Pilot Point ISD celebrated its new transportation center with an old Pilot Point family and some of the residents who made it possible on Dec. 17.
The Don Holly Transportation Center on Friendship Road, named after a past transportation and maintenance director, received a ribbon cutting ceremony after being funded as one of the district’s 2021 bond projects.
“We’re super thankful to the voters for supporting the bond,” Superintendent Dr. Shannon Fuller said. “It allows us to have more space for our existing fleet as well as, as we grow, more buses to come in. We can service them here, fuel them here and take care of all of our needs, so we’re very fortunate to have this for current and future needs.”
Preceding the ribbon cutting, a few people close to Don, who has passed, said a few words.
“To honor someone, you’ve got to pick someone honorable, and you nailed that,” Steve Irick said. “Mr. Holly was a great guy, a Christian who served our county and 26 years here as an employee. If you google school bus, Mr. Holly is driving that thing in the picture.”
Irick shared a bit about his time in school during which he got to share more time with Don than the average student, thanks to being particularly poor at art.
“After about four or five days of school in the art class, we did not meet the art teacher’s level of expectation for an art student,” Irick said. “There was a search to figure out what to do with us four and luckily for us … they took us out of art class and said, ‘You can go help Mr. Holly.’” He continued. “Three days a week we’d go out and clean buses [and] pick trash out of them, but more times than not we’d just get to sit and talk with Mr. Holly, and he helped me learn how to be a man, what a man is and how to smile and talk, and was just an awesome person,” Irick said.
Gary Holly, Don’s son, also said a few words.
“He was one that let everyone else talk about what he could do,” Gary said. “I know that he’s looking down with a big smile on his face. The schools have been a big part of the Holly family, and I want to thank all of you and I appreciate all of you coming out today to help us celebrate this great occasion.”
Each speaker also spoke about Don’s wife, who worked in the cafeteria.
“I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention Mrs. Holly,” Irick said. “She worked in the lunchroom. We loved to eat and appreciated the lunch ladies, and they loved us.”
He shared a story about Mrs. Holly squirreling away a piece of dessert for her favorites in the last lunch of the day when they may run out.
“That’s who they were; they were just great people,” Irick said. “That family continues to serve the community now.”
Gary praised the district for the upgrades he saw in the new facility.
“When I think back to the old bus barn, … this facility is like a mansion compared to it,” Gary said. “To me, it’s wonderful for us and our family to have this building named after Dad.”
Previous district Superintendent Gerald Slater joined the community for the event.
“If Don were here today, he’d probably shuffle his feet, put his hands in his pockets, and say, ‘You guys ought not to be doing all this,’” Slater said. “He was a humble man, and I can say I was so proud to know him. Thank you to the Holly family for letting us share him with you.”
The ribbon cutting, held at 8:30 that morning, saw the family gather around the front surrounded by district administrators and the community.
“I’m grateful to everyone who had a part in this,” Gary said. “It is a great honor for the whole family. It’s a legacy of his that will live on for a long time.”
