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The
Martha's Vineyard Times is a weekly publication.
March 3 - March 9, 2005 Edition
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Tales
from the tour bus March 3, 2005 By Anna Marie D'Addarie
Last Friday night more than 30 people, cocooned in wool sweaters, sat shoulder to shoulder upstairs at the Bunch of Grapes Bookstore in Vineyard Haven to listen to tales from the tour bus. Three veteran tour bus drivers donned Hawaiian shirts and gave the audience a glimpse inside the bus. Some people in the audience wanted to get a bit of summer as the temperature dipped to the teens, but most just wanted to hear what goes on in those buses. The audience was not disappointed. Glenn Carpenter, Leslie Bunker, and John “Jocko” McCarthy spoke for more than an hour about a job they all seem to love, driving tourists around the Island and talking about the history, the lore, and the life on Martha's Vineyard. The idea for the true confessions from a tour bus lecture came from Mary Jane Carpenter, wife of tour bus driver Glenn Carpenter. Ms. Carpenter spoke recently at the bookstore about using court records as a historical resource. Ann Bassett, bookstore events coordinator, recalls Ms. Carpenter planting the idea when she said “What you really ought to do is get Glenn here because Glenn's got some stories you wouldn't believe.” Ms. Bassett opened the evening by noting the lecture was being filmed for MVTV and the speakers will have to “swallow four-letter words” as this would be shown on family television. The thought of censorship brought up a story about a “nude bus tour” to Gay Head. The drivers laughed as they recalled the nudist charter and the audience was happy the camera was not rolling. In mid-April the buses start to roll and continue through October. Ms. Bunker, a 20-year veteran, recalled the early days when “nothing happened until June.” There were three companies on the road then, Island Transport, Martha's Vineyard Sightseeing, and Gay Head Sightseeing. The three companies, although still using different names, are now one under Island Transport. The two types of tour customers are ticket, i.e. those who get off the ferry and decide to hop on a tour bus, and charters, in which the Island bus tour is part of a package. History, gossip, or both Each of the three drivers has a very different style. Jocko, who does mostly ticket tours, is the history expert, according to Mr. Carpenter. Ms. Bunker said she starts each season by taking Jocko's tour just to brush up on the facts and figures. Jocko, a 15-year veteran of the tour bus circuit, is a quiet, soft-spoken man, who uses the two-and one-half-hour tour as a mini history lesson. Ms. Bunker may start the season with Jocko's history, but her patter has developed through oral history. She has lots of stories, being a seventh generation Islander. Walter Luce, who used to drive tours for Island Transport, was a teacher, a milkman, and the source of several of Ms. Bunker's stories. She isn't too worried about their authenticity because she uses the disclaimer “I'm just telling you what the milkman told me.” She said she doesn't like to give false information, so she will use date ranges rather than exact dates. Mr. Carpenter says his style is a little of both of his colleagues. He doesn't let the tourists' obsession with celebrities run the tour. “You could spend the entire tour talking about celebrities,” said Mr. Carpenter who used the Possible Dreams Auction as a good framework to talk about how the celebrities help the community. People want to see celebrities' homes, but as Mr. Carpenter pointed out, “lots of money buys lots of privacy.” This isn't Hollywood where people can buy maps of stars' homes. Another reality check Mr. Carpenter uses on his tour is to compare property taxes with the passengers. He knows his passengers don't live in million-dollar homes and he likes to point out that the Island's property tax rate is much lower than they might expect. No stupid questions Well, perhaps a few stupid questions come up. Mr. Carpenter has been asked, “Is Martha's Vineyard in the United States?” “Well, sometimes” he replies. Since he does mostly charter tours, his clients may not even know where they are, suffering from, “If it's Tuesday, this must be Belgium” syndrome. Ms. Bunker had a client who wondered, “Where's the bridge?” She told him we aren't connected by bridge, but he insisted he came across a bridge to the Island. As the argument began to heat up, the man's wife confided that her husband was sleeping one off in the car and had missed the ferry trip entirely. All three drivers agreed that they don't tell lies and that most tour bus guides stick to the truth. However, no one polices the tours and as the summer goes on embellishments are likely to happen. Ms. Bunker said she thinks of her tour clients as her friends. Our tourists are lucky to have such friends on the Island. At the end of the talk, Glenn Carpenter put in a pitch for drivers, saying it's a good summer job. A spokesman for Island Transport said they are always looking for drivers. The company provides full training and a CDL license is necessary. For more information, call 508-693-0058. |
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