Three Forks mayor takes the wheel for vital senior transport service

Although a story all her own, it was the driver of the 14-passenger van that she was game to chat about: a recently turned 70-year-old, born and bred in Gallatin Valley, and the leader of her small town — the mayor of Three Forks, Randy Johnston.

“Sue retired, she was 77 years old, the same age as me,” Nichols said referring to the previous driver. “And nobody wanted the job, nobody’s stepped up (to) do the work, and here comes Randy, the little angel — we were so happy, we really were.”

For months, HRDC’s senior transportation service, Galavan, has struggled to find a driver for the Three Forks area in preparation for Sue Michael’s retirement this fall.

In the past, Galavan has had trouble meeting demand in the area, and again, things were looking bleak for the seniors of Three Forks as concerns spread.

“We were prepared to not necessarily discontinue the service but pause it while we tried to find another solution,” said Sunshine Ross, the HRDC transportation department director. Galavan is an HRDC program.

That was until she received a call from Mayor Johnston.

“My thoughts were, ‘Oh no, he’s going to be concerned about why we aren’t providing service to his residents and how we’re going to solve this,” Ross remembered.

To her surprise, however, Johnston, who took over as mayor in January 2022, had another idea. He was going to be the full-time mayor and part-time driver of the Galavan.

“My wife thought I was crazy, ‘You really want another job?’” he said she asked him. “I’m glad I’m doing it. I really enjoy being around people and hearing their stories, especially the people (on) dialysis — I had no idea how intense it was.”

As the bus rolled east on Interstate 90 from Three Forks, Nichols sat near the window with the snow-covered Bridgers rising behind her and Johnston manning the helm.

Three days a week, she finds herself on the Galavan with another dialysis patient. Although her mood was cheery and light that day, it’s also, she says, the only reason she’s still alive.

“I have stage-five kidney disease and if I don’t go to dialysis, you check out, you know?” she said. “You hopefully go to heaven.”

For half a century, Galavan has provided vital services for senior riders needing transportation around the county, who no longer drive or don’t always have family readily available when they need to go to the grocery store, medical appointments or the local hot springs for water aerobics.

A publicly-funded and free service, Ross says it’s about $15 to $20 per ride but they recommend a donation of $2 from their clients. Nichols says she writes them a check once a month or so.

For Johnston, it’s another way to give back and to keep his schedule busy, something he says has always been the case. In 1953, he was born in Bozeman but has lived in Three Forks his whole life. He remembers growing up around the very people who had started the town in 1908 and how he’s witnessed the valley’s growth over the years.

He recalls going to school in Three Forks when there were only about 300 students in the entire school system and working at the “D & D Grocery” named for his aunt and uncle, Dean and Darlene. There, he worked into his thirties until he joined the city’s public works.

When Johnston retired 30 years later, he decided to run for mayor and stay involved as the city continues to grow, particularly interested in its $5.5 million plan to mitigate flood risk in the area.

“I’m usually in here in the mornings going through emails and talking with staff and… I schedule all my meetings on Tuesdays or Thursdays,” he said from his desk in City Hall on Main Street. “When I get back about 4:30 (p.m.), I park the bus and come back in, and if there’s anything to sign, I sign them and check my emails again.”

“It makes you look forward to the weekend,” he said with a chuckle

But on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, when he’s not in his office or behind the wheel of his recently-restored 1941 Chevrolet pick-up truck, he’s driving the Galavan from Three Forks to Bozeman.

“We always hope for the best in here,” Nichols said as she got off at Bozeman Health Deaconess Regional Medical Center. And when asked what she thought about getting a ride from the mayor, she said, “I can’t believe it, it’s a blessed miracle, it really is.”