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Beloved Georgetown Bus Driver Treated To Surprises Before Retirement

GEORGETOWN (CBS) -- Police escorts are reserved for important people, and the woman driving the Georgetown school bus is so special all the high school students lined the street cheering her on. After 18 and half years, bus driver Betty Langlais is now retired.

As if those surprises weren't enough, Betty was in for another treat. But throughout the day she kept on saying, 'I am just a bus driver.' But ask anyone who knows her and they will tell you she is so much more.

Friday night, a surprise party capped off Betty's last day.

"In recognition of 18 years of outstanding service," one man read from an award.

Betty received a proclamation from the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

"I am surprised about everything, but I love them all," Langlais said.

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Betty Langlais and members of the Georgetown police force. (WBZ-TV)

"She is like a combination of mother earth and mother superior. She just loves everybody but you cannot pull anything over on her," said Sylvia Leonard, another Georgetown bus driver and friend of Langlais.

Betty drove bus number two, carrying up to 70 students of all ages, like Makayla Manning.

"She had a saying 'Put your tushie on your cushie,'" Manning said.

Langlais started driving the school bus to fill the time after her husband passed away.

"The kids. I love the kids," she said.

With her 80th birthday coming up, Betty decided it was time to hang up the bus keys.

"I lost it. That's why my face is red. I have been crying all day," Langlais said.

"Everybody is going to be missing her and she should come for visits," Manning said.

That is a definite as Langlais's nickname proves just how much she means to the community. They call her Georgetown Betty.

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