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EHS The Magazine
Welcome to Episcopal High School
While EHS students’ travels to the School may no longer conclude with the excitement of a ride in Mack or the Donaldson brothers’ “bus,” Episcopal High School extends a warm welcome to all new and returning students, arriving by family car, taxi, or other means.
“Hi, young fellah! Give me the check for your trunk and get in my bus. It will cost you $1.50 for your ride and 50 cents for your trunk,” with these words Bun Donaldson, who seemed to possess an innate ability to recognize a New Boy, would greet EHS students as they departed the Alexandria railway station to begin the school year. Students would pile into his REO Speedwagon truck, taking a seat on either of the benches running the length of the truck beneath a tarpaulin for the ride from the Alexandria train station in Old Town to Episcopal High School. While not official employees of the School, the Donaldson brothers, Vic and Bun, and their predecessor, Mack, were the first to welcome both new and returning students.
Their warm reception could calm the jitters of a new student and welcome back a returning student. As Ambler Mason Blackford 1907 described Mack, who greeted EHS students with his horse-drawn omnibus at the train station, in 1907, “…he is the first person who greets us when we come to School and the last to say ‘goodbye.’
How many homesick boys have been cheered by his glowing accounts of the School, its boys and surroundings, which he always presents to new arrivals. He has always taken the deepest interest in the School and its students. He seems to know everything that has ever happened at the School … and that ‘bus!’ Did you ever see a wagon with such capacity?
There is always room for one more.” The affection EHS students felt for Mack and the Donaldson brothers grew throughout the year, as they were the Episcopal students’ transportation to local schools for athletic competitions and day trips into Washington, D.C. In 1916, 15 cents would cover a student’s round-trip fare to Washington in the Donaldson brothers’ T-model Ford Bus.
If a student were short on funds, the driver would allow the student to pay his fare at a later time, knowing EHS students could be counted on to follow through.
While students were in good hands, the ride was not always smooth. Returning from a 1924 track meet in D.C., dense fog enveloped the vehicle and required that someone run in front to guide the driver. The track coach, Charles Vawter Tompkins, appointed a student to run in front of the truck to help the driver find his way. The trip to and from Washington was arduous in those days, as the trip was made over winding, narrow country roads.
Adverse conditions, such as fog or rain, compounded the discomfort and risk. While accidents were rare and without injury, they were memorable. Bill Clay ’25 recalled a cold and rainy evening when the REO Speedwagon skidded and almost flipped over on a return trip from Washington. Harry Flippin ’26 fell out the back of the truck but was unharmed.
While EHS students’ travels to the School may no longer conclude with the excitement of a ride in Mack or the Donaldson brothers’ “bus,” Episcopal High School extends a warm welcome to all new and returning students, arriving by family car, taxi, or other means.
