To find out what really matters to the family who own Hammond Transportation in Bracebridge, all you have to do is visit Greg Hammond’s office. You’ll see a poster of the sleek Hammond motorcoaches on one wall, and a smattering of other bus fleet photos. But what strikes your eye first are the many photographs of family, generations of them, lining the walls and peeking out from nooks on Greg’s desk.

“There’s a lot of pride that this is a family business – that’s what really makes it all worthwhile,” says Greg, one of three sons of company founder Orvil Hammond. “Plus, we have a lot of really great people that work for us. Most people that we deal with don’t see me or other family members. They see drivers and tour escorts who are out there face-to-face, who represent us and do a great job.” With more than 100 employees, and over 150 buses, limousines and motorcoaches that take the Hammond name across Canada and throughout much of the United States, the 62-year-old company that evolved from Orvil’s single taxicab in 1944 has won a number of awards over the years. On October 26, one more was added to the company’s roster.

At their annual convention in Toronto, The Ontario School Bus Association presented an award to Orvil Hammond in recognition as one of the forefathers of the provincial organization. The ‘Tribute to Industry Founders’ was the first event of its kind.

“The Ontario School Bus Association has been going about 50 years and I was one of the founding members,” says Orvil, who at 77 still occasionally climbs behind the wheel of a school bus and works a route. “They had a special dinner for everyone including the founders of the Association.” Orvil started driving at 15-years-old when most men were overseas during WWII, He started working after school at Muskoka Garage, a gas station and taxi service where his father worked across the street from the Bracebridge Public library. Because of the driver shortage, the teen drove around Muskoka delivering wood.

“You could get a 15-year-old license to drive your Dad’s car or for whoever you worked for,” he explains. “You couldn’t have the gas pumps open after 7 p.m. because of the rationing, so we had to fill up big steel cans with gas, and carry them into a shed in the backyard. If the taxis needed gas after 7 p.m., we had to fill them up in the back yard.” The founder of Hammond Transport made his first school bus run in 1947 on Santa’s Village Road to Monck Public School. “I had about 10 kids to pick up, and I still remember those kids and what became of them,” he smiles.

The past year has seen a new family member enter the business. Sean Hammond, Orvil’s 27-year-old grandson, now manages the popular Muskoka Travel Service that specializes in motorcoach tours and single day destination trips. Sean is working to put packages together for groups of all ages. Two NASCAR tours this year were incredibly popular, and trips to the new U.S. shopping hot spot, Erie, Pennsylvania, fill up fast. “This has been Sean’s first full year managing Muskoka Travel Service and it’s very exciting,” says Greg. “He is doing a great job. They are having a fantastic year, It’s been very busy and they are doing a lot of new and different things.” This year has also been a growth year for Destination Muskoka, Hammond Transportation’s division specializing in meeting, conference and event planning in Muskoka. Events and activities for small groups has become an expanding niche for the service under the direction of manager Tony Meadows.

But the most recent growth for the company took place in their school bus division. On September 1, Hammond Transportation doubled their school bus capacity in Parry Sound with the acquisiton of Murray Alves. Ltd. With the purchase, the number of Hammond’s school bus routes in the Parry Sound area rose from 16 to 30. Christy Crawford has been appointed the new manager for the business, with former manager Fred Holland taking greater responsibility in the shop operations. Meanwhile, in Orillia, Ryan Kuepfer was appointed manager of Hammond’s large new school and charter bus location on Hwy. 11. One other new development in an active year for Hammond Transportation is a partnership with KICX 104 FM radio station in Barrie. The collaboration has resulted in a tour to Nashville for the Country Music Awards, with more planned in the future.

“We’ve wrspped one of our coaches with their logo and that’s been very popular,” explains Greg. “They were willing to work with us, and come up with something that is very exciting for us and helped our visibility in Simcoe County. It’s been a busy year.”

For more information about Hammond Transportation’s services, call 645-5431, or go online to www.hammondtransportation.com.