Free bus rides in St. Paul, and more

Free bus rides in St. Paul

Last spring, Freddy Jackson, an unemployed hotel concierge in St. Paul, Minn., bought an old junkyard bus for $2,000. He fixed it up, and now drives around the Twin Cities giving free rides to people at bus stops. “My grandpa died last February and left me a little inheritance,” Jackson says. “So I decided to blow some of it on this new hobby.” He offers free coffee and encourages singalongs. “One guy tried to stick a $100 bill in my shirt pocket just to help cover the gas,” he said. “I told him Grandpa is covering the gas.”

A citizen after 101 years

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On the 101st anniversary of her crossing into the United States from Mexico, Eulalia Garcia-Maturey became a U.S. citizen. On Oct. 12, 1909, 8-month-old Eulalia and her mother left Mexico for Brownsville, Texas. In 1941, Garcia-Maturey received a “Certificate of Lawful Entry” card as part of the WWII Alien Registration Act. She kept the card in pristine condition, and it helped her establish her citizenship this year. She took her oath of allegiance during a special naturalization ceremony. “I want to spend the rest of my days in this life living legally in the United States,” said Garcia-Maturey. “I was raised here, and I want to die here.”

Last of nine siblings celebrates 50th wedding anniversary

Carol Buncy, 73, celebrated her 50th wedding anniversary last week, becoming the last of nine siblings to reach that milestone. All eight of Buncy’s siblings celebrated their golden anniversaries in Yorkshire, N.Y., near where they were raised. “We’re very close,” said Buncy, who believes that closeness helps explain her family’s successful marriages and long lives. The siblings have a combined 487 years of matrimony. “Oh, my gosh. I never thought of it that way. I’ll be darned,” said the oldest sister, Doris Phillips, 81. “It’s just life. Life and love.”