Sense of Security: Priceless

Crossing Guard Stands Sentry in Montgomery, at No Cost to County

Volunteer crossing guard Jane B. Houston waves to some of her charges from her post on busy Seven Locks Road in Potomac. (Michael Robinson-chavez -- The Washington Post)

For nearly a quarter century, Jane B. Houston has risen before dawn and spent six hours each school day working as an unpaid, self-appointed crossing guard. Two generations of children have progressed from Head Start to high school under her protective gaze.

She patrols a 60-yard stretch of shoulder along a busy road in Potomac, stopping traffic so students can get safely on and off their school buses. "Raining, shining, snow, freezing, hot -- she's always there," said Montgomery County school bus driver Leticia Cerritos.

Houston's tale, one of long hours spent on sometimes ice-patched asphalt, is intertwined with her community's efforts to protect its pedestrians. And like her community, she feels the county has taken her for granted, overlooked her, driven by too fast.

Houston lives in Scotland, an enclave of working-class leanness tucked away amid the million-dollar homes of Potomac. It was founded in the 1880s by freed slaves and redeveloped in the 1970s into a 10-acre community of 100 compact townhouses just off Seven Locks Road.

As Seven Locks has turned from country road to commuter thoroughfare, community leaders have found Montgomery officials slow in responding to their requests for a signal or some other means of stemming traffic. "They didn't care," said Bette C. Thompson, longtime president of the Scotland Community Civic Association.

County leaders say that they do care and that by the end of this month they will create a crosswalk to help residents of Scotland and a neighboring subdivision, Inverness North, get to the other side of Seven Locks Road. Thompson said she is disappointed that the proposed crosswalk does not include a traffic signal or a blinking light.

County officials say they have never received a request for a traffic study from Scotland. Thompson's soft-voiced rebuttal: "Oh, please."

In the absence of county help, Scotland has relied on Houston to make sure its children are safe. "Your service to God and the Community truly shines," reads an acrylic trophy she received from the civic association in August. "We appreciate you!"

Houston doesn't recall exactly when she began her Seven Locks labors. Her neighbor Olivia Lee, who moved into the community in 1982, said Houston has been at her roadside duty station at least since then. "This is a remarkable woman," Lee said, "to volunteer for 25 years." Jurl Mattocks, also a neighbor, calls Houston "a lifesaver for the kids."

Houston retired from office work for the federal government in the early 1980s. Her four children rode county school buses, but Houston said she couldn't see to only their safety. "If I help one, I help all."

Today she watches over at least 120 children from the two communities, including three of her seven grandchildren, meeting more than 20 buses a day.

She wears an orange vest over her coat, a white baseball cap and white gloves. To gain the attention of drivers, she sometimes blows her whistle in quick blasts that sound like the chirps of a militant bird defending her nest.