Every time I see a Tarc3 Bus in Louisville, Kentucky, I think of Ron Billings and his wife, Ruth. In my estimation, Ruth should be listed under a “Saint” category in any address book because Ron is listed under a “Comedian” category.
Of course, he had his serious side like when he chased rabbits from degreening his garden straight onto a shelf in the family freezer. The in-between moments of how rabbits arrived on the shelf must be left for the gauges that only NRA personnel should discuss.
I met Ron at the Middletown Crosby evening art classes that were held in a room near the back parking lot of the school. All of my students sat at various tables in the room and formed bonds that would last a lifetime and beyond. The fact that Ron was in a wheelchair might be noted by an outsider glancing in the parking lot classroom door, but to the students and myself, he was the same as the rest of the group. He was sitting down. His chair just had a few wheels that others did not.
Those wheels took him for rides in front of regular Louisville Tarc busses so much so that Tarc3 was added to bus schedules that were outfitted to include ramps and lifts for those who could not use bus steps. Over 2,000 riders now appreciate this door-to-door service on a weekly basis thanks to Ron and his creative wheel friends.
When Ron told the story of a wheelchair hoisted on top of a downtown stop sign it was so descriptive that we could see it without ever having been there. We heard of his serving as a judge in Frankfort and knew he gave fair opinions.
None of us in our art classes ever thought of Ron as disadvantaged, handicapped, disabled, or whatever current term might be used to describe a person sitting in a wheelchair.
Our Community Art Gallery sponsored the Preview Reception held each year in the Fine Arts and Crafts Department the night before the Kentucky State Fair opened. Artists, craftsmen, and their guests came to look forward to the evening when they congratulated the winners of the State’s largest competition.
As a yearly occurrence, when competitors brought their works to be entered in the annual show, they found Ruth and Ron in the hallway selling tickets for the gala affair.
The Gallery could depend on the happy couple to handle the job of encouraging participants to join the night of social exchange. We needed those ticket sales to support the banquet awaiting Kentucky’s talented exhibitors.
Ron was going into the hospital for an operation and during his last class time, we gave him a fern to enjoy ahead of schedule instead of waiting to present it to him in the hospital.
I recall the group of us waving to him as he drove off with his completed painting along with his fern. It was our final farewell. He did not return to us. We still wave to Ron and at times we see his hand wave back out his car window.
Some “Mind Movies” replay on a moment’s notice whenever a Tarc3 Bus rolls into view.