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<font size="2"><p>A park in Chowchilla will be dedicated to a man, who many consider a hero. A city park will be named after Edward Ray. He’s the former bus driver, known around the country, as the man who saved 26 children from their kidnapper. The ceremony will take place in Chowchilla Thursday at 4 in the afternoon. City officials are inviting the community and members of Edward Ray’s family to be present for the dedication. In the coming months money will be raised to add more signs around the park with the park’s new name, a flag pole, and 26 stones to go around the flag pole. Each one of the stones will represent each child that was rescued by Ray.</p><p>A national media frenzy surrounded the small town of Chowchilla in 1976, when a school bus with 26 children ages 5 to 15, and their bus driver was high jacked and went missing. The bus was buried in a quarry for 16-hours. Ray and some of the older children were able to dig themselves out and call for help. All of the children on board the bus were rescued. Almost 40 years later, those children, now adults are forever grateful.</p><font size="2"><span lang="EN"><p>"I’m glad no one was seriously injured physically but that doesn’t mean people weren’t seriously injured emotionally. Had we not gotten out alive there wouldn’t be this conversation", said survivor Lynda Carrejo Labendeira.</p><p>Ray retired four years after the incident and bought the school bus from the district. He was honored throughout his life for his heroic actions, and passed away in 2012 at the age of 91.</p><p>One of the men who was involved in the high jacking, Richard Schoenfeld, was released form prison in 2012. The two other men involved, James Schoenfeld and Fredrick Woods are still in prison with parole hearings pending. Woods is scheduled to go before the parole board later this year.</p><font size="2"><p><br/></p><p><br/></p></font></span></font><p><br/></p></font></div>
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