The memorial to five children and their bus driver who died 33 years ago in a school bus accident is fenced and decorated with red, white and blue at the intersection of County Road 32 and 337.

By Terry Witt -Spotlight Senior Reporter

                It’s hard not to notice the six Christian crosses standing neatly in a row at the corner of County Roads 337 and 32 near Bronson.

            The crosses are kept in immaculate condition by people who were deeply touched by the loss of the five children and their school bus driver on Aug. 28, 1987 at the intersection.

            A flatbed truck ran a stop sign and broadsided a Levy County school bus at the close of the school day.

            Killed were bus driver Edith Asbell and students Benjamin Bennett, 4, Tommy Thompson, 9, Glenna Morrow, 6, Charles Wilburn, 11 and Matthew Queen, 8.

            Levy County School Board Chairman Paige Brookins wanted to know who was caring for the carefully groomed crosses standing on a tall earthen bank overlooking the crash site.

            She assigned Board member Cameron Asbell to learn the names of the caretakers. He returned with a surprise announcement at Tuesday’s school board meeting.

            “The person who contacted me said the people who do that do not want to be known. They want to remain anonymous,” Asbell said. “They do not do that out of any desire for anybody to know that. They were part of the community at that time and felt that it needs to be remembered.”

            Asbell said he thought it was special that kind-hearted people from the community have taken the time for 33 years to care for the crosses and have no desire for recognition.

            “Madam Chairman, I strived to find the names, but they do not want to come forward,” Asbell said.

            Asbell said he was 18 years old at the time. He had gotten several phone calls telling him that a woman named Asbell was in the wreck. He was at work. He later learned it wasn’t his mother.

            He said off-duty nurses arrived at the scene along with the Levy County Sheriff’s Office and Florida Highway Patrol. Highway patrol officers were present to help out.

            As an aside, this reporter arrived at the scene while an ambulance helicopter was airlifting patients from the corner of a field within 75 feet of the intersection.

            Nurses and paramedics were tending to children lying on the ground near the bus. The bus had been crushed by the impact and was driven into the embankment where the crosses now stand.

Unforgettable.

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School Board of Levy County Regular Meeting July 14, 2020; Posted July 14, 2020