Olivia Bartholomew and her father Keith climb onboard the bus for their evening of fun. Olivia's friends and family joined her for a bus ride to Ginoís Ice Cream in Chicora Tuesday evening.

This is an excerpt from a larger article that appears in Sunday's Butler Eagle. Read more about Olivia and her wish to ride a school bus in Sunday's Butler Eagle.As the bright yellow school bus rounded the bend on Chicora Road, a small crowd gathered, cheering with hands held high above their heads, while cameras and cell phones whizzed and whirred to life in anticipation of the big moment.Pizza and paper plates sat at the ready on nearby picnic tables.“It's just another thing that everyone who loves her is trying to make special,” said Keith Bartholomew, devoted father of guest of honor.The bus pulled into the small parking lot of Gino's Dairy Stand in Chicora with laughter and love spilling from its windows. The doors opened and nearly 20 people disembarked with smiles, and all decked out in shirts proudly announcing the arrival of “Olivia's Pride.”As Olivia Bartholomew left the bus in the arms of her dad, tears glistened in corners of every eye there. Wiping away his own tears, the proud pop thanked everyone for coming out to show their love and support for his daughter.And she beamed right back, gently taking her father's face in her small hands.“She misses the normal things taken away from her,” Keith Bartholomew said about his daughter.The 15-year-old recalls carefree days riding on the bus with her friends from Dassa McKinney Elementary School in the Moniteau School District.She misses interacting with her buddies as they bounced along the rural roads and rolling hills of the West Sunbury area before and after school.But life changed for Olivia and her entire family five years ago.

This is an excerpt from a larger article that appears in Sunday's Butler Eagle. Read more about Olivia and her wish to ride a school bus in Sunday's Butler Eagle.

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