and I washed dishes at Lake McDonald Lodge. I came back a second season and was a bus boy at the lodge. After work, I hiked and explored. Like many others, I fell in love with these mountains. They are special and get into your system, and you don't want to leave them."
Although circumstances forced Joe to leave the Montana mountains, his memories of Glacier never left him as his life progressed. He was drafted in the Army for two years, married, and helped rear their five children on their farm, where he raised grain, hay, cattle, hogs, and Shetland ponies.
"I still love my farm and have the best of both worlds," says Joe, whose neighbor cares for his farm while he and Geri are working in Glacier.
After their children graduated from college and Joe began pondering retirement, he heard seniors were being hired at Glacier.
"I was so excited," he says. "I was willing to do anything to have the opportunity to go back for the summer."
In 1997, he was hired and worked in a warehouse. That summer he was asked if he would like to drive a red bus the following season.
"I said, 'You betcha.' The job has been every bit as good as what I thought it would be." Joe says he had such a good experience during his 1997 season at Glacier that he persuaded his wife, Geri, to take a leave of absence from her job as tour director for Mayflower Tours and join him. She was hired to work in the East Glacier Lodge administration office.
In 2002, when the Great Lodges of Glacier tours were launched, Joe was assigned to the program as a driver and Geri, with her previous work experience, was hired as tour director.
Every May, Joe and other red bus drivers begin their season by washing and polishing the fleet of 33 red buses.
Of the 50 to 55 red bus drivers, about 60 percent are retirees, says David Eglsaer, Glacier Park Inc. transportation manager. Seniors like Joe are ideal employees, because they tend to provide excellent customer service and are patient, he says.
To become a red bus driver, applicants must pass a physical, then take a rigorous two-week class in which they learn about the park's history, geology, plants, and wildlife. They alsoa learn first aid and CPR, obtain a commercial driver's license, and practice driving the 25-foot-long buses.
Joe provides customer satisfaction - with his particular brand of humor. Several years ago, when some passengers said they were disappointed at not seeing a bear, he knew what he would do.
"I ordered a grizzly bear outfit," he says. "People love it, and have their pictures taken getting a bear hug from me."
"Jammer Joe" plans to return to Glacier for the 2009 season, with his grizzly bear outfit, ready to dispense a bear hug to red bus passengers or anyone else who might need one.
