Mt. Milligan unveiled their new bus on Dec. 15 with a special trip.
The inaugural trip for the new bus was offered to community members who brought food bank donations for the Christmas Food and Toy Drive.
The purpose was only partly to show off the fancy new bus, which has lay-back seats, cup holders, four-wheel drive for those white-out trips to get the workers on site, and wireless internet, so riders can keep themselves entertained or keep in touch.
The other important purpose for the day was to unveil the graphic art design chosen through a competition Mt. Milligan held which was selected through blind judging.
The mountain scene chosen by the judges to beautify the new bus was based on a design submitted by none other than Heidi Haslinger, daughter of Richard Haslinger Sr., the original prospector who located the Mt. Milligan deposit.
According to Richard, his daughter Heidi was with him on the prospecting trip when he first staked the Mt. Milligan claim.
While Heidi herself was not able to make it up for the unveiling in person, her father was one of the first passengers to ever ride on the bus.
The first trip was a round trip to the Murray Ridge Ski Area, which was a fitting location for a photo, as Richard Haslinger Sr. was the man behind creating the community ski hill.
Two of the other first passengers on the bus were Henner Grimm and Almut Grimm. Henner was also one of the founders of the Murray Ridge cross country ski trails, and he described how Haslinger helped clear the first trails.