In 1996, Ernie Maguire thought he had retired.
That's when he moved from the Bay Area to Fallon to help take care of his grandparents.
Maguire grew up in California and spent 30 years working for McDonalds Corp., starting in 1967 when he was 14 years old as a "lot boy," cleaning up the parking lots where customers sat before the fast-food restaurant provided indoor seating.
Over the years, he worked his way up through an array of jobs, finishing his career as district manager for 22 McDonalds stores in the San Francisco-area.
When he moved to Fallon, Maguire says he was ready for retirement.
"I dreamed of sitting by the lake."
But after a year of fishing, hunting and building a house on land his grandfather gave him, Maguire says he was ready to work again.
"The hunting and fishing got old," he says.
"I found out it wasn't for me."
When Maguire decided to go back to work he says he wanted a job that would both allow him to help people and to get to know the community.
So he took a part-time position with Meals on Wheels, delivering meals to some of Fallon's elderly residents.
"I started to get involved and to see the need for transportation in the community," said Maguire.
Most of the elderly he visited were isolated, and had to rely on friends and family for trips to the grocery store or for rides to the doctor.
"They were bottled up at home with no socialization with the outside world," he said.
"It was very sad to see that."
All that started to change in 1999, when leaders in the community began putting together a plan to expand the area's transportation offerings.
On Dec.
31, they hired Maguire to run Churchill Area Regional Transportation, known as CART, which was nothing but a name at the time.
Two and a half weeks later, on Jan.
18, 2000, CART commenced operation with two small buses and one van.
In its first month of service it provided 200 rides; six months later it had already given 7,600 rides.
"They gave me the structure, and I did the nuts and bolts," said Maguire.
He quickly hired six drivers and two dispatchers, got Nevada Department of Transportation personnel in to train them in defensive driving, first aid and CPR, and equipped the office with phones and computers.
"I wanted to get it up and running," said Maguire.
"I was excited about getting it started as soon as possible."
Today CART provides between 2,500 and 3,000 rides a month scheduled for the elderly, disabled, children and the general public on an as needed basis.
A second service called Fallon Shuttle provides between 700 and 800 rides a month on a 13-mile, fixed-run scheduled route.
"Rural transportation was a new concept, but people really caught on," he said.
"I was surprised how well the community accepted CART."
Three of the bus drivers and dispatchers who started with CART are still with it.
"That's unusual in transportation where there is usually a lot of turnover," he said.
Maguire says CART is a team effort and attributes its success to widespread community support.
"All of the people are 100 percent behind it."
And a lot provide in-kind services, such as accounting and legal assistance supplied by the county and bus and van washes done by the school district.
Certainly, its success is due, too, to Maguire, who gave up fishing and hunting to help out in his new home.
Concedes Maguire: "I feel that I've made a mark in the community."
