AS THE tune goes: "Hail to the bus driver, bus driver, bus driver; hail to the bus driver, bus driver man".

Up Allora way, community members of the Best Little Town on the Downs have hailed their favourite bus driver for the last time, after Col Gay parked his bus at the end of the last day of school for 2013 on Friday.

As he switched off the ignition, signalling the end of a 31-year career providing safe and trusted transport to the area's school bus runs and various charters, many memories were going through his mind.

On Friday afternoon, Allora community members, school staff, students and former and current bus service staff gathered at the Allora State School Performing Arts Hall for an afternoon tea and presentation to Col and his wife Bette to recognise their contribution to the Allora school community and the Allora community in general.

Col and his wife Bette operated Allora's bus service for 30 years, with Col continuing as a driver for the business' new owners for the past 12 months.

Col is a familiar and respected face for the children attending Allora State School and Allora's St Patrick's School, and is also well known to parents, many who themselves would also have ridden in Col and Bette Gay's buses.

"The bus run brought Bette and I to Allora from Mullumbimby, along with our five children, our time involved with our business allowing us so many special memories," Col said.

The Gays' bus service transported almost 100 children to school daily from the Talgai, Spring Creek, Berat and Hendon districts, across almost 200 school days annually, which amounts to about 20,000 individual rides over the course of the year.

Col and Bette bought the bus service from Col and Marcia Young back in 1982.

"It consisted of three school runs then - Talgai, Spring Creek and Hendon - and we later acquired the Berat run from John Rays," Col said.

"Our interest was aroused at my father's funeral in Warwick when I learned from my cousin Noel Mullins that a bus run was for sale, and we decided to pursue the idea.

"Over our time running the bus service we have regularly upgraded the vehicles, as well as replacing and renovating the sheds and facilities used to house and maintain the bus fleet.

"Our new shed included a pit, which made servicing vehicles considerably easier."

Over the years the bus service sheds have hosted Bedfords, Leylands, Hinos and Mitsubishis.

Col said he wanted good-quality buses in the sheds when he sold the business to Matt and Tracy Heslin.

The sale of the bus service operated by Col and Bette Gay for 30 years occurred in February 2012.

The new owners - the Heslins - are respected local residents from Spring Creek who are owner-operators of Allora's Whites Garage.

"The bus business is in good hands," Col said.

"We had some wonderful staff over the years and, as our tenure with the business was coming to an end, our drivers included Ian Oehloman, Ian McGrath, myself and Andrew Benz, who drove for us for 12 years."

Col was the familiar face behind the wheel on the Talgai run, collecting the children prior to school and returning them afterwards, and he always had his trademark wave for the parents.

"We got to the stage that we had transported separate generations of some families to schools," he said.

"We used to take Ellinthorp landholders John and Gwen Peters' children to school - David, Helen, Joanne and Shane - and now we have some of their children riding in the bus.

"I never had any trouble with the kids, but there was a time when we had a situation where someone was tampering with the bus number plates.

"That was addressed when I rigged up a horn to the plates. From then on it was then no secret when they were touched.

"While we had the service, I always drove the Talgai route. You got to know your passengers well, and I looked forward to seeing them all each morning."

Charter work was also a special part of the bus service.

"We transported community and sport groups to func

tions, including the residents of Allora's Nursing Home and the Homestead Aged Person's Hostel," Col said.

"I think the toughest trip was taking the Year 1 class from Allora's St Patrick's School up Allora Mountain, a geographical challenge."

Prior to owning the bus service Col and Bette ran a dairy farm at Mullumbimby for 13 years.

Apart from the demands of the dairy, Col also worked on the development of coastal New South Wales town Ocean Shores on the north side of the Brunswick River in the 1970s.

He was a backhoe operator who also spent time in the development workshops, before working for himself with a mobile welding operation. The future bus service owner was considered a jack of all trades.

Col's family headed to New South Wales for work in his younger years, but he can lay claim to being an Allora area local.

He was actually born in Warwick, while his parents, John and Dorothea, worked a dairy farm at Shepherd's Drive just south of Allora.

An aging shed still stands at Cantwell's corner, Wheatvale, that was constructed by his father and grandfather.

Col and Bette have been tremendous and caring supporters of the Allora community, very involved in the St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, with Bette teaching religious education at the Allora State School.

Retirement will give them the opportunity to spend more time with the families of their children - Rachel (Warwick), Ruth (Kununurra, Western Australia), John (Dunedin, New Zealand), Peter (Brisbane) and Deborah (Warwick), and their 12 grandchildren and one great-grandchild, with another on the way. Christmas will be special next week in the Gays' Raff St residence, with many family members heading back to Allora for a Christmas at home.

While retirement will give Bette and Col time for a little more relaxation, the jack of all trades will still find time to exercise his skills and do the odd stint back on the bus for Matt and Tracy Heslin, while also embarking on some travel around in the Col Gay manufactured motorhome.

It's been said in jest that "the person whose problems are all behind them is probably a school bus driver".

That's certainly not the view of Col Gay over his 31 years behind the wheel. Those sitting behind him were the highlight of his working day.