The week's good news: October 21, 2021

1. Retired FBI boss steps up to help community with school bus driver shortage

After retiring from the FBI, Michael Mason wasn't quite ready to completely stop working, and when he heard there was a bus driver shortage in Chesterfield County, Virginia, Mason knew he found his calling. "As far as I'm concerned, I'm transporting the future of America, and that's what I really love about the job," he said. While at the FBI, he was executive assistant director, making him "fourth on the FBI's food chain," Mason told WTVR. "I've done some important things, but guess what? This is important, too." Driving the bus gives him a routine, and allows Mason to do his part assisting others amid the pandemic. He would love for people to hear his story and consider doing something to help in their own backyards. "I believe if all of us gave a little something, wow, how we could impact the world," Mason said. "How we could change the world."

WTVR

2. Texas couple weds at the train station where they met

Beth Leamon and James McNair met, became engaged, and were married in the same spot: the Trinity Railway's Bell Station platform in Hurst, Texas. Leamon and McNair first started talking six years ago, as they waited for the commuter train. During their daily chats, they discovered things they had in common, like working in the medical field, and Leamon told People they started "showing up earlier and earlier so that we could spend more time with one another." Leamon asked McNair to dinner on his birthday, and after a "fabulous" evening, the pair became inseparable. Last October, McNair brought Leamon to the platform and proposed. It's a "special place," Leamon said. "We knew we would not have found each other had we not met there." That's why the couple decided this would be the best spot to get married, and on Sunday — with permission from Trinity Metro — they tied the knot on the platform. "Love can happen in the least expected places," Leamon said.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

People

3. Rancher looking for adventure discovers sailboat whose builder shared his dream

Dave Galdo is trading in cattle and cowboy boots for the sea — embarking on a journey that the builder of his sailboat had dreamed of one day taking himself. To start this new chapter in his life, Galdo sold his South Dakota ranch, herd of cattle, and truck, and bought Restless, a boat built by Bob Kingsland. The sculptor spent 30 years working on Restless, preparing the boat for a grand journey around the world, but Kingsland died in 2012 before it was ready for open water. The boat remained in the backyard of his home in Scituate, Massachusetts, until Galdo — looking for a vessel that could take him on an around-the-world adventure — bought it this summer. "To be able to take what he started and continue it is an honor," Galdo told The Boston Globe. "And the name he gave the boat fits me perfectly. It was waiting to be finished by someone who was restless."

The Boston Globe

4. Rocker reunited with guitar 45 years after it vanished

This year, Randy Bachman found two very important things: his rare Gretsch guitar that was stolen in 1976, and a new friend. Bachman, the Canadian musician and member of The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive, bought the 1957 Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins guitar when he was 18, after saving every penny he earned working odd jobs. When it was stolen from a Toronto hotel in 1976, "part of me was lost," Bachman told CNN. The guitar had a distinctive pattern in the wood grain, and one of Bachman's fans who was searching for it online earlier this year tracked the instrument down to a shop in Tokyo, which had sold the guitar to Japanese musician Takeshi. Once travel restrictions are lifted, Bachman plans on flying to Japan, where he will get his guitar and perform with Takeshi. "This guy is my guitar brother," Bachman said. "I can't even talk to him because he's Japanese, he doesn't understand me, but when we play the guitar together on Zoom, there's this connection."

CNN

5. Diver discovers ancient sword that likely belonged to a crusader

An Israeli diver was in the right place at the right time on Saturday, spotting an ancient sword that archaeologists believe belonged to a crusader who was in the area 900 years ago. The sword is one meter long and encrusted with marine life, the Israel Antiques Authority said on Monday. It was found in a natural cove near Haifa, where merchant ships used to shelter during storms. The sword was likely well concealed until undercurrents shifted the sand, making it discoverable. Koby Sharvit, director of the authority's marine archaeology unit, said because of the travelers once drawn to the area, "rich archaeological finds" are often popping up, and "the recently discovered sword is just one find." Once the sword is cleaned and restored, it will go on public display.

Reuters