The Kriegers, from left, Cleo, Debra, Perry and Harold, pose for a family portrait from inside the school bus they delivered from Richmond, Indiana, to McMinnville in 1961, which was printed in a two-page spread.

Debra and Perry Krieger of McMinnville make a school bus their personal playground and play dodge ‘em with a dinosaur during their 1961 cross-country adventure.

The July 1961 edition of Coronet Magazine featured an eight-page photo essay on a cross-country bus trip taken by the Harold Krieger family of McMinnville.

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A while back, Richard Milzer of McMinnville walked into the News-Register clutching a copy of Coronet Magazine from July 1961. Coronet - a cross between Parade and Reader's Digest - was then a very popular national publication.

On its cover, the edition trumpeted "A rare exciting issue!" Story teases included "Death Trap Airports," "Money-saving Secrets," "If Goldwater Were President," "Birth Control Pill for Men" and 'Hawaii's Golden People," written by iconic author James Michener.

Heading the list was "The Truth About Eliot Ness," motivated no doubt by "The Untouchables," the first-ever mega-hit television crime series, watched weekly in brilliant black and white by millions of Americans on their Zeniths, Motorolas, Admirals, Emersons, Philcos, RCAs and Hoffman E-Z Visions.

Milzer's mission, however, was not to impart a piece of bygone national nostalgia, rather to point out an eight-page photo essay titled, "Holiday on a bus."

That story bore substantial local significance, as it was about the Harold Krieger family of McMinnville. Krieger, already a well-known local barber, has since been followed in the business by his son, Dave, who now presides over the chairs at Harold's & Dave's on Cowls.

It seems Harold's wife, Cleo, had an uncle named Art Bennett who co-owned a local school bus company with longtime McMinnville City Manager Joe Dancer.

Dancer and Bennett also ran a bus distributorship, supplying companies in the region. They needed someone to drive a new bus from Richmond, Ind., to McMinnville, and Bennett asked Harold, who had driven big rigs in the Army.

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Seeing the opportunity for a unique, family-oriented excursion, he said yes.

The Kriegers, Harold, Cleo, Perry, 11, and Debra, 8, were flown back to Indiana. David, only 2 at the time, stayed home with grandma.

What they didn't know when they accepted the offer was that the bus manufacturer had cooked up an idea for a bit of self-promotion in connection with the trip. The company had hired a professional photographer from Chicago to accompany the Kriegers.

He would document their journey for a photo essay to run in Coronet. He even brought his own 11-year-old daughter along to keep the Krieger kids company.

Being good sports, Harold and Cleo didn't object to this unanticipated addendum. So the group, now enlarged by two, set out from Indiana in the spanking new school bus on what would be a six-day, 2,500-mile, cross-country adventure.

Rather than having them take the fastest, most expeditious route, the company had set up an itinerary that included several backcountry side trips, with stops at noted places along the way.

"Some of those roads were so narrow and rough they'd have been better suited for a Jeep than a bus," Krieger said. "But we managed to make it without any mishaps."

Averaging 400 miles a day, at a maximum of 50 miles per hour, they still managed to see a lot of sights. In South Dakota, alone, two major highlights were Mount Rushmore and the Corn Palace in Mitchell.

"Archie Lieberman was the photographer," Harold recalled. "We took some pretty hairy roads, with switchbacks and no guardrails. It scared the dickens out of him, but I said there was nothing to worry about. In Oregon, lots of roads were like that."

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The kids loved camping out and cooking hot dogs over an open fire. They had a real romp riding horses in Yellowstone Park. And they found some imaginative ways to entertain themselves during long hours on the road.

"We had spring-loaded dart guns and we set up targets on the windows," Perry said. "The bus had all sorts of room inside, so it became like a playground for us."

The children also drew a record of their trip in red crayon on the side of the bus. In the end, it showed 10 stops, including larger cities such as Gary, Ind., and Des Moines, Iowa.

"We all cheered once we crossed over into Oregon," Perry said. "By then, the whole thing had grown a little old for us kids.

"Some relatives including grandma and my little brother Dave, met us at Multnomah Falls. All I can say is, it was a fun trip, but I was happy to be able to ride in a car again."

Once back at work in McMinnville, Harold had plenty of stories for his barbershop customers, Cleo for her gal pals and the kids for their friends at school. But the best of all came when they were able to pull out that July 1961 issue of Coronet Magazine.

And that's what I found out while OUT and ABOUT - reliving a once-in-a-lifetime experience with the Kriegers of local barbershop and bus travel fame.

Karl Klooster, the News-Register's regional editor, can be reached by e-mail at kklooster@newsregister.com or phone at 503-883-6227.