22nd Minnesota Bus Roadeo Held in Albert Lea

MN Bus Roadeo 2009 Winner’s Circle Large Bus Division
1st Place: Ken Rakke of St. Cloud Metro Bus
2nd Place: Duane Dufner of St. Cloud Metro Bus
3rd Place: Steve Barnsdorf of Duluth Transit

Small Bus Division
1st Place: Fausto Cambi of First Transit
2nd Place: Todd DeZurick of St. Cloud Metro Bus
3rd Place: Virgil Goltz of Brown County Transit

Driver’s Choice Award Winner
Myron Engle of Watonwan County TMT

The 22nd annual Minnesota Bus Roadeo was held on
Saturday, July 25th in Albert Lea. Hosted by Albert Lea
Transit, this year’s theme was, “Buses Between the
Lakes,” highlighting the naturalbeauty surrounding the
competition. Thirty transit organizations were represented
by 49 driver/ contestants. The event began on Friday
evening, July 24th, with driver/contestant registration
and a “mixer” that allowed participants to view a
DVD of 2008 Large Bus Division winner, Duane
Dufner of St. Cloud Metro Bus, while he
competed on the American Public Transportation
Association of America’s (APTA) National
Large Bus Roadeo competition course.
The competition was kicked of at 7:00 a.m. on
Saturday, July 25th, with an opening ceremony featuring
the Albert Lea Veterans of Foreign Wars
Color Guard and inspirational words from Albert
Idar Bilij of Metro Transit, poses with
his daughter at the competition.
A big thank you to Jacqueline Forner,
our 18-year Roadeo Committee
veteran, who will be retiring next year!
Fans from Metro Transit cheer on
the drivers during the competition.
Thank you to our “Heckler’s Row”
Myron Engle pictured with his for their support each year!
biggest cheerleader, his wife, Sally.
Jim Schenk of Hiawathaland, awaits
his signal to start the course.