Springfield’s mayor honors Peter Pan Bus Lines for 90 years of service

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - A family-owned bus company, headquartered in western Massachusetts, was recognized on Monday for its 90 years of service.

Peter Pan Bus Lines was honored by Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno at Union Station with the Picknelly family right by his side.

The 90th anniversary for the company was back on February 26 and is currently headed by Peter Picknelly, Jr., who is a third-generation member of the family. In addition to recognizing Peter Pan for all of its hard work and hundreds of trips across the country and Canada since 1933, Sarno declared the month of March ‘Peter Pan Bus Lines Month.’ He also gave Picknelly the key to the city, which surprised both him and his family.

“Having the mayor bestow this on our company is a great honor. Having my kids here was terrific…Today, we have well over 200 buses and hundreds and hundreds of employees and we carry millions of people, so we’re very proud of what we do and it’s a group effort,” Picknelly said.

Sarno and Peter Pan also honored Everett ‘Andy’ Anderson, who has been a driver for the company for 53 years. He received applause from the Picknelly family and the public for 4,000,000 accident-free miles, becoming only the second bus driver in U.S. history to accomplish such a feat. Anderson’s success also recently got him inducted into the National Safety Hall of Fame and Sarno also declared march ‘Everett ‘Andy’ Anderson Month.’ The longtime driver told Western Mass News he loved seeing different places over time while also getting emotional when talking about the Picknelly family.

“I knew these people. I did not know the original founder. They have been a great family to me…I never dreamed of traveling throughout the northeast and Canada and I did that,” Anderson explained.

Anderson told us he plans to continue driving for Peter Pan in the years ahead.

As for Picknelly, he is looking forward to handing the business over to his children soon and said the future is bright for Peter Pan.

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