First of all, HAPPY LABOUR DAY to all who, like us, have a nice statutory holiday today!

I'm putting out an "official press release" for tomorrow... it's more about us seeking help to... well... seek help!

...and in concern to the press release, we also are asking for help. Give it a quick read and PLEASE don't be afraid to make suggestions, comments, or critiques!

Here's the release... call it an "official leak of information"...

Toronto, ON ( PRWEB ) September 5, 2006
It's not often that a family adopts a dream like this!

Matthew Didier and Sue Darroch have a kind of strange dream... to rescue and own an old double-decker bus.

It all started while the family was going through some economic hardships. According to Didier, "We needed something to take our minds off things when they were at their worst and stay together as a family. All three of us had our own dreams, my wife (Darroch) dreamed of visiting England, my ten-year old daughter wanted a dog, and I have always been an enthusiast of old British buses."

The hard times for the family are pretty much over thanks to a better employment situation, and a dog is now in the household, but the entire family had, during the bad times, adopted one particular bus.

"I was looking through websites at various buses, and came across one particular bus that grabbed my attention and for some reason, my wife and kid gravitated to it as well." Didier says, "The bus is an old Regent Low Height or RLH. Only 76 were ever built and they ran for London Transport making them legitimately London Buses."

"When London Transport took them out of service, many ended up overseas as their low height made them an attractive prospect for places where a normal double-decker wouldn't be able to drive."

Sadly, the bus the family adopted and a lot of other RLH buses have not done too well in their new homes. "Most of the RLH buses have ended up scrapped or are in various states of disrepair." Didier stated.

The bus in question is currently in a barn in Santa Rosa, California. The problem is that Didier and his family are in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

"We're trying to raise funds to purchase the bus and to ship it here. We've managed to secure a safe storage area nearby and are hoping to work on it over time. A family project, if you will, with the ultimate goal to eventually restore it and give it to one of the museums or heritage sites we've worked with in the past."

Didier and Darroch have set up a website and blog about the bus trying to raise the necessary funds.

"We have a pixel ad site and gratefully accept donations through PayPal, but it's been slow going."

The blog and site are seeing over a thousand visitors a day and growing.

"We try to keep the blog a little off topic, so to speak," says Sue Darroch, "We cover everything in it from day-to-day thoughts to editorials. Matthew tends to keep the buses in the forefront, but even he tends to use it as a sounding board. It's popularity is really growing!"

Of late, Didier and Darroch have been asking for help of a different sort. They're hoping an ad company, marketing agency, or a public relations group will assist them with getting their efforts out to the world.

"We feel that our patron is out there... and would help us with something, perhaps by buying pixel ad space, ad space on the bus itself, or someway we haven't even thought of." says Didier, "The problem is that we really are still coming out of our hard times so we can't afford to hire someone. We're hoping that someone might volunteer their skills or efforts to help us rescue RLH 3."

The website for their efforts is at http://oldgreenbus.doubledeckerbuses.org/ for more information.

Will this family find the help they need and rescue the old bus? Only time will tell.

Will the press release help? Time will tell on that too!

Feedback is most welcome on this!!! (PLEASE!!!)

The usual last note on the old blog... PLEASE SUPPORT THE DREAM!

Please don't forget about our pixel ad site, HelpCoverTheBus.Com and our PayPal donation button (see the upper-right hand side of the blog) and, of course, the NEW Cafe Press shop for T-Shirts and shtuff! (...and who doesn't need some shtuff!)

Please help us make this dream a reality and save a piece of history!

...an entire family would thank you!

I woke up, as usual this morning, grabbed a coffee and turned on the radio for some news and heard about Steve Irwin's passing...

I can't say I personally knew Mr. Irwin... and I'm also as sure that three-thousand blog entries on this will be put up in the next day or two... but I feel I have to do mine as well... so bear with me.

Irwin was killed today while filming a documentary on demystifying stingrays... and was killed by one himself.

I mentioned on Northview Diary that although Irwin was a very wise man who knew the limits of his own (and human's in general) levels of interference with wild animals, this was a poignant reminder that wild animals are just that... wild.

Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife and his two children today...

Yesterday afternoon, Sue and I talked about Irwin (and other naturalistic TV shows) mentioning the dangerous activities they sometimes undertake in them... so when Sue followed me up today and I told her, the first words out of her mouth were "That's weird."

I often have made/do make observations about our work for the news media and documentaries... I often say that they want "The Ghost Hunter" which I'm not really comfortable playing that part... but I often joked, in a strong, faux, Australian accent...

"We're here on the trail of the elusive and DANGEROUS ghostie... Dainjah, dainjah, dainjah! Crikey! There's one now! He's a big fella! It's awright mate, it's awright... He's a bit grumpy, arencha? He's a FIESTY ghost!"

This was not done to poke fun at Irwin... it was done in EXTREME admiration, with tongue planted firmly in cheek. He brought wildlife and nature to many people in an entertaining and yes, educational way without making it dry and boring... I think I admired him as his zest and zeal and passion for his study is how we feel about our own studies.

Above is a make-shift memorial using the sculpted crocodile outside the Australia Zoo...

Steve Irwin, think him a nut or a weirdo, was an educator who made learning fun... and a genuine character... and probably did more in his short forty-four years for the promotion of the natural environment then many do in a much lengthier lifespan.

Again, our thoughts to his wife and two children on this sad day.

(The images used above are from the BBC News Website.)

The usual last note on the old blog... PLEASE SUPPORT THE DREAM!

Please don't forget about our pixel ad site, HelpCoverTheBus.Com and our PayPal donation button (see the upper-right hand side of the blog) and, of course, the NEW Cafe Press shop for T-Shirts and shtuff! (...and who doesn't need some shtuff!)

Please help us make this dream a reality and save a piece of history!

...an entire family would thank you!