Bus rider wins surprise vacation

LAKE STEVENS – Stewart Freeman rides a Community Transit bus to his job in Seattle.

The opening last week of the new Lake Stevens Transit Center was a boon for him because the center has direct service to the Seattle with Route 425.

Freeman was excited and suggested his wife, Brandy, attend the grand opening. She did, and while there, she entered a drawing for a $1,500 travel certificate.

Brandy Freeman was giving her daughter a bath when she got a telephone call to inform her she’d won. “I was shocked,” she said. “It didn’t sink in until after I hung up the phone.”

The Freemans have a young child, which prompted Brandy Freeman to quit work. As a result, the two weren’t sure they’d be able to afford to take their usual vacation. Now they can. They haven’t decided where to go, but have considered Alaska.

Strider Construction, which built the new transit center, provided the travel certificate.

More than 170 people attended the grand opening, and many brought gifts for the Marine Corps’s Toys for Tots drive. The Marines collected more than 130 gifts for children at the event.

The new $5 million transit center at 9414 Fourth St. SE is the first in eastern Snohomish County. In the Frontier Village area, the center will provide service to Lake Stevens, Granite Falls, Marysville, Everett and Seattle. It provides six bus bays, two passenger-loading platforms with custom shelters, and 2,088 parking spaces, along with lighting and landscaping.

Reporter Cathy Logg: 425-339-3437 or logg@heraldnet.com.

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