By Carol Woodward
Special Correspondent

Marguerite Richardson says she intends to die with her boots on.

Richardson, 86 and soon to be 87, isn’t stopping for anything else.

“I’ve just got entirely too much to do to think about slowing down any,” she said. One of the things Richardson has planned for the immediate future is her annual bus trip. For 30 years, she’s led a group of senior citizens on a seven-day trip to New York City.

This year’s trip is planned fro the week of Nov. 16-22, and Richardson said she plans to continue the tradition, even though she will be 87 on Aug. 28.

“I look forward to these trips,” she said. “We always have oh-so-much fun when we go. Why, all kind of interesting things are always happening to us on these tours. Over the years, I’ve had folks fall in love with one another, other folks have gotten the chance to visit friends and relatives in New York, old friends have met up with one another. I just can’t name all the things that have happened on these trips.”

Richardson’s bus trip includes visits to at least two Broadway shows, accommodation in the Milford Plaza in the theater district, dinner at Tavern on the Green, a stop at the Russian Tea Room, a dinner cruise around New York Harbor, a visit to Radio City Musica Hall to see the Rockettes annual Christmas show, shopping, a stop in Williamsburg, Va., and often, a performance at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D. C.

The travelers always spend one night in Washington on the trip up and one night in Williamsburg on the trip home, said Richardson.

The only requirement for going on the trip is you have to be at least 50 years old, although Richardson said an “occasional youngster about 40 years old,” will be allowed to make the trip.

Frances McConnell and Robert McConnell have made the trip eight times. This year the couple won’t be going because the dates conflicted with other plans, but Mrs. McConnell is enthusiastic about her previous trips.

“Oh, Bob and I always have a marvelous time. And my sister always comes up from Jacksonville, Fla., to go with us. We just love going. A good many men go, so the men always have someone to talk to, and everybody is happy.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity to take in some Broadway shows and go shopping. And Marge always has everything so well planned that it’s just a pleasure to go. Every year Bob and I meet up with old friends while on the trip. I’ve been all around the world on other tours, but I love going on this one. I’m sure we will go next year if the dates don’t conflict.”

Margaret Lightfoot and her friend Margaret Barron are also repeat travelers on the trip. Lightfoot said she had been on quite a few group trips, and she said she enjoys Richardson’s the most.

“It’s just so well planned,” she said. “We do so many activities, and it’s all very enjoyable. It’s just an excellent time each year.”

Lightfoot said the trip is so popular that the bus stops in Winnsboro and Charlotte to pick up travelers.

“Every year we stop to pick up out-of-towners who always go with us. It’s just a lot of fun.”

Mary Faison said she particularly likes how safe she feels when on the trip. “My husband doesn’t go with me on these trips, but my traveling pal, Ann Scarboro, does. We really like it because we always feel so safe.

“Marguerite always has it so well planned. But the best thing is that the bus stays with us. I mean, it’s always available to carry us to the theater or shopping or wherever we want to go. We don’t have to worry about walking the streets of New York. It’s all very safe.”

Knowing how to get things done appears to be a fundamental part of Richardson’s personality.

Over the course of her lifetime, she has taught high school English and worked with teen-agers, soliders, senior citizens and couples wishing to adopt children.

A widow for more than 30 years, Richardson said she organized her first trip after her husband’s death in the 1960’s.

“I’ve always had a wandering streak,” she said, “And after my husband John Harvey’s death, I started doing these trips.”

She gets sentimental for a moments as she recollects how her husband also like to travel. “He would have loved being a part of this,” she said. “He was a bad as me about liking to go places.”

Always something of a maverick, Richardson played basketball for three years while attending the University of South Carolina. She graduated from USC in 1928 with a degree in English.

She taught English at Chapin and Blaney high schools for a while and then got involved with a teen program called the Big Top, which was sponsored by the city of Columbia. She also was assistant director of the Laurel Street USO from 1949 until 1952.

She then went to work for the State Adoption Agency, from which she retired in 1970. The agency is now under the auspices of the Department of Social Services.

“I’ve lived my whole life in Columbia,” Richardson said. “I grew up out in Elmwood, and lived in that section after I married. But I’ve always like to go places and do things.”

She sighs and talk about her upcoming birthday.

“I’ll be 87 on the 28th, but I sure don’t feel it. I just have so much to do and see yet. I’ll keep lining up these trips until I fall in my tracks I guess. I know I don’t intend to stop for any other reason.”

For information on the cost of the trip, or to sign up, contact Marguerite Richardson at (803) 772-8658 or write to 236 La Wand Drive, Columbia, S. C. 29210. Reservation are taken on a first come, first served basis.