Southern Indiana Living MayJune 2017

come home.”
Then he’’ll share some very important
passenger information.
Motor coaches like the MCI model
he drives cost about a half-million dollars.
They have high-tech features such as
LED lighting, satellite TVs and Wi-Fi. But
there’s only so much you can do with the
bathrooms. They’re basically fancy outhouses.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he’ll say,
“you can think of it like a bank — what
goes in this morning will draw interest
this afternoon. Those people sitting in the
last 10 rows — we call it ‘The Smellers
Club’ — will appreciate it if you could use
the bathroom off the bus any chance you
get.”
Beyond safety, he tells me, “I’m
about building relationships and making
memories. I’m not in the transportation
business, I’m in the people business. If
someone forgets their toothbrush, I’ll say,
‘Let’s get on the bus and go find a Walgreens.’”
Indeed, driving a charter bus is a
realm where personality and showmanship
can fuel demand. As his driving
awards attest, Smith has chops. He’s detail-oriented
and fastidious about planning.
He sweats over logistics to know
precisely where he’s going and what he
might encounter when he gets there. Every
trip is different.
But it’s his shtick — snappy repartee,
corny but clean jokes, a little harmonica
music over the intercom — that’s
likely made him a driver of choice. When
the University of Louisville contracted
with Free Enterprise to transport its sports
teams, for example, athletics director Tom
Jurich and assistant Kevin Miller stipulated
that he could pretty much pick his own
trips. He typically drives for the baseball,
men’s soccer, men’s and women’s swimming/diving,
and women’s volleyball,
basketball and rowing teams.
Then there’s the royal connection.
Prince Albert II Is the current reigning
monarch of Monaco and the son of Prince
Rainier III and the American actress Grace
Kelly, both deceased. Her father, Jack
Kelly, an Olympic rowing champion and
later a wealthy businessman, was also involved
in Thoroughbred racing. In 1945
he started taking customers and family
members to the Kentucky Derby on a train
Pictured: (top row, left to right) Beany and Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks, at the
opening of the Louisville Slugger Museum in the early 1990s; Beany’s
ring given to him by the U of L World Series team; Beany with Prince
Albert, wearing matching ties.
Pictured: (bottom, left to right) Beany playing taps at the traveling Vietnam
War Memorial that he helped orgainze; Beany with Bruce Johnston,
during one of his trips driving for the Beach Boys.
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