Her late husband had only one request. “You can get a job as long as dinner is on the table,” he told his wife. And it always was. He never went hungry.
That's because Rose Betker got the one job that made it all possible when she became a Bristol Township crossing guard.
For five decades, the 81-year-old township resident has been crossing children on their way to and from school in Levittown before heading home to prepare dinner.
This week marks her 50th anniversary on the job.
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| Rose Betker celebrates 50 years as Bristol Township Crossing guard Photo/Diane Davies-Dixon |
When she arrived at her post Tuesday, her daughter had it decorated with balloons and a hard hat that read “50 years May 7, 1963-2013.”
Betker recalls safely crossing her daughter Joanne, now 56, when she was 7 years old. Over the years, she's crossed generations of children including her daughter's friends, their children and then their grandchildren.
“Oh my God, you’re still here?” she was asked once by a man she crossed as a little boy.
It was in 1963 that she was assigned a $1.25-per-hour post at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School (now Magic Cottage Pre-School) in the Appletree section. She remained there until the school closed in 1988.
Not missing a beat, she transferred to a new post at Ailanthus Lane and Appletree Drive just a few blocks away. There she continues to cross children who attend nearby George Washington Elementary School.
She recalls the uniform she used to wear. “Crossing guards dressed in suit-like uniforms," she explains. "They wore police-like hats, white gloves, skirts and ties.”
Now, the dress is more casual. Dark pants, dark shoes and a fluorescent yellow shirt.
It seems to her that many children are driven to school nowadays. Only about six children need to cross in the early morning now, according to Betker.
One of those is a little girl who always picks flowers from someone’s yard along the way to give to her. On Tuesday, the child handed her a bleeding heart flower before crossing.
To read more go to:http://www.phillyburbs.com/my_town/bensalem/on-guard-at-the-same-post-for-years/article_e8b98b4b-92f3-5e9e-b533-46062b9a9366.html#.UYmhgIyBrW4.facebook
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