Lake Highlands retiree Albert Stevens has a hard time finding time for himself these days. He’s too busy giving his time to neighborhood kids.
“When I worked, my grass was cut, and my car was polished. But now that I’m retired, I don’t have time for that,” Stevens says.
Stevens, who has lived in our neighborhood for the past 24 years, coaches two teams during soccer, baseball and basketball seasons, manages the concession stand at Moss field, and volunteers as a bus driver.
He buses seven kids every school day from Wallace Elementary School, Northlake Elementary, White Rock Elementary and Lake Highlands Elementary School to a recreational center.
When he first was asked to drive the bus 12 years ago, Stevens was floored by the request.
“My life-long ambition when I graduated from high school was to be a bus driver,” says Stevens, who instead opted for a higher-paying job as a data processor to support his-three daughters and son.
So when the opportunity arrived after he retired, he was ready to jump into the driver’s seat.
“To me, that was the most glorious thing,” Stevens says.
The recreation center provides planned after-school activities and supervision for underprivileged children and was created by the Lake Highlands United Methodist Church.
“We would not have this program if not for Al,” says Church Secretary Lucie Carleton.
The program also is sponsored by Campfire Girls, the City of Dallas and four other Lake Highlands churches.
Stevens can tell plenty of humorous stories about shuttling youngsters over the years. Recently, he developed a way to keep things a little quieter on the road.
At first Stevens would pull over on the side of the road if the kids were too loud, but he found himself constantly pulling over, Stevens says.
So he developed “screaming Fridays,” when the kids can listen to the radio station of their choice (instead of Stevens’ usual all-news station) and be as loud as they want, Stevens says.
“It’s fun. He lets us holler and doesn’t pay attention to us on Fridays,” says third-grader Ronnie Jackson of Wallace Elementary School.
Stevens, who grew up in Detroit, Mich., loves our neighborhood for its small-town feeling and friendly people, something he says he didn’t find in Detroit.
He lives in a house with his son, daughter and 18-year-old grandson and says he treasures living with his children and working with youngsters because he’s still a kid at heart.
Jeanette Garcia, a fourth-grade bus rider, seems to appreciate Stevens’ presence.
“On a scale of 1 to 10 of bus drivers, he’s a 10,” Garcia says.
