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A hot shower

Shower Bus provides assistance for those in need locally

For three years, a pair of local men have been helping area people in need in a unique way.

In May of 2020, former pastor Norman Beetler started up the Shower Bus, a converted bus that has been equipped with a full shower area, 200 gallon water tank and a 40 gallon hot water tank fueled by propane. Beetler works in tandem with Roger Moses traveling around the area and offering free, hot showers to people who need them.

They also clean people’s clothes and, in some cases, provide new attire for them.

Beetler said the Shower Bus was born from him reading in the newspaper about the struggles homeless people have. When thinking about a way to aid them, an experience he had in 1988 came to him.

“In 1988 I went to Mexico and, boy, I saw hurting people who needed a way to bathe,” he said. “I went home, built a shower bus and took it to Mexico City.”

For the next 20 years, Beetler set about building used school buses into mobile medical and dental clinics. By the time he retired from that, he had converted 77 buses.

The rather unique idea of using buses that way came to Beetler originally because of his father, who spent years building school buses into mobile homes. He said at the time they were called “house vehicles” because “nobody had heard of mobile homes.”

When Beetler moved to the Athens area, he said he found that there was a need for clean water for people to bathe in when they didn’t have other options.

He then took those years of experience to develop the Shower Bus locally during the COVID-19 shutdown. He said it took about three months to build and then he was out on the road in May of 2020 helping people.

“A bus is very flexible, you can do so much with a bus,” he said.

Finding the right bus posed a challenge, he said, because school buses would be too long. However, the pastor at Woodward Church of God offered up a bus to him and it fit his need perfectly.

However, it still required a decent amount of work to

convert from a church bus to a shower area.

“As I started telling people about the bus, they started giving me money,” he said. “By the time I finished, it was paid for.”

Beetler has the bus out on the road three days per week — Monday, Wednesday and Friday — and works closely with Grace and Mercy Ministries. He said about 10 to 12 people shower each day in his bus.

“That’s a good number of people,” he said.

Beetler noted that the reaction initially from people in the local community who need the bus was a mix of surprise and appreciation.

“I was really surprised by how appreciative they were,” he said.

Now, he’s getting requests to expand the opportunity for people to get a hot shower. Last year he built a second shower bus for someone to use in Chattanooga and he recently got a call from someone in Cleveland who wants a bus to start up a similar effort there. He’s also heard there may be a similar bus providing showers in the Nashville area. Even though the conversion costs were paid for at the time, Beetler said there are still financial needs that people can help with if they so choose. He said insurance and maintenance are reasonable, but “clothing is always an ongoing need” and monetary donations are helpful for the operation of the bus.

Anyone who would like to assist Beetler or who may need the services of the bus can contact Beetler at 423435-5867.

Email: dewey.morgan@dailypostathenian. com

‘As I started telling people about the bus, they started giving me money.

By the time I finished, it was paid for.’

Norman Beetler,

builder of the shower bus

^{_{National MooFest, McMinn County’s annual dairy festival, is scheduled for Saturday, June 3.}}

Taking place from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. in historic downtown Athens, the festival features several activities including the Maggie Strutt; Athens Soap Box Derby qualifying finals; local shopping; over 100 food, crafts and arts vendors; Mayfield Dairy Farms contests; and interactive agricultural exhibits.

There will also be live entertainment on two stages, ending with a bluegrass theme.

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