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Monday September 7, 2015 Edition
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For The Children Meet Linda Fountain Provost

At the wheel and a bright spot in the lives of three generations of children, Linda Fountain-Provost loves what she does and those she serves!
photo by Photo Provided
At the wheel and a bright spot in the lives of three generations of children, Linda Fountain-Provost loves what she does and those she serves!

Monday September 7, 2015

By Cookie Steponaitis

Linda Fountain Provost is mother of four, grandmother to almost eleven, a home care provider for the past twenty plus years and here for children. Children and family have always been her center and focus and that conviction led her to choosing a career behind the wheel of a school bus that became more than work and linked her to generations.    “I didn’t want to leave my own children and Mountain Transit was looking for a driver in Charlotte,” explained Linda. “When I told them that I had a six month old child, they belted a child seat into the bus and I began a career. Driving school bus gave me a way to raise my young child and be home for my teenagers. I was there for every one of them and I was so glad.” Fountain-Provost’s decision benefited not only her family but put her in the world of three generations of children and made her a part of their morning and afternoons.
    “Work is a paycheck. That is why we work,” expressed Linda Fountain- Provost. “We need it to pay bills. Service is an act of kindness and something you do because you are compelled to do it.” And with a chuckle she adds, “Now, if you are very fortunate you can have a job that also allows you to serve and that is a double whammy. I try to tell the kids this all the time. You need to work to live and not live to work.”
    While safety and transportation is the primary function of her position, Linda becomes a part of the school and families and is simply known to thousands as Linda. Greeting them with a smile, sometimes a breakfast snack and talking to them as the route goes on, Linda helps to set the tone of their day and perhaps change the one that they came aboard with. Linda sees herself as an extension of their family and becomes a face that welcomes them, an ear that listens and a sounding board for questions that span the spectrum of what children think about. Sometimes they even share with her a bit too much information, but with the open thoughts of a child it should be expected. “Did you know,” one kindergartner shared, “every Saturday morning my mommy and daddy lock themselves in their room and wrestle?”
    “Children are the reason I am here,” concluded Linda. “When I was fourteen I remember sitting in my bedroom and wanting to be a mom. I went to college and got my degree and went on to be that mom and to have a house that was a safe place for so many children. To this day even adults stop in, text me or message me on Facebook.” While Linda admits that today’s youth have to first take the ear buds out of their ears and unplug a bit so they can be talked to, she still greets each day at the wheel of a bus with a grin and sends them into their day with a smile and the words, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
    While Linda Fountain- Provost considers Labor Day the least appreciated holiday of the America calendar, she wishes that it really did make America close down and allow the people who work 364 days a year a chance to pause, reflect and celebrate friends, family or simply to stay home one day. When America pauses this year  Linda Fountain –Provost will be where she is usually found, at the wheel of a vehicle that is so much more than a method of transportation. It is a conduit of conversation, commitment and a promise that each child or adult who steps up her stairs will be greeted, driven and will leave knowing that they are important as individuals and as members of the Champlain Valley community.


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